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Kaiji

(PG)

Release Date: 11th March 2010 (Showtimes)
Language: Japanese
Running Time: 130 mins
Genre: Action
Director: Toya Sato
Cast: Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Yuki Amami, Teruyuki Kagawa
Local Distributor: Encore Films

User Rating: (20)

Overview
Cast
Reviews (4)

"Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler" is an exciting psychological thriller starring Tatsuya Fujiwara as Kaiji, man forced to enter a deadly gambling competition aboard a cruise ship, to erase a large financial debt. Based on Nobuyuki Fukumoto's hit manga series which has sold over 11 million copies, Kaiji is a 26 year-old job-hopping bum who suddenly finds himself riddled in debt after a shadowy loan company informs him that he is responsible for a loan taken by his friend (who has since gone missing) and whom he casually co-signed as a loan guarantor for!

Latest Review

Exciting plot

Reviewer: sg | Nov 21,2011

What I loved most: to see some star actor & actress in this movie

What I really hated: the effects aren't that good when the people fell down from the bridge

watched this again after watching Kaiji 2 as a review to what happened in the past.........but i was wondering why kaiji landed up in the underground again in part 2......a bit misleading then.

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Actors

Ken'ichi Matsuyama
Tatsuya Fujiwara
Yuki Amami
Teruyuki Kagawa

Director

Toya Sato

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1 - 4 of 4

Exciting plot

Reviewer: sg | Nov 21,2011

What I loved most: to see some star actor & actress in this movie

What I really hated: the effects aren't that good when the people fell down from the bridge

watched this again after watching Kaiji 2 as a review to what happened in the past.........but i was wondering why kaiji landed up in the underground again in part 2......a bit misleading then.

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Overall: 4 star rating

Very Good: A realistic reflection upon ourselves

Reviewer: Eric Yanshan Maynas | Apr 24,2010 6 people found this review helpful

What I loved most: The theme about the choice of life's direction, and acting

What I really hated: The games in the movie were shortened from anime

Summary: Very good intelligent movie for groups of guys or couple. Not a family movie though because of images of people getting hurt. With lead actor Tatsuya Fujiwara (Death Note lead actor, Light) , Teruyuki Kagawa (the bad guy : he was twice nominated best supporting actor in Japan) and Ken'ichi Matsuyama (Death Note, lead actor, L - small role in Kaiji, Sahara) , we are almost guaranteed of top-notch acting which we will believe in...and Kaji is a manga which won the 1998 Kodansha Manga Award in the General category... it's an amazing mix. Kaji the movie, is a psychological thriller which centers around integrity, courage, trust, friendship, family...no big special effects or incredible love story... the main theme is eerily realistic to the society, how some people give up hope on life and how some people pick themselves up, have faith and believe they can do better. The most amazing part is how a normal person like Kaiji, an average person like most of us mere mortals (not the super intelligent Light from Death Note or unbeatable main characters in Liar Game) can stand up to scheming people and stand up to them without losing his integrity. I don't think locally, it will be those "Yoz, let's go watch Kaiji leh." kind of movies among friends, more like hmm, "nothing else to watch, watch this ok?". Maybe because of the not so exciting ad trailer on TV, but heyz, after watching it, I feel that it should be one of the top movie choices! Here's why. If you like Death Note 1,2 (movie, manga, anime) and Liar's Game part 1 and 2 (drama), you will most likely like Kaiji the movie because it hovers around the same genre, courage, trust and some clever game theory on how to win games through carefully planned strategies. Don't expect the plot to be so deep as Death Note, don't expect the games to be as high level and complicated as Liar's Game...but expect great acting skills, some amazing plot twists and believable games which mere mortals like us do actually play (scissors, paper, stone). For those who read the manga, the games are a little different from the manga, so yup, can go and see how different it is :) No long boring conversations in this movie so best to not go for toilet breaks in between, the plot just gets better and better. Few movies can manage to make my eyes watery when I watch it, this is one of them. The other recent one was "Invictus". Don't wait, go watch :) @maynaseric

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Overall: 4 star rating

Memorable movie

Reviewer: hmml_98 | Apr 11,2010 1 people found this review helpful

What I loved most: keeps u thinking abt it after that

What I really hated: keeps u thinking abt it aft that

The story has a slow start but will pick up in mid time, but it is not a story that will make sense just looking at it, though it has very good excitment in every game event, but the story is linked to the japan economy when everybody has given up during the depression. Plus it is showing the vast diff in the difference of a life between a king and a slave, that is the economy difference between...More

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Overall: 4 star rating

Interesting but no sense

Reviewer: Ng | Mar 28,2010 1 people found this review helpful

What I loved most: The theme, where you have to fight for what you want

What I really hated: Getting into deeper thoughts, this whole movie simply makes no sense

An interesting non-sensible movie, that what I feel. First of all, the main character goes on a cruise ship to gamble for a change in life and not being a loser all these while. Will any people in the right mind really believe in this? Secondly, if they lose, they will be forced to become a slave in some underground mind for the company. Come on, where have the government authority of the country gone? Thirdly, if they want their freedom, they have to go on a brave man road, where they have every chance of getting electrocuted or fall to their death. Can the company cover all these up in this modern world? Hence, I say that this movie is interesting, but it simply makes no sense. Good to watch if you have the spare cash.

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Overall: 3 star rating

1 - 4 of 4

Perhaps not many know that most Japanese movies out there are adapted from successful anime or manga, the example at hand being this new Toya Sato ("Gokusen The Movie") release. Indeed "Kaiji" reunites the cast of "Death Note" which is adapted from Noboyuki Fukumoto's wildly popular manga series about the art of gambling that has reportedly sold millions of copies worldwide.

Tatsuya Fujiwara plays the lead role as Kaiji Ito, a guy forced to join a gambling competition on a cruise ship to settle his debts and stand a chance of changing his life forever.

Unfortunately, the director has failed to present the movie effectively due to pacing problems and a plot that takes too long to get deeper. The duration of the movie (over two hours) doesn't help either. However, although there is little information about the character presented for the benefit of first-time audiences, watching Kaiji as he goes through his challenges (Scissors Paper Stone Card Battle, Steel Beam Crossing Death Race and E-Card Strategy Game) can be very exciting. These scenes provide the best moments of the film.

Although Tatsuya Fujiwara plays the titular "Kaiji", it is the performance of veteran actor Teruyuki Kagawa ("Tokyo Sonata") who impresses as the villain Yukio Tonegawa. Maybe there are fans who are happy with the appearance of Kenichi Maysuyama as Makato Sahara although it was for a short while.

This film may not be everyone's cup of tea but it has reportedly collected an estimated US$ 24 million in just a month of screening in Japan alone. It is no wonder then, "Kaiji", touted as the best of 2009, has gotten the green light for a sequel that is aiming for release next year.

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Kaiji

Latest Review

Exciting plot

Actors

Director

Exciting plot

Very Good: A realistic reflection upon ourselves

Memorable movie

Interesting but no sense

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