Tetsuo: The Bullet Man

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Tetsuo: The Bullet Man
Tetsuo 3 the bullet man poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto
Written by
  • Shinya Tsukamoto
  • Hisakatsu Kuroki
Produced by
  • Shinichi Kawahara
  • Masayuki Taneshima
Starring
  • Eric Bossick
  • Akiko Monō
  • Yuko Nakamura
  • Stephen Sarrazin
  • Shinya Tsukamoto
Cinematography
  • Shinya Tsukamoto
  • Takayuki Shida
  • Satoshi Hayashi
Edited by
  • Shinya Tsukamoto
  • Yuji Ambe
Music by Chu Ishikawa
Production
companies
Distributed byAsmik Ace Entertainment
Release dates
  • 5 September 2009 (2009-09-05)(Venice)
  • 22 May 2010 (2010-05-22)(Japan)
Running time
79 minutes [1]
CountryJapan
LanguageEnglish [1]

Tetsuo: The Bullet Man is a 2009 Japanese cyberpunk body horror thriller film directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. [2] The film is a standalone sequel to Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992), and follows a man who transforms into a rageful metallic being after his son is killed in a car crash. It stars Eric Bossick, Akiko Monō, Yuko Nakamura, Stephen Sarrazin, and Tsukamoto. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 5 September 2009, and released in Japan on 22 May 2010, by Asmik Ace Entertainment.

Contents

Plot

Anthony is a man with an American father and a deceased Japanese mother living and working in Tokyo. One day, his son is killed in a car accident and shortly afterward, Anthony begins to transform into metal. He is shot dead by a hitman accompanied by a mysterious individual who taunts Anthony's dead body. The mysterious man, named Yatsu, is then confronted by a revived and enraged Anthony, and it is revealed that the car accident was in fact Yatsu's deliberate act of murder. Anthony attempts to kill Yatsu using bullets fired from his torso, but fails as Yatsu is able to narrowly escape. Yatsu hacks Anthony's computer to display a cryptic series of scientific documents and tells Anthony to go to his father's house, where he finds a secret room filled with files detailing a mysterious Tetsuo Project. He also learns that his father met his mother while they both researched the project. Anthony's wife Yuriko arrives but before she sees her transformed husband, a team of heavily-armed mercenaries from a private military company hired to cover up the existence of the Tetsuo Project arrive and she is taken hostage. Anthony's transformation finishes its hold and he defeats the PMC team with bullets fired from his body, but refrains from killing them. The severely injured team is extracted, but then killed by Yatsu, this film's version of "The Metal Fetishist". [2] [3]

Now believing that he has been possessed by a demon, Anthony attempts to kill himself using a gun growing from his hand but this fails. Anthony and Yuriko then meet up with Anthony's gravely wounded father who explains everything: Anthony's mother was disgusted with the militaristic outcome of the Tetsuo Project, having joined it as a way to help give crippled and sick people new bodies. When Anthony's mother realized that she would soon die from cancer, she insisted that her husband recreate her as a Tetsuo android so that he may still have a child with his recreated wife. That child became Anthony, which means that Anthony and his late son were always part Tetsuo. It is also revealed that anger is the catalyst that causes Anthony to transform into metal, and that Yatsu murdered Anthony's son and wounded his father in order to provoke this transformation. Yatsu, in this version without metal powers, has come to the conclusion that the only way he would prefer to die is by a bullet from Anthony's body as committing murder would push Anthony to consume and destroy the world in Yatsu's stead. Anthony's father bleeds out due to his injuries. Yatsu kidnaps Yuriko and threatens to detonate a bomb he has fashioned into her necklace if Anthony does not shoot him. During an ensuing chase, Anthony's rage becomes out of control and he transforms into a gigantic metal beast with a cannon in its center. Yatsu provokes and threatens Anthony to shoot him. Receiving a vision of the city exploding in a giant ball of light if he does kill Yatsu, Anthony denies this wish and instead consumes Yatsu whole into his metal body, then returns to his human form.

Five years later, Anthony and Yuriko have had a new child and have returned to a normal, contented life. As he stands before a mirror, Anthony hears Yatsu's final words: "[You don't want me inside you.] You don't know what I'll do". However, when a group of young thugs attempt to intimidate Anthony while walking down the street, rather than allow his anger to overtake him, he walks calmly and confidently past them.

