In the film, fighters are invited to Dead or Alive, an invitational martial arts contest. The four female fighters begin as rivals, but work together to uncover the secret that the organizer of the tournament is trying to hide. It features an ensemble cast and has various appearances from characters of the franchise, led by Kasumi (Devon Aoki), Christie Allen (Holly Valance) and Tina Armstrong (Jaime Pressly).
DOA: Dead or Alive was first released on September 7, 2006, in Australia. It was later released in the United Kingdom on September 15 by United International Pictures, and in Germany on October 19, 2006, by Constantin Film. The film was a critical and commercial failure, grossing only $7.7 million worldwide against a $30 million budget, making it a box-office bomb. Due to the film's poor performance, the United States release was delayed and the film was eventually given a limited release on June 15, 2007, by The Weinstein Company under Dimension Films.
Plot
A group of martial arts and combat masters are invited to a fighting contest, "Dead or Alive", on an isolated island within an advanced complex, with the ultimate prize of $10 million.
Among the competitors are Kasumi, a shinobi ninja-princess looking for her brother Hayate who competed in the previous tournament; Tina, a professional wrestler setting out to prove herself; Tina's father Bass; Christie, a master thief and assassin; her treacherous partner Maximillian 'Max' Marsh; and Hayabusa, a friend of Kasumi and Hayate who follows Kasumi to keep her safe. A final competitor is Helena Douglas, daughter of the tournament's late founder.
When they arrive, they are monitored by the island's supervisor, Dr. Victor Donovan, who, aided by egghead Weatherby, is using injected nano-sensors to gather data from the fights for some mysterious project. Max and Christie plan to steal the fortune stowed away inside a hidden vault during the tournament. In addition, an assassin from Kasumi's colony, named Ayane, followed Kasumi to kill her and wipe away the disgrace the princess had caused to the clan.
The contest plays out, with multiple contestants fighting and being defeated until only Kasumi, Christie, Hayabusa, and Tina are left. Helena is defeated by Christie. During her fight, Christie sees that the key to finding and unlocking the vault is a tattoo on the back of Helena's neck.
Meanwhile, Kasumi begins to suspect Donovan of lying about her brother being killed in the previous tournament, and Hayabusa, infiltrating the main facility to find the truth, is captured. She is more than once confronted and nearly killed by Ayane, whom Kasumi tries to convince that Hayate is alive. Also, Weatherby begins to fall for Helena, and tells her about what he knows of the mystery project and that before Helena's father could shut the project down, he died mysteriously.
On the tournament's final day, wondering where Hayabusa is, Kasumi, Christie, and Tina look for him and discover a secret entrance to the main complex, where they find Hayabusa unconscious. They are then gassed and captured. Meanwhile, Helena resolves to stop the mystery project and has to fight the armed staff of the island, who are sent by Donovan to kill her and Weatherby. They are followed inside by Max, who finds his way to the vault and is knocked out by Bayman, who works for Donovan.
Inside the main complex, Donovan shows the four semifinalists the project he has been developing; an advanced form of neural interface that allows him and others to use the fighters' combined skills to become the ultimate fighter. After downloading the data into the device in the form of a pair of sunglasses, he reveals that he kept Hayate alive and in peak condition to test the technology. He defeats Hayate and prepares to sell the technology around the world and begins downloading it to the watching buyers. Weatherby stops the broadcast and alerts the CIA. Helena keeps Donovan back while Weatherby frees the others, but both are defeated, and Donovan activates a self-destruct sequence that will obliterate the base.
Kasumi, Helena, Christie, Tina, Ayane, and Hayate launch a combined attack on Donovan, while Hayabusa and Weatherby find Max and escape with him, despite Max's urge to return for the money. During the fight, Donovan's glasses are knocked off, and Hayate and Kasumi easily paralyze him. The fighters then all escape as the base explodes and Donovan is consumed by the flames. They hijack a boat from a group of pirates.
Later, Helena, Ayane, Christie, Tina, and Kasumi stand together again in Kasumi's palace preparing to fight an army of ninjas.
Collin Chou as Hayate, a ninja and Kasumi's brother who disappeared during the last tournament
Additionally, Derek Boyer plays as Bayman, a Russian soldier, while Silvio Simac appears as Leon, an Italian mercenary. Chad McCord plays the Chief Detective who tries to arrest Christie in Hong Kong, Martin Crewes plays Tina's Butler, and Robin Shou appears as the Pirate Leader. Several characters from the game series appear in minor roles played by stuntmen – Song Lin as Brad Wong, Ying Wang as Lei Fang, Hung Lin as Hitomi, and Fang Liu as Gen Fu.
