Arrow Releasing Takashi Miike's Audition

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

For the steelbook junkies out there...

Release Date: 29th February 2016
Format: Blu-Ray + DVD
Starring: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Ren Osugi
Directed by: Takashi Miike

Synopsis:

One of the most notorious J-horror films ever made, Takashi Miike's Audition exploded onto the festival circuit at the turn of the century to a chorus of awards and praise. The film would catapult Miike to the international scene and pave the way for such other genre delights as Ichii the Killer and The Happiness of the Katakuris.

Recent widower Shigharu Aoyama is advised by his son to find a new wife, agreeing Shigeharu seeks the advice of a colleague having been out of the dating scene for many years. Taking advantage of their position as a film company they stage an audition. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu becomes enchanted by Asami, a quiet, 24-year-old woman, who is immediately responsive to his charms. But soon things take a very dark and twisted turn as we find that Asami isn't what she seems to be…

Pulling the audience into a story that will lead to one of the most harrowing climaxes in cinema history, Miike twists and turns us through delirious editing and shocking visuals for one of the most depraved nightmares of all time!

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:

Limited Edition Steelbook
Brand new 2K restoration of original vault elements
Original 5.1 audio (DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray)
Optional English subtitles
Audio commentary with director Takashi Miike and screenwriter Daisuke Tengan
Brand new commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes examining the film and its source novel
Introduction by Miike
Ties that Bind - A brand new interview with Takashi Miike
Interviews with stars Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Renji Ishibashi and Ren Osugi
Trailers
Gallery including behind-the-scenes images
Booklet featuring new writing on the film
More to be announced!


DETAILS:

RRP: £19.99 £15.99
Region: 2/B
Rating: 18
Cat No: FCD1208
Duration: 115 mins
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: 5.1
Discs: 2
Colour

[enandalusiskhund An Andalusian Dog Find all posts View Profile Close enandalusiskhund]

Nice one! Despite all the crazy and bizarre films Miike has done, this one is still one of my favourites. It's a really well constructed horror film. Don't care about steelbooks, but this will probably get a regular release too down the line. Also that cover art wasn't especially thrilling.

[Derrick King Waterfall Puncher Find all posts View Profile Close Derrick King]

It is getting a regular case release at the same time (but the regular case will not have the DVD or, more importantly, the booklet)

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Nice one! Despite all the crazy and bizarre films Miike has done, this one is still one of my favourites. It's a really well constructed horror film.

It has immense staying power. I watched it again over the summer and no matter how many time I've seen it over the years I still come away from it feeling completely drained, even though nothing compares to the jolt of seeing it for the first time. Its frightening, yes, but its also equally if not more sad making it all the more affecting. Miike really has a knack for infusing his horrors with as heavy dose of depression. Even One Missed Call, one of his more commercially minded efforts is smothered in moroseness. Audition is still the pinnacle though. What's also incredible is how tight the pacing is given how fast Miike seems to work. The slow burn is brilliant. Everyone knows this by now but this film really has earned its reputation. A true masterpiece.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Mondo-Digital review. Sounds like a winner.

[47lab Guest Find all posts View Profile Close 47lab]

If anyone is considering the steelbook, I would jump on it pretty quickly to prevent price gouging later. It's already officially listed as OOP at the Arrow online store.

Worth it alone for the Tom Mes commentary. :up:

[Randy G Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Randy G]

Totally agree with Tom about how well this stands up. One of the best horror films of its decade.

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

Back when Miike had teeth and made fucked up movies. Audition is probably his masterpiece.

[Derrick King Waterfall Puncher Find all posts View Profile Close Derrick King]

I guess I'll stick this here, even though I'm not 100% that it is for Arrow, but I think Marc Walkow is working on special features for DEAD OR ALIVE (maybe all three DoA films.) A week ago he mentioned that he was re-watching Miike's DEAD OR ALIVE for work and he is currently in Japan and yesterday he mentioned that he interviewed Sho Aikawa about Miike movies.

(Off topic, but I also think he is working on special features for RING, as he also just interviewed Kí´ji Suzuki and Hideo Nakata)

[Derrick King Waterfall Puncher Find all posts View Profile Close Derrick King]

So Marc Walkow recently interviewed (and went to Karaoke with) Riki Takeuchi. Which solidifies my feeling that he is working on special features for a DEAD OR ALIVE Blu-ray (for Arrow, I assume.) (off topic, but I think he also recently interviewed Kiyoshi Kurosawa, so maybe Criterion is finally getting around to releasing CURE.)

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Audition star Ren Osugi has passed away. He was in some great stuff aside from Audition - a few Kitano movies and a few other Miike films as well as the last Godzilla movie.

http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/34...en-osugi-died/

[Derrick King Waterfall Puncher Find all posts View Profile Close Derrick King]

Arrow's Blu-ray is coming to the US/Can on February 12th.

[Keeth Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Keeth]

That's good news as I was looking for a low-priced, used copy on eBay just a few days ago.

[Derrick King Waterfall Puncher Find all posts View Profile Close Derrick King]

Via the the blu-ray.com forums, screenshot comparisons between Arrow's UK and US releases show that Arrow re-encoded (and improved) this for the US release.

[Keeth Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Keeth]

I have the Arrow blu but haven't taken a look at yet.