Death Trance

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.

I personally enjoyed this movie a lot. The best way to look at it is to go in with expectations of watching something basically the same as Versus. Don't expect some great story, because its non-too deep, however it does keep you entertained and interested. The action scenes are once again amazing, thanks to Tak and Yuji, both great at what they do. Any major fan of Tak will love this movie. Also, I have to say the ending is quite entertaining and original. Plus the soundtrack adds a good affect, since its pretty much ALL Dir en grey songs. It includes the new single "CLEVER SLEAZOID" by them, which goes along very great with the film. In all, any fan of Kitamura or fans of Asian cinema should enjoy this film, if only for a fun flick.

Watching a lot of Asian action movies lately I saw the trailer for Death Trance and thought : Wow! Sowrds, motorbikes, guns, bazookas, Breakdance mixed with martial arts. But where was the story. Well, you don't often need a story in Good action flicks, but in this case : it was absolutely senseless. One fight after the other and you don't get why. And for being the ultimate fighter who only seeks destruction I didn't really understand why does Tak leave everybody alive??? The soundtrack really hurts. In movies like Versus and Azumi I felt the heavy rock music entertaining, but here you want to turn the sound off after short time before your ears start to bleed. If you are looking for a modern Japanese action movie go for Azumi, Shinobi, Aragami. But i wouldn't recommend this; except if you are a hardcore trash fan......

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.

How can you go wrong with the action director of "Versus" and the star of the movie Tak Sakaguchi, you can with "Death Trance". After watching a trailer on line I hurried as fast as I could to find this movie. Once I got my hands on a copy and started to watch it, I got more and more disappointed. Being a huge fan of "Versus" I was expecting the same over the top crazy action and crazy characters. It was almost like watching a watered down version of "Versus", maybe that is because Kitamura had nothing to do with this film and that is what was missing. Almost the whole movie takes place in the forest, it even looks like the same one from "Versus", and you have your swords, guns, and even near the end zombie-like figures. There was hardly any blood or gore, the action was just OK, nothing special, and the acting was pretty weak I thought. Tak fights throughout the movie with his sword in its sheath because "Killing is no fun"? What?! Please Tak tell me they paid you a lot of money to say that. So most of the time you are just watching him bop people over the head with his sheathed sword. For a story to seem to have so much history and background behind it, we almost get no information on what is going on and why characters are doing what they are doing, even when they do try to explain, you could care less. The characters are poorly developed and the ending is pretty abrupt and feels like it shouldn't end. I really can't recommend this film to anyone, I know most "Versus" fans will try to watch this, but I hate to say that you will probably be disappointed.