Sarah Carter had worked with Natassia Malthe five times before and with Holly Valance three times.[7] The actors trained together for three months before going to China, where they trained for another month. Training included wu shu and kung fu, as well as wire training. The heat and humidity made the fight scenes particularly challenging. Another challenge was translation; on set, people spoke English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and the regional dialect of whatever area they were shooting in at the time.[7] Pressly had some previous experience with martial arts, training with her own trainer for nine years, and she had a recurring role in the Mortal Kombat television series.[9] Valance had trained in muay thai since her teens and found it more difficult to learn kung-fu as there were many things she had to relearn.[9]
Pressly praised the tireless work of director Corey Yuen and the crew, saying the crew worked two units, seventeen hours a day, getting four hours of sleep, and getting back up and doing it again.[7][9]
Release
The film was first released September 7, 2006 in Australia.[1] The film was released in North America on June 15, 2007, without press screenings.[10] The Weinstein Company delayed the US release of the film by almost a year.[11]
Box office
In non-North American markets, the film brought in over $7 million at the international box office, with almost $1million in both the UK and Australia. In the US, the film made $260,713 in its opening weekend.[5] It was released into 505 theaters,[12] and spent 21 days in theaters, closing on July 5 with a domestic gross of $480,813 (about 6.4% of the worldwide gross at the time). The film grossed $7.7 million worldwide.[5]
Critical response
Jaime Pressly was praised for her performance.
Reviews were generally negative. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 33% based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "With a ridiculous plot and comical acting, checking one's brain at the door is required before watching DOA: Dead or Alive."[15] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[16]
Joe Leydon of Variety called it a "whirring blur of hot babes and cool fights" but complained the film is insubstantial and not enough even to appeal to genre fans with lowered expectations, suggesting it belongs in the video store and on late night television. He described the film as "a caffeinated mash-up" of Enter the Dragon, Mortal Kombat, Charlie's Angels and a few other films, but did praise Yuen for his show-stopping spectacles and compared an outdoor sword fight saying it "looks like a collaboration between Gene Kelly and Bruce Lee".[6] Jack Mathews of the New York Daily News gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, calling it "laughably silly". He said the action was curiously bloodless, and the choreography not that good.[11] Josh Rosenblatt of the Austin Chronicle panned the film, saying "the most glaring problem with DOA: not that it goes too far but that it doesn't go far enough" and called the film: "A piece of garbage and the best argument for reading books since the first pop-up appeared."[17]
L.A. Weekly gave the film a favorable review comparing it to Charlie's Angels and praising the director for providing "one of the year's purest entertainments" and "pretty much nonstop fighting, mostly in very little clothing, with the flair you expect from a master choreographer like Yuen. It's awesome."[18] Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly gave it a grade "B" and wrote: "If you only ever see one bad movie about warrior chicks who meet on a tropical isle for a fight contest, make it DOA: Dead or Alive."[19] Michael Ferraro from Film Threat credited the film with the unusual accomplishment of following the plot of the game series it is based on, even including a volleyball sequence, although he is critical there is not all that much plot. He described the acting and dialog as atrocious, and is bored by the action and fighting but calls the result hilarious, and suggested it as the kind of film you might watch with a group of drunken friends, adding your own commentary track.[20] Kim Newman of The Times gave the film a positive review: "This is the best film yet adapted from a computer game — it doesn't even try to add depth and simply delivers what the fans expect (plenty of ninja babes) with as few trimmings as possible."[21] In 2011 in the book "Nightmare Movies: Horror on Screen Since the 1960s" Newman wrote: "If I had to pick a game-based 'guilty pleasure', it would be DOA: Dead or Alive".[22]
Of the performances, some critics were positive about Pressly,[10][13][14][23] and negative about Aoki.[13][23]
Home media
A DVD of DOA: Dead or Alive was released on September 11, 2007. In the first week, 68,578 units were sold in the United States, earning $1,370,874 and a #12 ranking on the week's DVD sales. In the United States and Canada, the DVD earned $1.9 million in domestic video sales.[5]
Tomonobu Itagaki is a Japanese video game designer best known for creating the Dead or Alive series and also reviving the Ninja Gaiden franchise in 2004. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.
Ninja Gaiden is a media franchise based on action video games by Tecmo featuring the ninja Ryu Hayabusa as its protagonist. The series was originally known as Ninja Ryukenden in Japan. The word "gaiden" in the North American Ninja Gaiden title means "side story" in Japanese. The original arcade version, first two Nintendo Entertainment System games and Game Boy game were released as Shadow Warriors in PAL regions. As of 2008, the series has shipped over 7.7 million copies.
Dead or Alive is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo. The gameplay of the series is primarily composed of fast-paced hand-to-hand combat in a 3-Dimensional playing field that began with the first game released in 1996, followed by five main sequels, numerous updates, spin-offs, printed media, a film adaptation, and merchandise.
Dead or Alive 3 is a 2001 fighting game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo for the Xbox console as one of its launch titles. It is the third main entry in the Dead or Alive fighting series following Dead or Alive 2 (1999), improving upon the gameplay and graphics in beautiful detail compared to that of its predecessors.
