DOA: Dead or Alive

DOA: Dead or Alive
Directed by	Corey Yuen
Written by	J.F. Lawton Adam Gross Seth Gross
Produced by	Paul W.S. Anderson Jeremy Bolt
Starring	Jaime Pressly Holly Valance Sarah Carter Eric Roberts Devon Aoki Natassia Malthe
Music by	Junkie XL
Distributed by	Dimension Films/MGM (USA) Universal Studios (UK, Italy, Australia) Summit Entertainment
Release dates	September 7, 2006 June 22, 2007
Running time	87 min.
Language	English

DOA: Dead or Alive is a 2006 martial arts film loosely based on the Tecmo/Team Ninja fighting game series Dead or Alive. The film is directed by Corey Yuen and is to be released in North America on June 22, 2007. The film has various appearances from characters of the game series, which include: Tina Armstrong (Jaime Pressly), Christie Allen (Holly Valance), Kasumi (Devon Aoki), Ayane (Natassia Malthe) and Helena Douglas (Sarah Carter).

Production

The film began production on May 4, 2005 and concluded on July 19, 2005. Filming locations include Bangkok, Guilin, Heng Dian and Hong Kong. The production budget is estimated to be $21,000,000. Lisa, Kokoro, Tengu, Raidou, are only a few of the original DOA cast mates that didn't make it into the movie, while most of the others appear in the movie. Plus there are two new characters entering in the movie, Maximillian "Max" Marsh (who helps Christie on her mission to steal the money) and Weatherby (who acts as a love interest for Helena).

In an interview, producer Mark Altman stated that the movie is being marketed with a special focus on its female characters to mainly a male audience, in relation to the game's popularity and notoriety [1].

Plot

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Ayane confronts Kasumi before she leaves the clan

The film opens at Kasumi's Temple, where she is arguing with Hayabusa about her brother, Hayate's, supposed death. She understands that if she leaves to find out what happened to her brother, she will become a shinobi, and her army will kill her. Before leaving the grounds of the temple, she is confronted by Ayane. Kasumi acknowledges that Ayane is in love with Hayate, and promises to find out what happened to him. She jumps over the temple wall, and catches a flying shuriken as she falls - on which the words "You are invited DOA" are inscribed. Out at sea, Tina is arguing with her father about professional wrestling on her yacht. A gang of pirates underestimate her, and try to take her boat. Tina comprehensively defeats them, and a DOA shuriken pierces the side of her boat. In a Hong Kong hotel, Christie is being investigated by a number of policemen after a theft of diamonds. Only in a towel, she manages to disarm and defeat all of them, and then leaves the building, driving off on a motorcycle, receiving her own shuriken. Back at Kasumi's palace, Ayane is instructed to follow Kasumi, and kill her for betraying the clan.

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Kasumi, Christie and Tina decide they must work together to reach the top of the compound by sundown

The three girls are amongst a number of invited fighters on a plane going to DOA island. Maximillian Marsh, who left Christie at the hotel to face the police alone is also on the plane, as is Hayabusa, as well as Tina's father (Bass) and Zack, who mocks Tina, saying wrestling isn't really fighting. On an in-flight screen, Helena welcomes them all as the best fighters in their chosen fields, and tells them they now must parachute the rest of the way, and whoever fails to make it to the main compound by sundown will be disqualified. Tina, Christie and Kasumi all land well off target under a tall pagoda structure, and after realizing they may not make it in time, grudgingly combine their efforts to climb up it to the main citadel. As they reach the top, Kasumi momentarily sees Ayane's face, realizing that she has been followed to DOA. The fighters go on to meet Donovan, the organizer of this year's DOA, who explains about the $10 million prize money, and some of the history about the tournament.

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Kasumi fights Leon

Each fighter is analyzed in a lab to show their strength, and are all injected with nanobots which record their abilities. Weatherby, who operates all the technical equipment, oversees all this. After all fighters are issued with ID bracelets, which beep and show the name of your next opponent in the tournament, the confrontations soon begin, with Tina, Christie, Gen Fu, Hayabusa, Helena, Bayman, Zack all progressing to round two. Meanwhile, Kasumi recalls her brother, and how he once saved her from ruthless kidnappers. He fought with precision and skill, far beyond any warrior Kasumi had ever known. After saving her, she remembers Hayate's face when a DOA shuriken came to him. Before her first round fight, Kasumi visits Donovan, who explains that Hayate was defeated by Leon the previous year, falling from the top of a cliff with his body never to be found. After some more reflection, Kasumi finds herself also matched against Leon; however, she soon defeats him, realising that if she can win so easily, Leon could not possibly have beaten Hayate.

