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Takashi Miike

Miike makes films that others wouldn't dare to make. He came to film making the old fashioned way, working his way up from production hand until eventually, during Japan's straight to video boom era, he got his chance to direct.

His first cinematic release was Shinjuku Triad Society, a fairly standard triad film in 95, since then he has directed over 60 films. He first hit Western audiences with Audition, a cold chilling torture film that led the way for films like Hard Candy and Hostel. That was a golden period for Miike, he followed Audition with the Dead Or Alive trilogy, and then his masterpiece Ichi The Killer.

His films show graphic violence and sex, and often start of as standard genre films, and end in a weird surrealist twist. Some times he starts a film one way and ends another, like Gozu, its a standard gangster film for about 35 minutes, the last half is a surreal mind twist with mother issues. And in other times like in One Missed Call, he starts and ends with a weird horror film.

Western film directors and audiences are big fans of Miike's, with Tarantino starring in his film Sukiyaki Western Django, his horror film One Missed Call has just been remade for western audiences, he was one of the directors chosen for the masters of horror series and he was asked to do a special cameo in Hostel. There is no doubt that Miike could never have made a career in Hollywood, his films are way to disturbing for mainstream audiences.

The test for most people is the opening scene in Ichi The Killer, if you can sit through that scene, then Miike may be the director for you, if not, his extreme violence and sexual challenging nature will be way to much for you.


What members say | Filmography

Takashi Miike - what members say


  • Audition
  • Audition review by daemonicus1980 from London, UK
    Rated - 4 stars KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN! 13 April 2004
    ...nothing you've seen before, I promise! all I can say is I'm in complete awe of Takashi Miike to have the imagination to create this movie and then to have sold the idea to ...  
  • Shinjuku Triad Society
  • Shinjuku Triad Society review by from Edinburgh, Scotland
    Rated - 4 stars Not Miike's usual style but a good film all the same 14 April 2005
    ...This doesnt follow the usual antics of a Takashi Miike pesentation such as the twisted psyche of Gozu or the downright sickness of Visitor Q. Its more of a detective trying ...  
  • Ichi The Killer
  • Ichi The Killer review by Benjani from Cornwall, England
    Rated - 5 stars Please Read Carefully... 11 December 2004
    ...story in here but it sometimes becomes difficult to follow because the director Takashi Miike has had to fit so much in. I truly love this film which some people might find ...  

