Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Polaris_DiB 20 movies into his oeuvre and I still never know what to expect. Miike makes a sentimental nostalgia flick? REALLY? According to the ArtsMagic DVD edition summary, this movie is loosely autobiographical, and set in Miike's place of origin. This could explain the warm quality and lighthearted sentiment of the film. I also think that some of it was some rather good decision making on his part because it's a coming of age story that seeks optimism beyond the perverse. However, that does make the trademark violence and death stick out a little awkwardly in this particular one.Three friends graduate school after playing a prank on and robbing their teacher. One, the fire-hearted Riichi, basically drives the drama as a young man who doesn't fully understand himself and expresses himself with violence and a domineering attitude. After he breaks up with his long-time girlfriend, the people who love and care for Riichi have to grow up and take care of themselves while looking out for Riichi, who spirals through depression and passivity as he is finally confronted with life in the real world.This movie has some very unique use of music that I think is what really pulls it together. I also like how Riichi's violence is considered the optimistic and productive side of growing up as opposed to his reticence. Such a reversal of explicit content to reflect conservative values would later be put to an extremely higher level in the much more famous (and much better done) Visitor Q.--PolarisDiB

sc8031 This is a pretty entertaining Miike film which suffers mainly from an anti-climatic and slow storyline. It is still quite entertaining and contains several distinct Miike touches, but the compelling nature of the characters and their locale is somewhat hurt by the strange pacing and repetitive activity. The storyline centers around Riike and his relationship with his high-school sweetheart, Ryoko, soon after the two leave high-school. Riike is now a petty street-mobster who makes a living protecting street vendors and low-level gamblers while Ryoko works in a hair salon. The film investigates how the violent side of Riike's personality is necessary for him to maintain close relationships with his friends and girlfriend.The movie takes place in a neighborhood of Osaka, Miike's hometown, and is shot mostly with local actors. It's interesting that most of the guys in this film are notably un-handsome, while the girls are typically attractive. The film actually comedically riffs on this a couple of times.And the comedy here is pretty good. The movie is a weird mix of slapstick and goofy comedy, non-lethal violence and occasional tragedy -- typically eccentric Miike. No single element is too affecting and perhaps that is why the movie falls a little short. I do admire Miike's versatility and ability to play each angle against each other -- at times it is even reminiscent of Takeshi Kitano's direction. This is not a total surprise considering Kitano has appeared in at least a couple of Miike films.The acting here is competent, but not exactly powerhouse stuff, but then again I wouldn't expect that from the material. It's an entertaining look at the lives of several mischievous teens after they've left high school and the story contains some auto-biographical elements of both the director and writer (Osaka natives). It's entertaining but the pacing holds it back occasionally. Still Miike proves himself pretty versatile and the charming jokes and random Dada-esquire vignettes won me over (the search for 67 degrees, for instance). I'll certainly be interested in checking out the other films in the same series.

movieman_kev Three teenagers in Osaka, two boys and a girl, attempt to deal with life after recently finishing high school. They deal with break-ups, new love, beatings, happy times and sad in a more personal tale than Takashi Miike is usually known for. Esentually a slice-of-life coming of age movie with little Miike touches so you can tell it's one of his films. "Young Thugs: Innocent Blood" seems to get a bit of a short shift among certain Miike connoisseurs, but it's a pretty good film in it's own right.My Grade: B- DVD Extras: Takashi Miike interview; Osaka's History and culture; Bio/Filmographies; and original Trailer

lleeheflin In the last 3 months I have bought and watched 21 Miike films. I am a FAN!! I just watched this one tonight, and so far it, and FULL METAL YAKUZA are my least favorites. In general I am not a fan of movies about the trials and tribulations of 18/19 year olds, and to my mind the ones in this film were more boring than most. Only a couple of them (2 of the guys) had any real 'character' to speak of. While the girls were, for the most part, all hair and blank stares. Their lives started out 'no where' and ended 'no where' with very little in between. For a Miike film, even the cinematography was rather boring. On the other and the use of 'Western' music to try and give some 'life' to all the non-action was very well done. (Miike uses Western music to great effect in many of his films.) Which brings me to the one scene that totally transcended the rest of the film and made watching the whole thing worth the time spent. Having broken up with the least interesting of the 3 young men, one of the girls is forlornly riding a street car to the sound of flamenco guitar. The scene cuts to the bar/café where one of the other young men works as a cook. An older woman we had seen incidentally early in the film comes out from behind a curtain dressed in black sequins and rhinestones and starts to dance to the guitar music (which has continued to play), much to the amazement of the others in the bar. Her moves are OK but not great. The scene continues to cut back and froth from the girl on the street car becoming more and more despondent, to the woman dancing. Each time it cuts to the dancer her costume has become more and more authentic as does her dancing. Finally she has become totally transformed into an astonishing dancer of great power, while the young girl has become totally lost. The finale of this sequence is classic Miike!!! The whole thing was mesmerizing! But then we are dropped right back into the land of the boring. For another 30 or 40 minutes. Towards the end, Miike does throw in a moment of great fun, a kind of gloss on the American wild boys in a car theme. But that then trails off into the sappiest ending one could possibly imagine. If you want to see Miike do 'young people' and do it brilliantly then watch LEY LINES, CITY OF LOST SOULS, and BLUES HARP. These are some of his best films. Only if you are a die-hard Miike fanatic should you bother with this one.