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| 3 Extremes |
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List Price: $27.98
Buy New: $14.49
You Save: $13.49 (48%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $6.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 21 reviews)
Sales Rank: 11796
Category: DVD
Directors: Takashi Miike, Fruit Chan, Chan-wook Park
Publisher: Lions Gate
Studio: Lions Gate
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
Label: Lions Gate
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Special Edition, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: Cantonese Chinese (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language), Korean (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 125 minutes
Number Of Items: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 031398178002
EAN: 0031398178002
ASIN: B000CRR3ME
Release Date: February 28, 2006
Theatrical Release Date: November 30, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The idea of unleashing three of Asia's wildest directors in the same omnibus film is a terrific one, and putting the likes of Miike Takashi and Park Chan-wook to work in the Twilight Zone-style mini-feature is mouth-watering for fans. (Just look at what happened when Miike made an installment of Showtime's Masters of Horror series--it was deemed too crazy for broadcast.) Alas, the results are a letdown. First up, "Dumplings," is from Hong Kong's Fruit Chan, and it's the most cogent (and ickiest) of the bunch. Bai Ling plays a specialist in preparing dumplings that promise to restore youth and health for her customers; the weird part is she also runs a particular clinic on her premises. Ugh. The Korean offering from Park Chan-wook is "Cut," a warp on filmmaking about a self-centered director who gets trapped at his home (or is it the set of his new movie?) by a deranged former extra. The sadistic machinations here make Hannibal Lecter look reasonable, and the segment gets points for weirdness, but Park's take on revenge fantasies is much more exciting in Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Miike represents Japan with "Box," which really is in the spirit of an old Outer Limits episode, complete with a "gotcha" ending that doesn't seem worth the trouble. Sure, twins are always a good topic for horror, but this segment is a long way to travel for not much. All three segments look good--there's little hint of the grindhouse cheapie here--but overall it's a disappointment. --Robert Horton
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Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
An okay watch May 31, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Previously called Three, this movie was actually made 2 years before Three...Extremes was released. I really did not like this movie as I did with the previous Three...Extremes. I'll be reviewing this just like I did with the first Three Extremes since these are three different directors working on three different short movies. The film makers didn't work on the same script or with each other.
The first story 'Memories' comes from Korea by Ji-woon Kim, the director of A Tale of Two Sisters. His story tells of a husband and wife. We learn that the husband has been searching for his wife who ran off one day. But then we see a woman who we definitely assume is his wife. She has woken up in the middle of the street but has no idea who or where she is and all she has is a telephone number from a dry cleaners receipt. Every time she calls the number it doesn't work. Soon she begins to remember things. Soon after that creepy things start to happen. She is covered in mysterious bruises and severed fingers begin falling out of nowhere. The husband also acts very suspicious and is lugging around a heavy mysterious bag.I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy but you can probably see where this story is heading. You pretty much get where the story would end up from after the first 15 minutes. I did enjoy the idea for this story and the few shocks and surprises did make it worth watching. I really enjoyed this director's style. He did the same thing in Two sisters where things seem bright and beautiful on the outside but inside things are dark and more sinister. Thats what I usually get from his style anyways. This is my second favorite story and from what Ive read on further websites this story seems to be the most popular one.
The Wheel is from the director of Nang Nak. Thai director Nonzee Nimibutr brings us a story of cursed Puppets (yeah thats all it really was, cursed puppets). It doesn't sound exciting and yes its exactly as it sounds. I'm not really sure how the wheel title came along. Basically the only person who can control the puppets were the original owner. I guess these puppets were stolen so its hard to say where they came from. You can skip this story, it's was very boring and is my least favorite of all three entires. I don't blame the actors for this even though I'm sure they were taking cues from the director to be more scared. Its not that the puppets were going after people, its just that strange things were happening. It deals with drowning, random fires, deaths and a possessed little girl. The only thing that I probably enjoyed about this movie was that in a few parts the puppets were like Voodoo dolls. Sadly that's about it.
Going Home is from the producer of all 'The Eye' movies (including the American remake), Peter Chan from Hong Kong weaves a story of kidnapping, death and love. Going Home tells the story of two men. The first man is a single father, Chan (a police officer) and his son Cheung have just moved into a new apartment. An apartment which will be torn down in about a month, everyone else in the building has moved out. The only other tenants are Yu and his wife, who is paralyzed from the waist down. Also there is a mysterious little girl who looks to be about 2 years old, we believe this to be the couple's daughter. One day Cheung goes missing, Chan works at night so he does not notice until later. After sleeping all day he goes searching for him. He believes that Yu has kidnapped his son and enters his apartment to investigate. The only thing he finds is Yu's wife dead in a bathtub. Yu has been waiting for her to wake up, afraid that Chan will tell what he has seen. Yu holds him captive because his wife will wake in three days and after that, everything will be fine.
