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A relentless one-of-a-kind sensory assault chock-full of hyper-kinetic fight scenes, gangster shootouts, sword-slashing violence and gory zombie horror, Versus was a key title amongst the barrage of innovative horror and action movies that appeared as if from nowhere from Japan at the turn of the millennium, leading to a new wave of appreciation for Asian extreme cinema. A mysterious face-off in a wooded clearing between two escaped convicts and a carload of sharply dressed yakuza holding a beautiful woman captive ends in hails of bullets and showers of blood. The location for this violent encounter is the mythic Forest of Resurrection, the site of the 444th portal of the 666 hidden gates that link this earthly domain to the netherworld - and it didn't get this name for nothing. As one of the surviving prisoners escapes with the girl into the darkness of the forest, disgruntled gangsters soon become the least of their worries as an earlier battle between a lone warrior against hordes of zombie samurai is carried over from a millennium ago into the present day... Versus caused a sensation both in Japan and internationally upon its release, launching the careers of director Ryûhei Kitamura (Godzilla Final Wars, Midnight Meat Train) and action star and fight choreographer Tak Sakaguchi (Battlefield Baseball, Yakuza Weapon). Arrow Video is proud to present this mythic cult title in a director-approved restoration.

Media

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Bonus Materials

• 2K restoration from original film elements by Arrow Films, approved by director Ryûhei Kitamura
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Original lossless Japanese 5.1 and 2.0 stereo audio and English 2.0 stereo audio
• Optional English subtitles for the Japanese soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
• Audio commentary by Kitamura and producer Keishiro Shin
• Audio commentary by Kitamura, cast, and crew
• Visual essay on the career of Kitamura by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp
• Behind Versus, a two-part behind-the-scenes documentary exploring the film’s production
• Tak Sakaguchi’s One-Man Journey, an archival featurette on the actor’s visit to the 2001 Japan Film Festival
• Film festival screening footage
• Team Versus, a brief look inside the Napalm Films office
• Deep in the Woods, an archival featurette featuring interviews with Kitamura, cast, and crew
• The Encounter, an archival interview with editor Shûichi Kakesu
• Deleted scenes with audio commentary by Kitamura, cast, and crew
• Nervous and Nervous 2, two “side story” mini-movies featuring characters from the main feature
• Featurette on the making of Nervous 2
• Versus FF Version, a condensed, 20-minute recut of the film
• Multiple trailers
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon

Press Quotes

Versus starts inside a guy's chest as he's sliced in half by a samurai sword... It's what you'd get if you gave a velociraptor meth and then let it direct a movie. That manic energy is still appealing 20 years on.

     —Ben Coleman, The Stranger

Arrow has once again assembled a release with a really impressive array of supplements and solid technical merits... Recommended.

     —Blu-ray.com

Pound for preternatural pound, Versus is zombie pic perfection; it's fast-paced, insane, full of gore and action... It's like comfort food for the psychotronic crowd!

     —Horror Fuel