Approach to Reviewing Japanese Cyberpunk Movies

Just a note on my Japanese Cyberpunk reviews. I’ve decided that in order to review these properly, I need to show some of the truly graphic shots. So far I’ve done this with I.K.U. and the just-updated Tetsuo, and I will certainly do this with Rubber’s Lover (review not up yet) and others as I review them. Why? Many reasons:

1. You really cannot understand what Japanese cyberpunk is about without seeing the visuals. The “no boundaries” aspect of these films involve the most intense visuals one can imagine. To me this means my reviews are incomplete unless I include the more graphic ones.
2. Chances are, most of you will never decide to watch these films. The textual reviews on the first page just don’t do them justice.
3. Worse, if you do decide to get them, and I just give you a taste (on the first page of the review) without really giving you a sense of what to expect, you really won’t be prepared for what you get. By showing you the more explicit pictures, you’ll know what you’re buying.

Again, I’m guessing for most, you will find these images beyond the pale. But, um, that’s the intent. I’m not trying to glorify what’s depicted, but I do think it’s necessary to see these if you really want to understand the genre as expressed in movies. I will clearly identify that these type of images are behind the link, so you won’t be surprised. So if you strongly object to these images (for a variety of very valid reasons), then the easy answer is don’t click on them.

And BTW, for me to decide to spend the time to do detailed screencaptures of a movie, the movie has to rank at least as high as 6 stars. I simply am not going to spend the time doing this on movies that are substandard. This rules out Tetsuo II: Bodyhammer, for instance.