Death Trance

I hadn't even heard about the 2005 movie "Death Trance" (aka "Desu toransu") before now late in 2019, when I was given the chance to sit down and watch it. Granted, I didn't even know what it was about or anything, but from the movie's cover it seemed like an action, martial arts and fantasy movie of sorts. Plus, my interest in Asian cinema did of course also make me pick up this movie.

Right, well I managed to get 31 minutes into the movie, well into the ordeal actually, before I called it quits. Wow, this movie was a swing and a miss.

First of all, the storyline was just abysmally boring, and it utterly failed to captivate me in any way. I kid you not, there was nothing here throughout the 31 minutes that I sat through that appealed to me in any way.

Secondly, the characters in the movie were bland and just also failed to impress. Actually, I didn't even care an ounce for the characters or their individual stories. Nor can I actually claim to be able to name the main character if you asked me about it.

"Death Trance" was definitely not my type of movie. But I will say that they should get some credit for their wardrobe and props; they were nice, at least.

All in all, this is not a movie that I will be returning to watch the rest of, as nothing appealed to me. I am rating "Death Trance" a mere three out of ten stars.

It was good in the sense that it kept you interested somewhat because you are watching it to figure out what in the world is going on. There is no plot, there is no reasoning to what and why things are going on. You don't know what era you're in and you don't know who the characters are and where they are from or why they are there. The movie is a mix of everything. But there is a lot of action but it's nothing to be excited about. You won't love it neither will you hate it, but its a watchable movie. In terms of setting it is almost like Lord of the Rings being that it takes place in a forest but with swords and swords that shoot like guns and one person had a motorbike. The best way I can describe this movie is Lord of the Rings meets Inuyasha meets Zombies meets Vampires, meets Samurai Jack gone completely wrong. LOL, hope that helps!

The hero drags a coffin behind him, an overwhelming number of enemies attack him, but only when the coffin is opened, hell really breaks loose... sounds like the summary for "Django" with Franco Nero, but actually it's "Death Trance" with Tak Sakaguchi. This rare coffin motif is something that will make you remember a movie which otherwise is fun, but not outstanding. Lots of fight scenes in a fantasy world where sticks and swords meet guns, motor bikes and an ultra-cool rocket launcher. Calling it a "historical costume movie" as its star did in an interview is not quite true, but few in the audience will care about history as long as it is fun. And it sometimes really is, e.g. when Grave (Sakaguchi) enters a "saloon" followed by a maybe 6 year old girl, orders a big glass of milk for himself - while the child drinks a whiskey. Or when Grave kills vampires by biting their necks in turn. No grave yet for Grave. Don't expect a masterpiece as "Death Trance" hasn't got the depth. Still worth a look if you like such kind of things.

So what can I say about Death Trance, personally I loved it. I am huge fan of anime and most importantly of the final fantasy series and to see someone have the balls to pull off this sort of genre is a statement in itself. Unfortunately we do get the bad apples like "ultraviolet". The overall story is comprehensible to a certain point, only real problem I see was there was not enough back story to support what is going on. It's like being kidnapped and strapped onto a roller-coaster with a blind fold on, you know what's going on around you but you're not exactly sure how you even got there in the first place. Tak Sakaguchi does well as Grave, his demeanor suited this character more so than his counter part in "versus". The supporting cast do a great job of filling the void of this somewhat empty world and in typical Sakaguchi fashion the fight scenes can be somewhat lengthy. But seriously seeing a lone samurai smacking the crap out of Zombies with a stick in a forest full of vampiric spidermen is just classic. The heavy metal music sets the mood for the battles and fit in perfectly. It's not the greatest movie in the world but I guarantee you play this at a party and people will have their eyes glued. Death Trance's special fx is without doubt AMAZING, no ands ifs or buts. If the lack of story is what hinders the movie, the SFX more than make up for that. If you're looking to run through a quick final fantasy-esquire like story then rent it at blockbuster. If you really like it then keep it and pay the rest. That's what I'm doing, this is definitely a good "unknown" movie to pull out on your friends. Overall I dig this movie, they stepped out and tried something new with this movie and I think they pull it off nicely.

9/10

and that's the final word.

I have seen a lot of Asian films and understand that genres get mixed together a lot. But this one takes the cake. Think of putting in John Woo, Billy Idol (!), Wuxia, Kiss Me Deadly, Hellraiser, Evil Dead 2, and Mad Max into a blender and add in a heavy metal soundtrack, and this will give you just some idea of this movie.

This is directed by the person who did the fight scenes from Versus and it shows. Almost all of the fight scenes take place in a forest. Hmmm..

interesting is that there is very little bloodshed. A lot of fighting with the blunt edge of the sword!! Not sure why this was done except to cut back on some special effects.

Saw it's Southeast premiere and the audience seemed to really enjoy it too. Lots of 'ooh', laughter and clapping.. Can't remember the last time I remember that in a theater.

Forget the plot (what little there is), and marvel and sheer audacity of some of these scenes. Very enjoyable, very 'cool' and in some cases, very very funny. Just don't expect anything meaningful.