Ten years ago, yakuza mid-boss Ikegami led an assault against rival don Muto. Now, on the eve of his revenge, all Muto wants to do is complete his masterpiece, a feature film with his daughter in the starring role, before his wife is released from prison and The F Bombers are standing by with the chance of a lifetime: to film a real, live yakuza battle to the death…on 35mm!
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Video Quality
Why Don’t You Play In Hell? comes to Blu-Ray with a rock solid 1080p video presentation. The look crafted by Hideo Yamamoto attempts a semblance of faux film grain to complement the footage from the past while the present remains sleek and eye-popping within its digital photography. The large swaths of supplementary CGI to accentuate some of the gory special effects blends in quite well. The presentation provides a substantial amount of depth on display, especially in the interior shots.
While the film is pleasing in most lighting conditions, some of the darker sequences reveal some very subtle digital anomalies. The black levels could stand to be a bit deeper and less milky, and digital noise does prove to be a minor issue at certain moments in the film. The flesh tones are natural with subtle details showcased well in close-ups and medium shots. The image is clean with the vivid color palette popping off the screen, especially in the crimson blood that bathes the screen. The film also employs splashes of bold colors within the clothing and production design, which makes for a very striking image. MVD Entertainment has delivered a fine presentation.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track in the original Japanese that is very effective and precise without being domineering. Dialogue comes through crisp and clearly without ever falling victim to overlapping voices or forceful sound cues. Everything is mixed just right with directionality accurately rendered across all channels. The sounds of each environment provide a decent amount of activity in the rear channels, and the score and music stirs up some activity in the low end. The film uses the art of heightened sound effects which genre fans will be very familiar with which adds a bit of camp to the proceedings. This track honors the movie with an immersive journey that does everything it needs to do. This release comes with optional English SDH subtitles.
Special Features
There are no special features provided on this disc.
Final Thoughts
Why Don’t You Play In Hell? is a supremely violent and darkly hilarious ode to moviemaking and genre films. The film overextends itself a bit with its hefty runtime, but the film mostly keeps you engrossed throughout with its odd humor and its fantastically violent developments. The cinematography also stands apart with beautiful shots of some really disturbing imagery. The finale of this film is one of the more unhinged developments we have seen in some time, and we could not love that more. MVD Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a sterling A/V presentation and nothing in the way of supplemental features. If you like over-the-top violence tinged with humor, you should enjoy this one. Recommended
Why Don’t You Play In Hell? is currently available to purchase on Blu-ray and DVD.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: MVD Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
