- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit)
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: R
- Run Time: 109 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 31, 2012
- List Price: $29.98
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase Outrage: Way of the Yakuza on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Takeshi Kitano’s (The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi) latest film, Outrage: Way of the Yakuza (Autoreiji), is a yakuza crime film bathed in blood and ridiculous violence that fans of the actor/director might in fact welcome willingly in order to get their vicarious fix of murderous rampages. Beginning at a deceptively slow pace, viewers are lulled into the belief that Outrage is going to be a complex crime thriller of sorts. Two yakuza crime families who once coexisted peacefully are at odds when one becomes upset that the other is into dealing drugs. Spurred on by the head crime boss, Mr. Chairman, who wants to take the syndicates into “more legitimate” areas of operation, such as manipulating the stock market, the two families embark on a bloody battle for dominance and favor of the chairman. Otomo (Takeshi), righthand man to Ikemoto (Jun Kunimura), has been tasked with taking down Murase, who the Chairman sees as his biggest threat.
Outrage starts out interesting, but then erupts into all out chaos and disarray, frankly as if Takeshi ran out of steam somewhere along the line. It becomes increasingly difficult to keep track of who is a part of what family, why who wants whom dead and why exactly they are fighting to begin with. With a grand total of at least four separate crime families involved and far too many minor minions to count, everything is extremely convoluted. By the time we are in the final act, it is one quick series of brutal, but somewhat inventive, killings after the next, leading to a very rushed summation of all the previous events to tidy up all the loose ends.
It’s not that Outrage isn’t enjoyable to watch; it is, in fact, rather easy to get through if one doesn’t try too hard to keep track of everything. It offers up on target performances, buckets of blood, old school finger chopping – Did I forget to mention the fingers getting chopped off? – and even a little sexiness. It has a slick production that is enticing to watch. It’s just that, it’s not completely satisfying in the end and certainly not one of the better yakuza films.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Magnolia Home Entertainment grants Outrage an AVC/MPEG-4 1080p transfer to Blu-ray disc that doesn’t always have the absolute deepest dark levels, but is still quite inky while showing a wide amount of shadow detail. Meanwhile, the source is as clean and clear as freshly washed crystal with a sharp, fine grain structure, thinly underlying the image and offering an organic feel. Detail is strong, though there is some occasional softness mostly from the production rather than the transfer.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio is just as strong as the film’s transfer, coming in a Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack that has a hefty amount of low frequencies. While there isn’t an overly aggressive use of the surround channels, they are often utilized to bring the listener into the middle of the action with lush amounts of atmospherics during outdoor scenes or the numerous casino scenes. One particular restaurant scene has the sound of the sizzling wok and sink coming, it seems, right down on top of your head. When the bullets start flying, don’t be surprised to hear those beefy gunshots go flying by your head – without overly tweaked high frequencies.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
The supplements, mostly in standard definition, are focused on cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes production footage. They are interesting to watch, but not absolutely necessary for enjoyment of the film.
The supplements:
- Cast Interview: Making Outrage (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 00:18:52) – The cast offer their impressions on working with director Takeshi Kitano and what it was like to portray their characters.
- Outrage Inside Out: Behind the Scenes Documentary (1.78:1; SD; 00:36:59)
- Cast Panel Interview (1.78:1; SD; 00:13:47)
- Premiere Q&A (1.78:1; SD; 00:24:04)
- Cannes “Red Carpet” Premiere with Takeshi Kitano (1.78:1; SD; 00:09:18)
- U.S. Trailer (2.35:1; 1080p/24; DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
- International TV Spots (2.35:1; 1080i/60; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0; 00:01:35)
- BD-Live
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
An average yakuza film, Outrage: Way of the Yakuza may offer a bit of decent time wasting as a weekend rental – it certainly looks and sound great on Blu-ray – but, I wouldn’t go beyond that as a recommendation.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B005X7HAAS[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Outrage: Way of the Yakuza on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
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