Some time later, Hayabusa and Kasumi have both progressed to the semi-final stage of the tournament, and all combatants take a time-out to let off steam. A volleyball tournament takes place down on the beach, with Kasumi and Tina against Helena and Christie. Meanwhile, Hayabusa explores Donovan's compound whilst all eyes are on the game, but is soon captured by the building's booby traps. At the beach, the game abruptly ends when the ball is struck down by a throwing star, and Kasumi realises that Ayane is calling her out. They fight each other in the bamboo treetops, and Kasumi pleads for Ayane's help to find Hayate, pointing out that when he deserted the clan, she never pursued him out of love. Ayane coldly replies that he was different, and that Kasumi should come to terms with his death. Their confrontation ends with the arrival of the other girls, prompting Ayane to flee.

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Christie and Helena engage in an epic quarter-final fight

With the recreation time over, the tournament resumes with Tina being matched against Zack. The two fight at the forbidden square, and Tina manages to defeat him. Zack apologies for mocking her, finally acknowledging that she is a true fighter, much to Tina's appreciation. The result leaves a showdown between Helena and Christie. Before the fight, Max and Christie discuss how a source had said "Helena is the key" to finding the Douglas vault somewhere on the island, inside which is over $100 million. In a dramatic beach fight in the rain, Christie notices a tattoo on the back of Helena's neck. Despite being caught off guard by the image, Christie still manages to overpower Helena, leaving her lying unconscious on the wet sand, and progressing to the semi-finals of the tournament in her own right. Returning to Max, she recalls and deciphers the cryptic image, showing the location of the vault to be in the Buddha head statue. With a new round beginning, Tina, Christie and Kasumi wonder where Hayabusa has gone, and go looking for him at Donovan's compound. However, they themselves fall into a trap, and are also captured.

It turns out that Donovan is planning a terrible scheme to harvest the nanobots from the four best DOA fighters, creating a technology where the host will be able to predict and adapt to any fighting style and defeat any combatant. The technology had been Weatherby's, who had no idea Donovan would use it against fighters' wills, as well as for profit. He reveals to Helena that her father had objected to the idea, and on that very night he was killed. After being comforted by Weatherby about her failure against Christie, Helena gains new resolve to stop Donovan. Fighting through all his security forces, the two make it to the compound and prevent Donovan from broadcasting the technology to buyers around the world. Meanwhile, Max finds the Douglas vault and breaks the code, but is interrupted by Bayman, who under Donovan's command knocks out Max and takes the cash.

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The girls join forces to defeat Donovan

Despite being able to stop the transmission, Donovan manages to download the DOA programme onto specialist sunglasses, making him unstoppable. He reveals that he captured Hayate a year ago, and much to everyone's surprise, frees him. He challenges Hayate to one fight, in which the technology allows him to effectively predict every move Hayate makes. The distraction, however, buys Weatherby time to start unlocking the harvest pods to free the four semi-finalists, and Helena also manages to hold off Donovan for a small time. Donovan, however, gets the upper hand, taking a hard copy of the technology and setting the entire compound to self-destruct. With all the fighters freed, the girls join forces to take on Donovan as he attempts to escape in a four-on-one fight. Meanwhile, Hayabusa fends off Bayman with the help of Weatherby and Max, and Hayate is aided by Ayane. After a tough fight, Christie manages to knock off Donovan's glasses, removing his power of supremacy. Kasumi and Hayate then finish him off, immobilizing him with ninja skill. In the final moments, and the compound about to explode, all the combatants jump off the cliffside to the water, whilst Weatherby, Max and Hayabusa take an escape hatch.

Managing to gain a boat(humorously from the same pirates that attacked Tina earlier in the movie), the group all together escape DOA island. Back at Kasumi's palace, the five female fighters join forces against the hundreds of warrior guards.

Cast

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Christie, Tina and Kasumi.