Cast

Production

Following the release of the Japanese film Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992), which saw international attention, director Shinya Tsukamoto was approached by an American produced to do a third Tetsuo film set in the United States, but the initial project fell apart due to issues with budget, communication, and creative differences with producers. [5] Quentin Tarantino was initially attached as producer, but Tsukamoto's "process was too slow" that Tarantino dropped from the project. [5] [6]

Tsukamoto also served as a cast member, writer with Hisakatsu Kuroki, editor with Yuji Ambe, and director of photography alongside cinematographers Takayuki Shida and Satoshi Hayashi. [1] Shinichi Kawahara and Masayuki Taneshima served as producers. [1] The film is a presentation of Tetsuo The Bullet Man Group and produced by Kaijyu Theater and Asmik Ace Entertainment. [1] [7]

Music

Chu Ishikawa composed the music for the film. [1] The closing credits feature an original track by Trent Reznor of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails titled "Theme for Tetsuo: The Bullet Man". [8] Tsukamoto has stated that the collaboration with Reznor marked the fulfillment of a long-held ambition to work with the group. [9] Tsukamoto had previously collaborated with Reznor on a Tetsuo-esque commercial for MTV Japan. [10]

Release

Tetsuo: The Bullet Man premiered on 5 September 2009 as part of the Venice International Film Festival, although Tsukamoto was unsatisfied with the cut and later re-edited the film. [11] [12] The new cut premiered in the United States on 25 April 2010 as part of the Tribeca Film Festival. [13] In July 2010, IFC Midnight purchased the North American distribution rights and Middle Eastern digital rights from sales agent Coproduction Office. [12]

Kotobukiya released the official Bullet Man Real Figure at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con. [14]

Critical reception

The film received "largely negative reviews and reactions" following its premiere at Venice. [15] Leslie Felperin of Variety praised the film's "retro" special effects, frantic editing, and loud sound and music, but criticized the familiar plot. [1] Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter took issue with the dialogue and acting, but similarly favored the sound and editing. [16]

Film School Rejects' Adam Charles was unpleasant with the "harsh" visuals and sounds, and criticized the use of English dialogue "when eighty percent of the cast doesn’t appear to speak it significantly well, nor a director that can tell that they can’t." [17] Tom Mes of Midnight Eye called the film "a true Tetsuo film as well as a true Tsukamoto film", and defended the use of English as a stylistic choice, but found flaws in the film's execution of the transformation and the lack of eroticism found in the preceding entries. [15]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Felperin, Leslie (4 September 2009). "Tetsuo the Bullet Man". Variety. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  2. 1 2 Newitz, Annalee (23 July 2009). ""Tetsuo: The Iron Man" Gets A Crazy English Sequel – Sdcc". io9. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  3. ↑ "More details on TETSUO THE BULLETMAN and brief first footage". Quietearth.us. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  4. ↑ "Tetsuo The Bullet Man Panel – San Diego Comic-Con 2009". Anime News Network. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  5. 1 2 "Midnight Eye interview: Shinja Tsukamoto". Midnight Eye . 20 January 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  6. ↑ Ashhurst, Sam (5 October 2015). "The Japanese director Quentin Tarantino is obsessed with". Dazed Digital . Retrieved 28 March 2024. After Tetsuo II, Quentin Tarantino approached me because he want [sic] produce Tetsuo III. I started the script, but it took a very long time. Too long – so long that it died down and it didn't happen. My process was too slow
  7. ↑ "Tetsuo III: The Bullet Man (2011) - Financial Information". The Numbers . Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "Soundtracks: Trent Reznor's New Song for Tetsuo: The Bullet Man; Hear Inception Trailer Music in Full | /Film". Slashfilm.com. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  9. ↑ Reported by leviathant at 22:37 (26 April 2010). "Tetsuo/NIN Round-up – published at the Nine Inch Nails Hotline". Theninhotline.net. Retrieved 1 June 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ "Trent Reznor and Shinya Tsukamoto collaborate on a commercial for MTV Japan". YouTube .
  11. ↑ Tribeca Horrors 2010: Tetsuo, The Bullet Man
  12. 1 2 Rebecca Leffler; The Associated Press (16 July 2010). "IFC takes 'Tetsuo the Bullet Man' for U.S." The Hollywood Reporter . Penske Media Corporation . Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  13. ↑ Tribeca Horrors 2010 Wrap-Up: Tetsuo, The Bullet Man; Dream Home; The Killer Inside Me
  14. ↑ "SD Comic-Con 2010: Kotobukiya Births a Bullet Man". DreadCentral. 17 October 2012.
  15. 1 2 Mes, Tom. "Midnight Eye review: Tetsuo: The Bullet Man". Midnight Eye . Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  16. ↑ Ray Bennett; The Associated Press (7 September 2009). "Tetsuo the Bullet Man — Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Penske Media Corporation . Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  17. ↑ Charles, Adam (27 September 2010). "Fantastic Review: Tetsuo: The Bullet Man". Film School Rejects . Retrieved 28 March 2024.
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