Electric Dragon 80.000 V — Electric Dragon 80.000 V( Blu Ray)
Electric Dragon 80.000 V is an audio-visual headrush distilled into a frantic ‘n’ overloaded cinematic form. The early 2000s Japanese film may be light on both plot & storytelling depth, but boy if you are in the mood to get seriously engulfed in non-stop intensity- this will more than fit the task. Here from Third Widows Films- is a recent Blu-Ray release of the film, taking in a new HD master of the picture, a commentary track, and a few other extras.
Electric Dragon 80.000 V is from the year 2001, and it was written & directed by Hakata, Fukuoka-born Gakuryû Ishii. To date, he has nineteen feature-length credits to his name. These go from high school spree kill drama/thriller Panic in High School (1978), overloaded & Mad Max-like biker film Crazy Thunder Road (1980), wacky ‘n’ offbeat comedy The Crazy Family(1984), and serial killer thriller Angel Dust (1994).
Electric Dragon 80.000 V sits just within the feature-length form at fifty-five minutes mark and is captured in black & white stock. This has seen the film being compared to Tetsuo: The Iron Man, though other than the manic rush of imagery- this is more fighting/ action/ manic superhero-like focus, with less of a cyberpunk/ horror rush.
The film's lead character is Dragon Eye Morrison(Tadanobu Asano). And with the film's opening, we get a growing-up montage which sees Morrison misbehaving/ fighting, then been drag down a corridor to get an electroshock treatment. As the film unfolds- the now grown-up, guitar playing, and pumped-up boxing Morrison walks through cityscapes and has lengthy rock-outs. And starts focusing on his nemesis Thunderbolt Buddha(Masatoshi Nagase) a half-metal buddha faced TV repair man turned vigilante, who also has similar electro-fired energy & power.
The film is all about amping up to the epic fight-off between the pair on the Tokyo rooftop, and in that way, I guess you could compare it to something like Mad Max Fury Road. With the film been a maniacal blurring audio/ visual ride of electricity surges, darting/ shifting camera work, and highly kinetic movement & action- with zero let up for its fifty-five runtime.
Moving onto this new region B Blu-Ray- and we get a crystal clear/ and sonically amped-Up HD scan of this film, which I would imagine be truly mind-blowing on a huge TV & surround sound system. On the extras side, it's all archive material taking in six interviews with the likes of the director, the producer, and the soundtrack creator. These run between three and twenty-two minutes a piece, and are either live on stage after/before a performance of the film, or static/on-chair interviews. We also get Storyboards, commentary on around twenty minutes of animated footage, and a trailer.
Electric Dragon 80.000 V truly is the cinematic equivalent of plugging yourself into the nation grind and having a truly brain-frying trip. There’s nothing subtle, nuanced, or deep going on here- but if you really want a no-nonsense head rush, I can’t think of many films that are this effective in doing just that.