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball is a beach volleyball game by Tecmo released in 2003 exclusively for the Xbox. The game was a departure from the rest of the Dead or Alive series which otherwise consisted of fighting games. It also marked the first game in the series to have a Mature rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
Kasumi is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Dead or Alive fighting game series by Team Ninja and Tecmo. Kasumi serves as the main protagonist of the Dead or Alive franchise since its premiere in 1996. She was a main character in the first, second, and fifth games of the series and in the film adaptation, DOA: Dead or Alive.
Dead or Alive Ultimate is a compilation of fighting games developed by Team Ninja and released by Tecmo for the Xbox in 2004. It is a collection of the two previous games in the series, 1996's Dead or Alive and 1999's Dead or Alive 2. It marks the first game in the series to be a compilation. DOA Ultimate contains a high-resolution edition of the Sega Saturn version of Dead or Alive, and an enhanced remake of Dead or Alive 2 which utilizes a new graphics engine and offers Dead or Alive 3 game mechanics, new game content, and the inclusion of Hitomi as a playable character. The game offered online multiplayer capabilities, making the compilation among the first fighting games to offer online play.
Dead or Alive 2 is a 1999 fighting game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo. It debuted in arcades in 1999 and was later ported to the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 home systems in 2000. It is the second main entry in the Dead or Alive fighting series. Several enhanced editions of the game were released, including the updates Dead or Alive 2 Millennium and Dead or Alive 2 Hardcore.
The following is a list of characters from the Dead or Alive video game series, created by Tecmo and Team Ninja.
Dead or Alive 4 is a 2005 fighting game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo for the Xbox 360. It is the fourth main entry in the Dead or Alive fighting series following Dead or Alive 3 (2001).
Dead or Alive is a 1996 fighting game by Tecmo and the first entry in the Dead or Alive series. Built on the Sega Model 2 hardware, it was released first in arcades in 1996, followed by home ports for the Sega Saturn in Japan during 1997, and for the PlayStation in all regions during 1998.
Ayane is a fictional character in the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden franchises by Team Ninja and Tecmo. She debuted as a hidden unlockable character in the PlayStation version of the fighting game Dead or Alive in 1998, and has appeared in all of its sequels where she served as the protagonist of Dead or Alive 3, and has appeared in all of the series' spin-offs.
Ninja Gaiden 3 is a 2012 action-adventure game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo Koei. It is the sequel to Ninja Gaiden II, and was released worldwide for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 in March 2012. An updated version, titled Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, was released later that year, originally published by Nintendo for the Wii U, and later ported to multiple platforms.
Dead or Alive 5 is a 2012 fighting game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo Koei for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the fifth main entry in the Dead or Alive fighting series following Dead or Alive 4 (2005) and the first to have a multi-platform release since Dead or Alive 2 (1999), as well as the series' first installment that was released for the PlayStation 3.
Dead or Alive Paradise is a 2010 video game developed by Project Venus and published by Tecmo Koei for the PlayStation Portable as part of the Dead or Alive series. It is a PSP port of Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 for the Xbox 360, expanding upon the activities available in the original which consisted of mainly beach-related minigames.
Dead or Alive: Dimensions, abbreviated as DOAD, is a 2011 fighting video game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo Koei for the Nintendo 3DS. It is considered a compilation game rather than a truly new entry in the Dead or Alive series, similar to the likes of Tekken Tag Tournament; it offers 26 playable fighters, more than any previous installment in the franchise, and uses a modified engine of Dead or Alive 4. Its plot compiles the stories of the previous four main DOA games with additional details, focusing on Kasumi for 1, Ryu Hayabusa for 2, Ayane for 3, and Helena Douglas for 4.
Dead or Alive 5 Plus is a fighting game in the Dead or Alive series, developed by Team Ninja and released by Tecmo Koei for the PlayStation Vita in March 2013. As an expanded handheld port of the 2012 game Dead or Alive 5, DOA5+ was met with positive critical reception, gaining better scores than the original.
Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is a fighting game in the Dead or Alive series, developed by Team Ninja, and released by Tecmo Koei for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013. It was followed by an arcade edition later in 2013. It is the first arcade game to be released by Koei Tecmo since Dead or Alive 2 Millenium in 2000.
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round is a 2015 fighting game developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo globally for home consoles and computers, and on arcades in Japan only. It is the third and final updated version of 2012's Dead or Alive 5, following Dead or Alive 5 Plus and Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate; notable changes from Ultimate include two additional characters and a graphical upgrade for the new generation of consoles.
Dead or Alive 6, abbreviated as DOA6, is a 2019 fighting video game developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo. The game is the sixth main entry in the Dead or Alive fighting series following Dead or Alive 5 (2012) and runs on a new engine, offering new features and introducing new mechanics. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on March 1, 2019, and was later released for arcades in Japan on July 18, 2019.
↑ Willis, John; Monush, Barry (2010). "Domestic films". Screen World: the films of 2006. New York: Applause. p.230. ISBN9781557837295. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
1 2 Scott Chitwood (September 16, 2007). "DOA: Dead or Alive". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
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