Sky High (2003)

A detective hunts a killer who is removing girls hearts. When his own fiancée falls victim to the killer, the detective discovers the otherworldly intentions of the killer and is helped from beyond the grave by his fiancée.

Director:

Ryûhei Kitamura

Writers:

Tsutomu Takahashi (comic book), Isao Kiriyama (screenplay)

Stars:

Yumiko Shaku, Takao Ohsawa, Shôsuke Tanihara

Cast

Credited cast:
Yumiko Shaku	...	Mina Saeki / Izuko (new Izuko)
Takao Ohsawa	...	Tatsuya Kudo
Shôsuke Tanihara	...	Kohei Kanzaki
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dorothy Elias-Fahn	...	Eri (voice)
Melissa Fahn	...	Sayuri Toyama (voice)
Kate Higgins	...	Maya Ito (voice)
Yuka Itaya
Takehiro Katayama	...	Shrine Guard 1
Yumi Kikuchi	...	Shuho Kamiina
Kazuki Kitamura
Mela Lee	...	Izuko (voice)
Kazuhito Ohba	...	Shrine Guard 2
Aya Okamoto
Tony Oliver	...	Kazuo Kishi (voice)
Sam Riegel	...	Editor (voice)

Storyline

A homicide detective hunts a killer who is literally taking girls hearts. When his own fiancée falls victim to the killer, the detective discovers the otherworldly intentions of the killer and is helped from beyond the grave by his fiancée.

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Plot Keywords:

heart | katana | katana sword | good versus evil | based on manga | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Mystery | Action | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent content

Details

Official Sites:

official site Official Site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

5 December 2003 (Japan)

Also Known As:

SkyHigh

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$321,734

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Company

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Izuko: Welcome to the Gate of Rage. I am Izuko, Guardian of the Gate. You have died. You exist only as a spirit. To the Gate of Rage come those dead of misadventure, or murder. Here you may choose one way to proceed, out of three.
Mina: Three ways?
Izuko: One: Aceept death, ascend to Paradise, and prepare for rebirth. Two: As a ghost, forever haunt the realm of the living. And three: Curse one living person, and bring about their death. One who kills, however, falls into Hell... to suffer eternal torment.
Mina: What's ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Capitalism: The Movie (2008)

User Reviews

An imaginative fantasy tale

A detective hunting a serial killer is left devastated when his bride to be is murdered on their wedding day. As with all the victims, her heart was removed. As he hunts down leads to find the killer, His bride, Mina, finds herself at The Gate Of Resentment. There she is faced with 3 choices. Go through the gate and be reborn, become a ghost, or take revenge and kill, and end up in hell.....

Ryuhei Kitamura, who directed the action packed Azumi, tones down the violence here, but still stages some impressive action sequences. The cast are all impressive.

But what really gets you about this movie, is the emotional content. Based on a Japanese comic book, there are twists in the story which do come as a surprise. And the love portion of the story works well, both for the detective Kohei, and his bride Mina, but also the bond between the killer, her boss (who needs the hearts for a ritual) and the boss's sick wife. Not everything is as clear cut as it would seem to appear here, and this is a refreshing change.

Although I've not read the comic book, as a movie it is very impressive, with a lot of imagination. If only writers and directors in Hollywood and the west could come up with ideas this imaginative.

This is a movie worth checking out.