Based on the ANIME by Yasuomi Umetsu.

This has an intro by Samuel L. Jackson, a trailer, and a scene. I only watched it up to the trailer. I don't think any of it is final or studio approved, but it is "first look" shit. I've never seen the anime version.


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/aEcCkaRUTsc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I somehow think some elements of the anime version will be cut from this. Just a hunch.

Dude, elements of the anime version were cut from most Western releases of the anime version.

Never heard of the cartoon. Is this the movie for which David R. Ellis was scouting locations just prior to his sudden passing?

Kind of interesting. Not much to interest me but I've never heard of the property. Kite the anime any good? Is the manga/graphic novel any good?

Yes.

It's interesting. Worth watching (it's on Netflix).

This movie version has the visual fidelity of the No Doubt video that borrowed extensively from it over a decade ago. Looks bleh.

Finally watched the trailer and I am not impressed. It looks like DTV dreck. Is the cartoon or the comic at least any good?

It's worth watching imho. It was originally sold as something of an erotic anime (hentai) but wound up being better known for its visual style, dark story (albeit very straight forward, but with a lot of pretty fucked up little details) and exploding bullets. The I think has been removed from the US cut of the anime completely, which actually does reduce the impact of it a bit, but it's also an easier watch.

The original version was 60 minutes long, the cut version is like 45 minutes. Realistically if they wanted to do the remake right, they'd just remake Killer Joe and turn Juno Temple's character into a sexually molested hitman. Going for the same visual style of the anime will be one of its many downfalls, I expect to be watching this on Netflix in 6 months alongside the remake of Oldboy.

I've always dug the anime movie, but the live action version looks like shit.

I have two versions of the anime; one is the director's cut and I'm assuming that's the original 60-minute version (I'll check it when I get home).

I know, that's my point. Apparently the various sexual elements were censored for released in the US market to concentrate on the violence, and vice versa in other territories. I think the movie was brought up on obscenity charges somewhere, the US or the UK?

Sounds like UK. They're easy to throw that one around.

It was banned in Norway, per Wikipedia:

It's interesting you guys mention the US cut is only 45 minutes long because, according to Wikipedia, all versions are essentially 60 minutes long:

Either way, even with the censorship this doesn't sound like my cup of tea. So I'll pass on both the cartoon and the shitty looking live action movie.

EDIT: The same Wikipedia page also has the following breakdown.

As well as this:

Yeah, the first copy I have of KITE, dubbed in English, is 45 minutes and labeled "16 up." The Director's Cut, in Japanese with subs., is 60 min. and labeled "18 up." I still haven't watched the Director's Cut.

I finally got to see the cartoon (it was the uncut version as that's all that was available) and I found it incredibly boring. Perhaps since it's a production from the 90's but I found the action rather bland and the exploding bullets gimmick silly. It didn't help that the plot was trite at best. As for the art style, it looked pretty generic (even by 90's anime standards). I honestly don't understand why it has any cult status beyond the unnecessary rape/pedophilia scenes.

It just hit at the right place at the right time I suppose. I remember seeing it when I was 15 and thinking similarly to you, was sort of fascinated to see it become something of a cult hit. I wound up enjoying it a little more when I saw it again in college.

That said, it's like anything with cult status (ie: Boondock Saints), it may be shitty but there are some people that love it.

This is now available on demand. And yes, it's terrible.

The original anime was hugely infamous back in the day, after what I've read about it, I've given it a fairly wide berth, but back in the day when controversial ultra-adult anime was something talked about often, I remember hearing about this title. I wonder what the thought process behind this was, what was the market? A Redbox filler down the road? Late night cable?

The thought process was to make it like the US movie version of Kite that was originally released. A sort of teenage neo-noir with elements of Kill Bill and exploding bullets, sans the ultra graphic sex scenes.

Visually the anime lent itself to something that would look quite distinctive as a live action feature. Then came the Hype Williams directed music video that borrowed heavily from it. It was always going to be a B movie, but the guy that wound up directing it pretty much threw away every notion of stylistic potential that a feature would offer.

Had this movie come out when it was originally planned, it likely would have been a hyper real, Sin City style feature with bold coloring. But a decade and a dead director later, and it's simply limping to VoD.

I forgot about the No Doubt video and the KITE anime.

Looks like this film didn't impress much of anybody.

The previews looked interesting, so I bought it blind, and before reading how it was pretty well panned by everybody. But, I ended up liking it. Some of the scenes kind of dragged out long, and a lot of the acting could have been better, but the story as a whole was good, and India Eisley did a decent job in the lead role. There was definitely a certain amount of disbelief to suspend, but taken as a package deal, I thought it was okay.

Haven't seen the movie yet. I'm interested in seeing if they did the fall scene better than No Doubt.