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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Beyond Outrage (Autoreiji: Biyondo) (2012)

Beyond Outrage (Autoreiji: Biyondo) (2012)

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Released 19-Mar-2014

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Action Theatrical Trailer
Trailer-Eastern Eye trailers x 4
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2012
Running Time 107:52 (Case: 112)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Takeshi Kitano
Studio
Distributor

Madman Entertainment
Starring Takeshi Kitano
Fumiyo Kohinata
Tomokazu Miura
Ryo Kase
Hideo Nakano
Yutaka Matsushige
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI ? Music Keiichi Suzuki


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

     After 10 years of making more diverse fare such as Dolls (2002) or Zatoichi (2003), in 2010 Takeshi Kitano returned to the yakuza genre with which he had made his reputation with the hyper-brutal and violent Outrage. Beyond Outrage, or Outrage Beyond as per the title sequence, (original title Autoreiji: Biyondo) takes up the story five years after the events of the earlier film.

     Having killed the previous Chairman, Kato (Tomokazu Miura) is now running the Sanno yakuza clan with Ishihara (Ryo Kase) as his second in command. Kato has been promoting his people on merit, not seniority, which has created opposition within the Sanno ranks from remnants of the old guard. Yet the clan is thriving; it has diversified its interests and has developed connections to leading politicians and corrupt police, such as Detective Kataoka (Fumiyo Kohinata). However Detective Kataoka believes the Sanno are too powerful, so he tries to manipulate a war between them and the Hanabishi, another powerful yakuza clan, without success. So to light the fuse Kataoka turns to ex-yakuza with a grudge Kimura (Hideo Nakano) and Otomo (Takeshi Kitano).

     At the end of Outrage Otomo was rumoured dead, but he has been in prison. Kataoka engineers his release on parole but Otomo has had enough of murder and wants to live a quiet life. As Kataoka plays off one clan against the other and loyalties are called into question and betrayals escalate, Ishihara just wants Otomo dead and so he is drawn into the bloody gang war in which only a few will be left alive.

     The yakuza films of Kitano have always been brutal and violent but perhaps aiming to debunk the genre Outrage was exceedingly graphic, bloody and brutal. Beyond Outrage is a different beast. Certainly there are killings galore, and a bit with a drill, but in the violence in Beyond Outrage is mostly bloodless; the deaths are generally by shooting, often taking place off screen, and while we do see the resultant bodies there are no severed limbs or excessive blood. The film also benefits from a slower build up to the violence as the machinations of the various characters gradually unfold. Clearly there is no hero in this story; everyone, with the possible exception of Detective Shigeta (Yutaka Matsushige), is violent, self-serving and manipulative, but Kitano is as good as usual in giving a sense of dry humour to his character while Kohinata is also very good.

     Beyond Outrage is perhaps not top drawer Kitano but in fabulous films such as Sonatine (1993) and Hana-bi (1997) he set the bar very high indeed. I enjoyed Beyond Outrage a lot: it still has the Kitano touches and it will be welcomed by fans as well as anyone with a liking for yakuza themed filmmaking.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Beyond Outrage is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     This is quite a soft print. The film also has a dark colour palate, with many sequences shot inside dull rooms or at night. There are occasional flashes of brighter colour, such as in the pinochle parlour near the end, but the consequence of the dark palate and softness is that shadow detail is obscure. Blacks are good, close ups not too bad, skin tones fine and brightness and contrast consistent. I saw no marks or artefacts although there was shimmering in the closing titles.

     The layer change was not noticeable.

    English subtitles are in an easy to read yellow font and seemed to be timely and error free.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps.

     In contrast to the video the audio of Beyond Outrage is very good. Dialogue was clear and centred. The gunshots were loud and resounding and the surrounds and rears did provide ambient effects as well as directional effects and panning, but it was not overdone. The subwoofer added some bass to shots and occasional effects.

    Lip synchronisation seemed fine.

     The original score by Keiichi Suzuki was minimalist and often consisted of electronic tones rather than music, although there was some jazz type music.

     The audio track was appropriate for the film.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Theatrical Trailer (2:02)

Eastern Eye Trailers

     Trailers for Outrage (2:05), Drug War (1:33), New World (1:38) and Cold War (1:37).

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     The Region A Blu-ray release of Beyond Outrage contains as an extra a 62 min making of, however as far as I can see the DVD releases in Region 1 US, Region 3 Hong Kong and Region 3 Japan (normal single disc edition) only contain the film’s theatrical trailer.

     If the lack of extras on the DVD versions are right, stick to the local release.

Summary

     This sequel to the brutal and graphic Outrage tones down the violence and allows the characters a little more freedom to develop. It is perhaps not top drawer Kitano but is still very good and will be welcomed by fans.

     The video is murky but the audio is fine; trailers are the only extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE