Director : Ryuhei Kitamura
Cast : Yumiko Shaku, Shosuke Tanihara, Takao Osawa
Synopsis : (Based on the Manga ‘SKY HIGH’ by Tsutomu
Takahashi). The police are hunting a serial killer who takes the
hearts of his victims. The bride-to-be of one of the detectives on
the case is murdered on her wedding day by the killer. Her spirit
goes to the ‘Gate of Rage’, where she has twelve days to decide
whether to be reborn with no memory, become a ghost, or have revenge
on her murderer. There’s a twist: If she kills her murderer, she
will be condemned to hell forever.
Review
by Martin Cleary
I don’t usually mind slow films. If they can still hold your
interest, then slow films can be good at building up a good
atmosphere and developing characters. The only problem is, if the
film is supposed to be an action film and it’s slow, well it’s a bit
pointless. Which is what I thought of
Sky High. The trailer looked pretty cool for this, and I figured
that as it’s directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (who made the excellent
VERSUS and Azumi) that it would be worth a watch. He must have made
this in his sleep though, because it’s an overlong, slowly paced,
cheap looking film and a waste of a good plot idea. Sky High stars
Yumiko Shaku (from Princess Blade) as Mina, a young girl who is
murdered on her wedding day. Arriving at the Gate of Rage – where
all murdered souls go - she must decide on her fate: whether to
revenge her own
death and be condemned to hell, or to be reborn and forget her past
life. In hindsight, I wish she’d chosen to be reborn into another
film – but there’s no such luck. Anyway, the plot actually gets off
to quite a good start, and the film begins with promises to try
something original. But nothing really happens for about another
twenty minutes or so. By this point it’s clear that this has a very
low budget and some dodgy special effects, but then there’s an
action scene, , , , , , , and it’s badly shot (no-one looks like
they’re actually hitting anyone) and it’s all over quite quickly.
Hmmm. The film continues in this fashion - and while the fights do
improve slightly - it’s clear that ‘cool poses’ are more important
than anything that makes
sense martial arts wise. What is sad is that Mina never looks like
she can handle herself well in a fight, so the big finale looks
unconvincing. In fact, the action scenes themselves may be why the
film is such a mess. If this were made as a straightforward
thriller, it would probably be more effective as the ‘supernatural
swordplay’ doesn’t manage to further the plot and should be an
embarrassment to all involved. Sky High is based on a television
series which was based on a popular manga. The film actually serves
as a prequel to the television show, so maybe if
you have seen the series then this will impress, but to me it was
just a big wasted opportunity.
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DVD Review : Sky High (Optimum Asia)
by Martin Cleary
This release from Optimum Asia is okay if you like the film. The
film is presented with its original Japanese soundtrack, and there
are removable English subtitles. As extras there are Cast interviews
which are short, edited together comments, and a Making of
Featurette. Both of these last about eight minutes each, so they’re
not very in-depth. Also on the disc are trailers for other releases
from the label: Azumi, Azumi 2, Arahan, Fighter In The Wind and Doll
Master. I enjoyed these trailers more than the film itself. Nuff
said!
Disc Info
Optimum Asia release
Content: One disc
Format: Widescreen
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Audio: Stereo, 5.1
Region: 2
Presentation (Cover / Menus): 6/10
Picture: 8/10
Subtitles: 8/10
Special Features: 5/10
Disc Overall: 7/10
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