MovieChat Forums > Sky High (2002) Discussion > this was worst than versus

this was worst than versus

posted 20 years ago by bertvandamm
11 replies | jump to latest

I don't see what the big deal is with both those movies. Versus wasn't that good. I thought Japanese films, novels, etc. liked going into characters. This director seems to not do that. He also like not explaining things. Why did that women remember she was a former gate gaurd, where did she learn to do all those incantations, who taught her those things, how could she know what was going on at the gate of rage. that's just one person I could do this forever, and don;t tell me that I suppose to assume for myself cause most movie's give you hints. the movie went from bad to worstwhen that women appeared who knew everything. It's funny cause the beginning was pretty good. Then of course the they had their fight scenes. Those are horrible what hack taught them to fight. Of the movies that I seen by this director the only one I've enjoyed was Azumi. Maybe because she bothered to learn how to use a katana. Please I feel like I'm in the dark about something what is the big deal with Ryuhei Kitamura, cause not that good and he recycles his techniques, I swear I thought I was watching Versus towards the end of Sky High.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] bertvandamm 20 years ago

You'r kidding me right, I love Japanese movies especially the old samurai movies. And I also love movies from China and Korea. Battle Royale, Kikujiro, Zatôichi , Infernal Affairs, Oldboy, etc. I though these are great movies how can you tell me that I shouldn't watch anymore Japanese movies maybe you should learn that being original doesn't mean it's good. And this director did something original in Versus (i'll admit it was original, just not as good as it's hyped up) the problem is he hasn't done anything original since then he's just recycling his own ideas.

[–] ShamanGogo 20 years ago

You said 'i dont know what the bid deal is about these movies', i assume you mean how a large amount of people are so quick to defend Ryuhei Kitamura's work. Kitamura is a relative newcomer to the film industry, new blood, yes of course many debut directors have crafted masterpieces elsewhere (Donnie Darko) but its not what they begin with, its what they can bring in the future. Ryuhei Kitamura has attracted a lot of interest because he has his own individual style and can shoot on a shoestring budget, sure he may make a few mediocre films but most people assume that Kitamura will develop a learn from his mistakes mentality, thats why so many people are eager to defend his films.

Personally i loved Versus, a breath of fresh air in a stale genre but as far as i can tell from Sky High, we may have to wait a little longer for him to develop.

[–] mr23m78 19 years ago

His best film was Azumi hands down..It had character developement, scope, character you can actually give a damn about, excellent musica score, and a sense of real maturity as far as style is concerned......I hope he continues to move further away from the ape-ing of tired action/hollywood/matrix/tarantino genre cliches that has riddled his previous projects.....

[–] StainBoy 19 years ago

The first time I watched Versus I liked it. The second time, I got kind of bored. But then when I watched it again with the director/cast commentary, I was cracking up the entire time - the best commentary I have ever listened to. My favorite Kitamura film has been Azumi - like you said, the sheer scope and feel of the film is superior to his other efforts - but my second favorite is Sky High. Then Versus, and then Aragami. I think Sky High is very similar to Azumi - both are highly manga-esque fantasy epics, but set in different time periods. Neither film is really great, but they are incredibly fun to watch. And I think that is Kitamura's goal - to entertain his audience for every scent they're worth. He is not the best Japanese film-maker, but at least he's not boring.

[–] aznraverb0ii 19 years ago

To me.
he is the best japanese film maker.
I am a Ryuhei Fan.
I loooooove Versus alot because i love the meaning and history of the movie. and i like how it was made and i think the movie was great with a 7-8kUS budget.

Azumi is also good and is up there with versus.
if i had to pick Azumi and Aragami would be his best work out of everything he did.

I personally loved Aragami because it was original and i loved the dialogue.

Sky High on the other hand was an alright movie.
there isn't anything so good about it...

the action is pretty cool as usual. but the story just seemed a bit too awkward and a bit disjointed at the end.
overall 7/10

[–] aznraverb0ii 19 years ago

Please I feel like I'm in the dark about something what is the big deal with Ryuhei Kitamura, cause not that good and he recycles his techniques, I swear I thought I was watching Versus towards the end of Sky High.
_______________________________________________________________________________

There more like Trademarks. and i love his stuff.
True he uses the same technique but most action directors do.
but They change a bit everytime to make it look better.

[–] sirtmagus_2000 19 years ago

Versus was the biggest piece of *beep* I've ever seen. It's like Kitamura ate film and shat out Versus.

What the HELL is his appeal?

[–] Dxamanda 19 years ago

Personally, I like Ryuhei Kitamura because I think he's one of the best action directors working today (and my favorite director). I'm not sure what it was.. after I saw Versus it literally made me like action films more than I already did. The mixture of guns and swords were awesome, not to mention Versus is the only film I've ever seen where Japanese yakuza zombies are firing guns. Versus was just so.. "cool".

After that, I got obsessed with him, and got four more of his movies, including Sky High. His movies are just the *beep* and the soundtracks to the five movies of his I've seen are some of my personal favorite movie soundtracks. I just love Kitamura's style, and all of his movies I've seen.

I died then I thought of you and came back to life.
How can you think if you're dead?

[–] The_Magical_Negro 19 years ago

I just watched the Sky High Director's Cut DVD last night. I really liked this film. I have also seen Versus and Azumi. It really felt like Kitamura matured as a filmmaker when he did this movie. The love story felt a lot like the movie Ghost (Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg), with elements from Versus thrown in. There wasn't as much action in this as Kitamura's previous stuff, but I found the story so captivating, the movie never really got boring or dragged to me. I liked all the action in Versus and Azumi but, they felt more like action set-pieces strung together without much a story or narrative. Yumiko Shaku is really coming into her own as an actress. She did a good job in this movie. The guy who played Kanzaki did a superb job as well...............

"She gotta GREAT ass and you got your head stuck all the way up it!!" --Lt. Vincent Hanna, Heat

[–] Kawada_Kira (7269) 6 years ago

Versus was plain awful. Absolutely awful. I've rarely enjoyed a movie less. Although I will admit it had a couple of worthwhile moments.

Sky High was... mediocre. At best. But it's not as bad as Versus, which was actively painful for me to sit through.