Tokyo Tribe [Blu-ray]

Bizarre..?If you can make it past the 1st 20 minutes and let everyone get their "hip Hop introduction" out of the way the movie settles into a better groove...Now don't get me wrong, there's still more musical bits...after all it IS a MUSICAL COMEDY...(this is in stark contrast to the source material which is cool at best traumatizing at worst)The sets are impressive. Full of color, graffiti, bling and grunge that I guess Sono believes is inherent to the Japanese Hip Hop scene. This also translates to the characters. The wilder looking ones you see are actually Japanese Hip Hop stars and those are their trademark looks.To get the plot out of the way...A small "squabble" between 2 middle ranking gang members serves as the catalyst for a massive turf war between the gangs. Things get more complicated as the daughter of the Boss of a secret cult goes missing among the gang chaos. That's pretty much it...heck I think the latter if forgotten by the end...lolIMO notable characters are Mera who is an absolute boss...I mean you have to be to rap your intro wearing nothing but a thong...lol. Erika an adorable tomboy who's scrappier than most of the guys around her. Yon a young kid who's basically a Bboy ninja...There's a guy who is sure to annoy some and that is Buppa the Big Boss...he basically spends the movie acting like a disgusting buffoon...but you need to understand, in the comic/manga/anime he's a 7 foot tall 500lb repulsive degenerate... so Riki Takeuchi(actor) is doing the best he can...lolThe beats are dope, some of the rymes are tight and the girls are gorgeous...it's a good time!

"TT" reminds me of the following:1) Lyricist Lounge; 2) Game (Recordings) Girls; 3) The Warriors; 4) some of the eccentricities of Japan; and 5) the (d)evolution of "American" Hip-Hop.I love the sets and costume work. Props to the crew(s) there. Would definitely watch this again just for those elements.Is the music perfect? No, but it isn't terrible either. I'm picky, but could still rock with it. The crews and their sounds represent very well some of the "cultural" shifts I've seen in Hip-Hop over the years. A few of the beats are actually kinda ill. Judging from the subs, some of the lyrics harken back to the golden era of messages and political activism.Overall, TT's not perfect, but it's I still F'in Loved It.

Not one of Sono's best movies, but for the most part it being somewhat loosely based off the manga (Tokyo Tribes) and the anime (Tokyo Tribes 2), I found it enjoyable. The beginning like, had a really great plot but towards the end, I guess it just gets quickly overshadowed by who has the biggest dick (literally).For what it's worth, it is definitely worth a rental if you like Sion Sono's movies.Edit: Before watching this, I'd probably take a gander at reading or seeing the anime first as it was based off both rather loosely. Plus it'll give you a new form of satisfaction after watching it. Even if the ending was kinda just out there.

Hi - westerner here: I didn't understand this movie. I was a big fan of the manga (I still own the whole first series), but unfortunately it seems this wasn't too closely based on that. Visually beautiful movie though, and on that alone I'll give it a 3/5.

Most of the dialogue is in rap form. There are a ton of characters and a few sub story lines that are not resolved. It was entertaining but I would not call it a good movie. The English sub title translation seemed really poor at times. It was over the top and dramatic kind of like a musical. Some scenes were bloody with a lot of fighting but the gore was not realistic. There were some sappy/cheesy parts to this movie for sure

Saw a trailer on YouTube and it looked very interesting. Not a big fan of hip hop but this was amazing. Great track to listen to and a awesome cast. Two thumbs all the way up!!!

This is what Fiction is all about.A great yakuza comedy!wish they could come up with a better connection between people.... seems like either they gave up about details or they didnt care about details because it is a ridiculous story anyway.

Would be more, but they lost me on the last scene. It almost looks like they ran out of money and had to skip the editing. Other than that I really enjoyed this movie.

Shion Sono (`Love Exposure') started his career as a poet before entering film making. Here we have both talents to the fore. This is an alternative or futuristic Tokyo where the areas of the City are ruled and controlled by 23 gangs or `tribes'. If you like `The Warriors' then you will get this angle. They are all fairly distinct; except the thing they all have in common is rap music and hip hop (or hippitty hoppetty to the older out there amongst you).*May contain mild plot spoilers*.There is a lot of nudity on display with a plot line that seems to have forgotten to take its Ritalin and has let the imagination go wild - I was reminded a few times of the wonderful Peter Greenaway. The plot is all around taking control of Tokyo, sexual exploitation, cannibalism, sado masochism, bizarre outfits and hair styles and some `wicked beats' - as the `homies' say on the streets.The characters are all over the top, there is tons of fighting - using everything from Martial arts wire work to blinged up AK - 47's oh yes and a Gatling gun. There is a lot of English used in the raps - mostly the profane sort but also some rather brilliant portmanteaus such as `wan - ksta'.It is endlessly inventive in terms of the violence and the props as well as the lurid imaginations of all the over the top performances.This is enough to make you like hip hop - that is if you are not already a fan. Also I was a bit disappointed at first as I wanted this to be the usual type sci-fi violent film. However; once I had given it some time I just could not get enough. This is one I shall be raving about for some time to come. This is what cinema should do - excite, challenge, break the rules, make up some new ones and have a bloody good laugh - screamingly recommended.

This really caught me by surprise, I went in being a huge fan of Sion Sono but was unsure of this but thankfully I loved it. Totally bonkers, although a little less so than the directors other films, definitely one of his more 'mainstream ' films to date. The setting looks wonderful, very likable leads with an incredible beat and songs mixed with craziness and some good fight scenes. Very stylish and alot of fun 9/10

Sion Sono has definitely taken Takashi Miike''s crown for the most original, unpredictable and prolific director working in Japan. Who would have expected a hip hop musical martial arts spectacle that spans a single night when a yakuza turf war breaks out amongst the various tokyo tribes? Fairly confident it''s not quite like anything else you've seen.

Great Japanese Rap battle/Action movie, totally different to anything i have seen before

A great film. Fun and entertaining.