Dead or Alive: Final

The final episode of maverick director's Takashi Miike's Dead Or Alive trilogy comes to DVD after a long delay and stars Miike regulars Riki Takeuchi and Sho Aikawa, who reprise their roles from the first two films.

Takeuchi plays Honda, a hard-nosed cop, the second to manical Dictator Woo (Richard Chen), who controls the population of a town with an iron fist - killing husbands and wives for the crime of having a baby. Opposing him is a gang of terrorists/freedom fighters, who are determined for children to be born again.

Aikawa, meanwhile, plays Ryo, a bizarre stranger, with almost superhuman speed and strength, who aligns himself with the rebels. This leads to an inevitable, explosive confrontation between Ryo and Honda, with perhaps the world at stake.

The film combines some of Miike's usual trademarks, including incidents of extreme violence juxtaposed with moments of serene calm, and supporting characters who have bizarre sexual habits.

Throw in robots, saxophones and swimming and you have the usual Miike recipe of madness and normality, good for fans, not so good for newcomers.