This story was definitely my favorite. It had the most depth and meaning behind it. The movie doesn't really start off like it, it's more of a love story. The ending to Going Home is also very shocking. This short goes a little bit into the distrust of western medicine and the power of the old Chinese medicine. It's hard for me to say too much because I really could go on and ruin the ending by mistake. But if you are a romantic like me then you'll definitely love this story. Sadly the Three...Extremes 2 DVD doesn't include anything special like the first one. You can check out some cool trailers to other movies that are currently on sale and that will be heading to theatres.
Not a popcorn movie!! May 31, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
First of all this guy John, has no idea what he's talking about. The series is NOT called "THREE", it is called "Three Extremes." Hence the name "3 Extremes." The first part is better than the second, the first being the one with "Dumplings", which is the best picture on the disc. This one I found quite boring, until the last picture, which was "Going Home". After seeing this, and Stephen Chows, "Kung-Fu Hustle", I gained a deep respect for Chinese Cinema. If you have any respect for great cinematogrophy, and plot, this is worth renting.
 tasty little nuggets or terror (4.5 stars) May 9, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
so, this review is for 3-Extremes, which in actuality, as all the neurotic fanboys have pointed out, is the 2nd volumne in the series.
"Dumplings" by Fruit Chan:
To start things off we have the shortened version of Fruit Chan's "Dumplings". The twist, which in this day and age might seem a bit trite, is still incredibly effective in it's portrayal of the levels of desperation people, be they men or women, in this case a woman, will sink in order to achieve eternal beauty. The scene where Bai Ling is retrieving and eventually chopping up the main ingredient to her prized dumplings is disturbing, and I have seen some sick, depraved things in films before.
Rating: 5 out of 5
"Cut" by Park Chan-Wook:
"Oldboy" director Chan-Wook Park serves us up a piece of symbolic dreamlike horror with his installment. I think, from the other reviews I've read, that this segment gets an unfair amount of flack. Park is a man who uses symbolism in his films, so there is a lot more to this story than just a bitter extra trying to teach a supposedly "always nice, perfectly flawless" director a lesson, that everyone can be a horrid monster. I could go into the details of every little thing that makes this the perfect bit of cinema that it is, but that would take far far too long. There is a great, intelligent, insightful discussion about it on the IMDb boards, so I suggest, if curious to look into that.
Rating: 5 out of 5
"Box" by Takashi Miike:
A total psychological mind-**** from Audition director Takashi Miike. It focuses, or so we're lead to believe, around a young isolated woman who suffers deep regret for "accidentally" killing her fellow circus sideshow sister at a young age by trapping her in a box and stumbling into a lantern, casuing the tent to bo up in ablaze. (if this part is accuare I'm not sure, I actually haven't watched the film since February.) This is, although a short film, probably Miike's most spectacularly shot film.
Rating: 4 out of 5
 WTF ??????? May 3, 2006
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
All I have to say is WTF??? I can never get back those 2 hours I wasted watching this crap. I am a fan of Asian movies (particularly HORROR) but I can not believe what I just saw.
I wish I could give it less than a 1 star rating. What was everyone else watching???
 Authentic Horror April 28, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Three extremes is comprised of three short films directed by an all-star squad of Asian directors. They span the dramatic horizon; from the ornate baroque of "Cut" to the taunt minimalism of "The Box," there seems to be little that unites these films other than, perhaps, some general rubric like "horror." But one must be tentative when using a word like that, these films have little affinity to the stock and standard modes of American horror. Viewers hoping for piercing sound effects and knife-wielding mystical psychopaths, those that we've grown so accustomed to within the genre, will be sorely disappointed. The horror projected from these films thrives through its point of reference to all too common social/human phenomenon. That is not to say that these films do not present their characters in grotesquely mutated situations. They do. But the true horror, and coherence, of these films lies, not in their mystical novelty - or in our symapthy with the protagonists - but in their very extreme.
Park's "Cut" and Chan's "Dumplings" stand out as truly remarkable. Miike's "The Box" comes off a bit weak by comparison. The starkest moments in Miike are underplayed to such an extent that the film comes off as indigestable to a common audience.
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Copyright Runningonkarma.com 2006
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