Arrow Releasing Versus

[Ian Jane]

Super fancy German release coming soon from XCess Entertainment.

VERSUS - the ultimate Japanese splatter fun - uncut in German for the first time in HD!
Starting on 02.12. at your trusted dealer for bloody home cinema. The limited deluxe version (4 discs) in quilted, embossed Mediabook with leather optic foil, back motif and half-slider. 16-page booklet with a text by Nando Rohner, 3 x photocards, 1 x artcard and a mini poster with surprise motif.
Cover A - Limited Edition Quilted - 666 Pieces
Cover B - Limited Edition Quilted - 666 pieces
Image: 1.85:1 1080 - 24p
Sound: German 5.1, Japanese 5.1/2.0, English 5.1/2.0 DTS HD-MA
Subtitle : German , English
Extras: Video Feature with Marcus Stiglegger & Andreas Rauscher (ca. 60 mins.)
Audio commentary with Ryuhei Kitamura & Keishiro Shin
Alternative Long Term
Making Of-Documentary
Behind-the-Scenes-Featurette
Making Of music video
“NERVOUS” Mini-Spin-Off
The evolution of VERSUS feature
Gag Reel
German trailer
International Trailer
Versus Teaser and Trailer Archives
Archive of Photos and Photographs

[Mark Tolch]

Agreed. There's a great 80 minute movie in there, still a lot to like though.

I watched it recently at 4 am thanks to one of my bouts of insomnia. It did the trick, I manged to fall asleep pretty quickly.

Hahahaha, excellent.

[agent999]

I gave this one a go again, and it really did not hold up for me. I loved this one when I saw it the first time. It is wayyyyy too damn long.

Agreed. There's a great 80 minute movie in there, still a lot to like though.

I watched it recently at 4 am thanks to one of my bouts of insomnia. It did the trick, I manged to fall asleep pretty quickly.

[Mark Tolch]

I gave this one a go again, and it really did not hold up for me. I loved this one when I saw it the first time. It is wayyyyy too damn long.

[agent999]

The plot thickens, the booklet says that it was originally edited and coloured on digital files, and from that, 35mm intermediates were made and used for theatrical prints. This release scanned the intermediate and Kitamura then supervised and approved the picture grading. If that were true, we'd only ever see one one version, but the fact that some releases have tints and some don't (dating back to the early 2000s) would contradict this. Sounds to me like he changed his mind and he prefers it without tints.

I used to have a DVD bootleg of this before it was officially released outside of Japan, but I can't recall if it was tinted or not. I gave it to a friend when the UK DVD came out.

[Derrick King]

Even if it is an error, I wouldn't expect a replacement program from Arrow, given that they never fixed the horrible framing errors on Creepshow 2 or Hellraiser III, or, more recently, the missing 2 or 3 minutes of end credits on The Limits of Control. (The Beyond and Zombi seem to be an outlier in terms of them fixing transfer issues.)

[agent999]

Given Arrow's track record (The Beyond), I'm sure there'll be a replacement programme if there is an error. It's supposedly director approved so this could be intentional. Mine should be arriving tomorrow.

[Derrick King]

So there are reports from people at the blu-ray.com forum who have received their copies that this is missing a number of filters.

[Derrick King]

Is there a chance that this is better than I remember? Because I remember there being a bunch of positive buzz about this, so I blind bought the DVD and really disliked it.

[agent999]

Finally! Down to Hell would have been a nice extra.

[Ian Jane]

Coming in December!

Versus caused a sensation both in Japan and internationally upon its release, launching the careers of director Ryí»hei Kitamura (Godzilla Final Wars, Midnight Meat Train) and action star and fight choreographer Tak Sakaguchi (Battlefield Baseball, Yakuza Weapon). Arrow Video is proud to present this mythic cult title in both its original 2000 and expanded 2004 Ultimate Versus iterations, in a brand new, director-approved restoration.

A relentless one-of-a-kind sensory assault chock full of hyper-kinetic fight scenes, gangster shootouts, sword-slashing violence and gory zombie horror, Versus was a key title amongst the barrage of innovative horror and action movies that appeared as if from nowhere from Japan at the turn of the millennium, leading to a new wave of appreciation for Asian extreme cinema.

A mysterious face-off in a wooded clearing between two escaped convicts and a carload of sharply dressed yakuza holding a beautiful woman captive ends in hails of bullets and showers of blood. The location for this violent encounter is the mythic Forest of Resurrection, the site of the 444th portal of the 666 hidden gates that link this earthly domain to the netherworld - and it didn't get this name for nothing. As one of the surviving prisoners escapes with the girl into the darkness of the forest, disgruntled gangsters soon become the least of their worries as an earlier battle between a lone warrior against hordes of zombie samurai is carried over from a millennium ago into the present day…

Versus caused a sensation both in Japan and internationally upon its release, launching the careers of director Ryí»hei Kitamura (Godzilla Final Wars, Midnight Meat Train) and action star and fight choreographer Tak Sakaguchi (Battlefield Baseball, Yakuza Weapon). Arrow Video is proud to present this mythic cult title in both its original 2000 and expanded 2004 Ultimate Versus iterations, in a brand new, director-approved restoration.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

- Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements by Arrow Films, approved by director Ryí»hei Kitamura

- High Definition (1080p) Blu-rayâ„¢ presentations of both versions of the film: the original 2000 cut and 2004's Ultimate Versus, featuring over 10 minutes of new and revised footage

- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon

DISC 1: VERSUS

- Original lossless Japanese 5.1 and 2.0 stereo audio and English 2.0 stereo audio

- Optional English subtitles

- Audio commentary by Kitamura and producer Keishiro Shin

- Audio commentary by Kitamura and the cast and crew

- New visual essay on the career of Kitamura by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp

- Behind Versus, a two-part behind-the-scenes documentary exploring the film's production

- First Contact: Versus Evolution, a featurette exploring the film's origins

- Tak Sakaguchi's One-Man Journey, an archival featurette on the actor's visit to the 2001 Japan Film Festival in Hamburg

- Film festival screening footage

- Team Versus, a brief look inside the Napalm Films office

- Deep in the Woods, an archival featurette featuring interviews with Kitamura, cast and crew

- The Encounter, an archival interview with editor Shí»ichi Kakesu

- Deleted scenes with audio commentary by Kitamura, cast and crew

- Nervous and Nervous 2, two “side story” mini-movies featuring characters from the main feature

- Featurette on the making of Nervous 2

- Versus FF Version, a condensed, 20-minute recut of the film

- Multiple trailers

- Image gallery

DISC 2: ULTIMATE VERSUS

- Original lossless Japanese 6.1 and 2.0 stereo audio and English 6.1 and 2.0 stereo audio

- Optional English subtitles

- Audio commentary by Kitamura, cast and crew

- Sakigake! Otoko versus Juku, a featurette on the newly shot material for Ultimate Versus

GUARANTEED THROUGH PREORDERS FIRST PRESSING ONLY: illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film and a reprinted interview with Kitamura by Tom Mes, and notes on the making of the film by Kitamura”