Takashi Miike - filmography


  • Gozu on DVD (2003)
    Starring: Hideki Sone,  Sho Aikawa,  Kimika Yoshino
    Director: Takashi Miike
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    This wildly bizarre Japanese horror movie from master Takeski Miike (AUDITION) follows the mysterious disappearance of Brother, a gangster who was accidentally killed by one of his Mafia cohorts, Minami. Searching for Brother's body--which vanished minutes after he was shot--Minami stumbles into a ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 56% from 1,867 member
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  • Dead Or Alive: Final on DVD (2002)
    Starring: Sho Aikawa,  Maria Chen
    Director: Takashi Miike
    Certificate: Certificate:
    The ace cop of a totalitarian police force and a drifting android play their parts in a post-apocalyptic society. They are destined to fight. Their encounter will change them forever.
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 54% from 270 members
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  • Agitator on DVD (2001)
    Starring: Mickey Curtis,  Yoshiyuki Daichi
    Director: Takashi Miike
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    Violence between two families of Yakuza begin when a young Yakuza harasses the customers at a rival's nightclub. When the feud results in the death of a prominent crime boss, Kenzaki vows vengeance for the death.
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 53% from 769 members
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  • City Of Lost Souls on DVD (2000)
    Starring: Michele Reis,  Ren Osugi,  Akaji Maro
    Director: Takashi Miike
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    THE CITY OF LOST SOULS is the fruit of Japanese auteur Takashi Miike's (AUDITION) collaboration with the Hong Kong film industry, a dazzling gangster picture that mixes the absurd, brutal violence, and the surreal freely. The film stars Michelle Reis as Kei, a young Chinese woman who is in love ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 55% from 1,007 member
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  • Dead Or Alive 2 on DVD (2000)
    Starring: Sho Aikawa,  Noriko Aota,  Edison Chen
    Director: Takashi Miike
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    When the assassin Otamoko is hired to make a hit, he is shocked when a rival hitman gets there before him but chooses to take the money anyway and flee from the gangsters who control his life. Returning to the island of his childhood he discovers that the rival hitman was his friend Sawada and the ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 59% from 950 members
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  • Audition on DVD (1999)
    Starring: Ryo Ishibashi,  Eihi Shiina,  Tetsu Sawaki
    Director: Takashi Miike
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    AUDITION is an art-house cult horror film that will be talked about for a long time to come. Ryo Ishibashi stars as Aoyama, a single father who has not dated since his wife died seven years earlier. To help find another woman to bring joy into Aoyama's charmless life, his best friend, television ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 62% from 15,626 members
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  • Ley Lines on DVD (1999)
    Starring: Sho Aikawa,  Samuel Pop Aning,  Yukie Itou
    Director: Takashi Miike
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    LEY LINES is the concluding part of Miike Takashi's thematically linked Triad Society trilogy. It follows the story of three young boys from rural Japan who move to Tokyo in search of excitement and find thrills of a sort when in the notoriously sleazy Shinjuku district. After sliding into a life ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 57% from 625 members
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  • Rainy Dog on DVD (1997)
    Starring: Sho Aikawa,  Lianmei Chen,  Ming-Jun Gao
    Director: Takashi Miike
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    RAINY DOG is the second in Miike Takashi's Triad Society trilogy which is linked by theme rather than character. This installment focuses on Yuuji, a loner who works as a triad hitman. His world is turned upside down when his ex-wife dumps a small boy, who may or may not be his son, on his doorstep.
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 59% from 922 members
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  • Sabu on DVD
    Starring: Fujiwara Tatsuya,  Satoshi Tsumabuki
    Director: Takashi Miike
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    ramed for a crime he did not commit, Eiji is subjected to the harsh realities of the Ishikawa Island workhouse. Sabu, Eiji's longtime friend, must discover who is responsible for Eiji's incarceration, before the prison life consumes him completely.
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 54% from 279 members
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  • Osaka Tough Guys
    Starring: Sei Hiraizumi,  Kentaro Nakakura,  Hachiro Oka
    Director: Takashi Miike
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    Makoto and Eiji are two friends that have been ejected from the school. In order to get money, they answer and advertisement on a magazine that supposedly offers a good job, but in reality this is just a swindle made by the Kinsu family to get new members for the group. Once they are members of the ..read more »
    Rate this: 1.5 stars out of 5 26% from 3 members
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Takashi Miike facts

5 most recent films

Masters Of Horror - Series 1 - Vol.2 - 3.0 stars
Three Extremes - 3.0 stars
One Missed Call - 2.5 stars
Gozu - 3.0 stars
Dead Or Alive: Final - 2.5 stars

5 highest-rated films

Ichi The Killer - BLU-RAY Version - 3.5 stars
Ichi The Killer - 3.0 stars
Happiness Of The Katakuris - 3.0 stars
Masters Of Horror - Series 1 - Vol.2 - 3.0 stars
Audition - 3.0 stars

5 lowest-rated films

Osaka Tough Guys - 1.5 stars
Family 1 / Family 2 - 2.5 stars
One Missed Call - 2.5 stars
Sukiyaki Western Django - 2.5 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Sho Aikawa - 6 times - show films
Ren Osugi - 5 times - show films
Susumu Terajima - 5 times - show films
Alien Sun - 4 times - show films
Sabu - 4 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Dario Argento - 1 times - show films
Larr - 1 times - show films
Tobe Hooper - 1 times - show films
C - 1 times - show films
Fruit Chan - 1 times - show films


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