Cheap Zero Woman - The Hunted (Video) (Daisuke Gotoh) Price

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Customer Reviews of Zero Woman - The Hunted

That's one of the thoughts that Rei (zero in Japanese, hence Zero Woman) thinks at the beginning of this crime drama. She's lean and has a pretty yet haunted look on her, but she's a skillful operative with gun or sword, and in one instance, a butcher's hook. Yet despite the experience she's had shooting criminals, it's eating her away. "Killing still makes me shiver. It makes want someone to hold me."

Rei is assigned to intercept a suitcase of stock certificates worth ten million dollars, but a group of young Chinese punks intercept the suitcase and flee. The suitcase is handcuffed to a gangster, but that doesn't stop them. A swift chop of the sword and there's off, hand and all. After that, she is assigned a partner in Kishima and she instantly falls for him, leading to a really hot sex scene at his flat. Her investigations lead to a fortune-telling shop owned by Ann, who happens to be the sister of one of the thieves. A nice visual image is made by the pattern of yellow and red flower petals swirling in the glass vase at her shop.

The yakuza, whose leader has a penchant for shooting things on his video camera, are also after the stock certificates and the thieves. He also has a nasty younger brother who rapes Ann when he finds her.

I also detect a note of realism this drama tried to achieve. One was Rei chasing after one of the thieves. After an extended chase, both are winded, and there isn't the usual Hollywood action scene where the cop tackles the bad guy, says "Gotcha!" or "Hands up!" Instead, they take turns at a fountain in the woods, Rei keeping her gun trained while she takes a drink. Another is a really graphic surgery scene involving the extraction of a bullet with an exacto knife and pliers. Ouch!

Ozawa Natsuki (Rei) was a Japanese centerfold model and she appears topless quite a lot in the movie, including one where she drives with one hand and pulls the top of her dress down to wipe some spilled blood. Memo: add hand-eye coordination to her assets.

A very high body count in this movie, with lots of violence and blood, and yes my initial reaction to this when comparing it to Zero Woman Returns may have been harsh, but this isn't as bad as I initially made out to be.

Zero Woman - Not Just a Pretty Face!
Japanese media "Idol" Chieko Shiratori demonstrates she comes by her status honestly by taking a turn as the icy cool Zero Woman in this intriguing Asian thriller. For an interesting discussion of the Idol phenomenon in Pacific Rim culture, see cyberpunk novelist William Gibson's great book, "Idoru" (available right here at Amazon), but in the meantime let's just say that Shiratori's images are all over the internet, as well as prominently featured in Japanese fashion magazines. But can she act? On the evidence presented in "Dangerous Game," some might say yes, and call for more! An unusual film for an Asian thriller, "Dangerous Game" has plenty of blood and violence, but the development of the two female characters who take up most of the screentime here (Shiratori's Rei - assassin and, in this film, bodyguard - and the cranky gangster's moll turned prosecution witness Rei is assigned to keep alive) is unusually rich, and their blossoming relationship runs somewhat counter to the expectations of this testosterone-laden genre. Shiratori has an engaging presence onscreen - beautiful, powerful, but with a touch of melancholy intelligence that transcends the comic-book limitations of her character. "Zero Woman - Dangerous Game" is an entertaining diversion, and hopefully a sign of good things to come from Shiratori; a woman who, with serious material and a skilled director, could perhaps bring her own, uniquely Japanese strain of the "velvet and steel" Asian woman to worldwide film audiences that has made Gong Li an international star.

Not bad actioner with the sexiest Rei yet!
A crime ring led by corporate head Daidohji hires a hitman, Katsumura, to take out Rei, who has intercepted some information being delivered to them by one of their colleagues.

However, Rei is in a bit of a slump. Not only does she shoot a criminal and leave him bleeding without killing him, she is haunted by the death of her father when she was a girl. Her boss tells her that she needs to go after Daidohji and his gang. "Failure could mean the end of Division Zero. Become a machine, or else you'll get yourself caught up." The translation's "tangled up" seems a better choice of words.

Rei runs into Katsumura and the two end up in bed. Yet Katsumura, attracted to her even though he has a girlfriend, Tomomi, hesitates in killing her, which is professionally very bad for a hitman. This puts him on very shaky ground with Daidohji, who demands him to get rid of Rei ASAP.

Rei too is hesitant, not only because of their encounter, but because of the traumatic memories of her father. She's also burned out of killing, yet she tries to do it on her own terms. Other times, she wishes she were dead.

The motion of the characters are kind of jerky in places, so it doesn't look like it was shot on film but rather some video camera. And people who have movies distributed by Asia Pulp Cinema can discover where the theme music used in APC's preview for coming attractions came from--here.

There is a higher degree of action here, with a shootout scene in a maze of metal shelves akin to that of a Western. In fact there is a bluesy harmonica that comes into play at times. Another time, Rei spots Katsumura and says to herself, "Doc Holliday."

I've only seen the first three Zero Womans, this one included, but Kumiko Takeda is by far the sexiest Rei I've ever seen. It's those pointed and pronounced eyebrows, plus those eyes that do it for me. However, for a better quality movie with Takeda, check out Close Your Eyes And Hold Me.

With the Zero Woman series taken over by Asia Pulp Cinema, yes, there is more violence, blood, and sex than when ZW was distributed by Tokyo Shock. However, it isn't made clear exactly what business Daidohji is into, and we never find out what causes Katsumura's bad dreams. Also, the ending left me as disillusioned and angry as Rei, and for that I knock this down a star. Worth as a time-killer and for looking at Kumiko Takeda.