DVD Synopsis: Kaiji Ito (Tatsuya Fujikawa – Death Note/Battle Royale) leads a hand to mouth existence whilst working part time at a convenience store. Frustrated with society at large, Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalising cars, and drinking... A debt collector named Endo arrives to collect on a loan he co-signed for a friend. She offers him two choices: spend 10 years paying of his loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay his debt and possibly make a whole lot more. But the unscrupulous Endo is actually conning Kaiji, believing he won't come back from his voyage. Kaiji is about to face the night of his life... (130 Mins)

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Views: Tatsuya Fujiwara plays Kaiji Ito, a down-trodden man who works part-time at a convenience store and has a bit of a hatred towards the upper-class society that disrespect his very existence. Having found himself in trouble with some local gangsters and a debt collector called Endo, Kaiji is given 2 options that really don't offer him any positive outcome. The first is to pay back a loan over 10 years at a rate that would see him penniless for the rest of his life, and the second is to board a mysterious ship for one night of gambling that could leave him with his debts cleared and enough money left over to change his life. Opting for the ship, Kaiji soon finds that he has entered a game of death that takes Rock, Paper, Scissors to another level. After being cheated out of his gaming lives, Kaiji ends up working in the mines for the same organisation that owns the ship forced into slave labour that pushes him to the edge. Given another chance to win back his freedom, Kaiji risks life and limb as he takes on the elite in a host of high risk games which results in a one-on-one card battle with the cocky Yukio Tonegawa, the crazed controller of the games...

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I must admit, I've never been the biggest fan of popular actor Tatsuya Fujiwara. I often tend to roll my eyes anytime I see him on the cover of a movie, which leads me to delay my purchase or viewing of said movie. I can't decide whether it's his bad teeth, bad hair, or annoyingly bad over-acting, but I just can't seem to take to the guy no matter what roles I've seen him in. Of course, that's not to say he's bad at his job! Obviously, he has a huge following and has led enough box office hits to make me eat my words, starring in massive film series' such as Battle Royale, Death Note, and obviously the Kaiji Trilogy. Based on the popular manga by Nobuyuki Fukumoto and its adapted anime series (both of which I have not yet had the pleasure), Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler proves to be an exciting ride – criticised, of course, by fans of the original source material. But then again, what live-action adaptation of any popular manga isn't? Before viewing this though, I had actually watched (and have become a huge fan of) the Chinese remake from director Han Yan, Animal World, with Li Yifeng in the starring role along with an appearance from Michael Douglas himself. For me, that was a much more enjoyable experience laced with incredible SFX, a lot more energy, and was bursting with some incredible action scenes which this adaptation didn't really have. That's not to say that Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler was boring by any means!

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Director Toya Sato does a grand job in bringing the popular manga to life in a movie that could easily be summed up as God Of Gamblers meets Saw to some degree, although it does take its own path. Directing his first project in 1982, it would be a good decade before Sato would step behind the camera once more, and almost the same time again before his third. The turn-of-the-century would see the director focus mainly on television series as well as helming the live-action adaptation of the wonderful Studio Ghibli film, Grave Of The Fireflies, and the popular sci-fi superhero show, Gatchaman in 2013. Compared to the aforementioned Animal World, this adaptation offers a more classical approach to film making with a much darker tone at times that proved popular enough to spur on 2 sequels with Kaiji 2 in 2011 and Kaiji: Final Game in 2020. Its a story that focuses on the class divide of Japanese society where a host of rich people play games with the unemployed and lower-class citizens, betting on their lives in deadly games for their own entertainment. It's a dark tale, and something that seems to be a popular storyline for many Japanese manga and films that obviously carry a social commentary on the country to some degree. The film also sees the return of a few stars from the popular Death Note series, including Fujiwara himself and the handsome Ken'ichi Matsuyama who played L, and Shogen from the later remake. The rest of the cast include of host of recognisable faces from the Japanese film industry who have starred in hits like Azumi, 20th Century Boys, and Tokyo Gore School, as well as Taro Yamamoto who starred alongside Tatsuya Fujiwara in the massive Battle Royale.

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Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler may prove a little long-winded for some mainstream viewers, playing a lot of its time on explanatory flashbacks and voice overs to let us know what characters are thinking – but this is a very common thing in both manga and anime shows. That said, it still proves to be quite entertaining with plenty to enjoy, wild characters and situations, and enough suspense during gameplay to keep you guessing which way things are going to go. Fans of Japanese cinema will no doubt have seen it by now, but others should enjoy it nonetheless. I would however, say that you should definitely watch this original first before diving into the ultra-wild Animal World. I've yet to see the sequels at this stage, but I'd be happy to check them out after watching this...

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Overall: Typical of modern Japanese cinema, Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler is a darkly fun ride with great performances from all involved and plenty to enjoy!

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DVD Extras: Making of Documentary, Trailers