• Jaime Pressly as Tina Armstrong. Tina is a professional wrestler from the United States, entering the tournament to prove to her critics that she is no fake.
• Holly Valance as Christie Allen. Australian actress Valance plays Christie, who is an Assassin (as well as a thief). It is Valance's first major role in a film.
• Devon Aoki as Kasumi. Aoki plays Kasumi, who flees her temple in order to seek out the truth about her brother's supposed death. She is convinced that until she sees a body, she will not be convinced of his death.
• Sarah Carter as Helena Douglas. Carter plays Helena, who actually welcomes all of the other fighters to the DOA island. She is competing in her first tournament at the age of 21, and hopes to win in honor of her late father's memory.
• Kane Kosugi as Ryu Hayabusa. Hayabusa tries his best to convince Kasumi not to leave the temple, and after she leaves, he follows her by entering into DOA, which displeases Kasumi. Hayabusa is Hayate's (Kasumi's brother) best friend.
• Eric Roberts as Dr. Victor Donovan. Donovan is the man in charge of running the DOA tournament. He however, has a hidden agenda.
• Steve Howey as Weatherby. Weatherby is in charge of the technical capabilities during the DOA tournament. He also has an affection for Helena, and reveals to her what Donovan is really up to.
• Natassia Malthe as Ayane. Ayane is out to kill Kasumi, because she is a runaway shinobi. She first confronts Kasumi before she flees the temple, then several times on the island.
• Matthew Marsden as Maximillian Marsh. Max has a relationship with Christie. He is at DOA under false pretenses, and begins planning a robbery with Christie.
• Derek Boyer as Bayman. Bayman follows Donovan's orders without question on the island, acting as his bodyguard.
• Collin Chou as Hayate. Hayate is apparently dead, although his sister Kasumi has reservations as to whether it is actually true or not.
• Kevin Nash as Bass Armstrong. Bass is Tina's father, also a professional wrestler.
• Silvio Simac as Leon. Leon is thought to be the fighter that finished off Kasumi's brother. However, when Kasumi defeats him, she starts to doubt the story even more.
• Brian J. White as Zack. Zack is another fighter, who is eventually eliminated by Tina, with whom he had been trying to flirt with during the tournament.

Release

The film has been released first in a number of markets during September including United Kingdom, Australia, and the Philippines. Many users debated that the rating of the movie would be R (Restricted). This is likely due to the video game series with a Mature rating for the near-sexual depiction of its female characters. The movie has been officially rated PG-13, similar to Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, although the games were also rated T for Teen, the equivalent of the PG-13 movie rating. It is said to have partial nudity, though actress Holly Valance denies this. The ratings are - BBFC - 15, IFCO - 15A, OFLC - M (unrestricted, unlike the MA-15+ rating), and MPAA - PG-13. None of the women in DOA are featured naked in the film.

The North American cinema release date will be June 22, 2007. In the UK and in Australia, the film is available on DVD and features two special features which are: Making of documentary and deleted scenes on it. There is no DVD commentary on the UK release and there are two covers for the DVD, one exclusive to online store Play.com and the original cover in most retail shops.

Trivia

• In the movie, Zack's first round win is by default, after Max fakes injury to avoid having to fight. In the DOA game (DOA 3), according to canon, Zack also wins the final round by default after Ayane leaves before their match.
• Zack announcing during the volleyball scene is likely a reference to Dead or Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball, which takes place on his private island.
• Lei Fang is in fact present in the movie, and is defeated by Gen Fu in the first round of the tournament. In a later scene that was removed from the film, but included in the deleted scenes feature on the DVD, Gen Fu has a brief fight with Kasumi on the rafts. She wins by using the five sisters attack on his arm and neck, paralyzing him. The explanation of this technique was also cut from the film.
• Jann Lee also has a minor role in this movie. He is fighting against Christie in the first round, and loses. He does not appear in the credits.
• Brad Wong appears in the movie fighting Bayman and loses.
• Eliot appears fighting Hayabusa in the first round, and loses. The movie portrayed Eliot as a middle aged asian man, rather than a teenage boy from England.
• Hitomi is also featured in the movie, but as a male fighter. Though not explicitly stated, the scoreboard after four fights shows that Hitomi has been knocked out of the tournament, though the other three losers are explicitly shown as Jann Lee, Brad Wong and Eliot, making Hitomi the yellow-clothed male who Helena defeated. (There were more fighters than the ones listed on the scoreboard. For example, when all of the contestants are practicing, there is a female fighter in pink shorts who wasn't shown in the fight montage). But you can also see a female fighter in the lobby while Donovan is talking, on the left of Bass there appears to be a brunette headed girl with a pink headband and a jean jacket, this is Hitomi's primary costume in the games.
• Milo Ventimiglia was originally supposed to be Weatherby but dropped out because he didn't like the way the character was developed. He appeared in "Stay Alive" instead, another video game movie.
• In the film, all female contestants appear to develop close friendships with one another. However, this is not so in the game, as Helena initially believes Ayane to be responsible for her mother's assassination, and later discovers it was in fact Christie. In the canon story of the video games, Tina also does not ever meet any of the other female characters that are featured in this film apart from the briefly-mentioned Lei Fang and Hitomi.
• It is stated in the Australian DVD commentary that Ayane and Kasumi are half sisters, this is true and is also mentioned in the video games. Due to the fact, this would make Hayate and Ayane related (as they are in the game) but they are portrayed as lovers in the film.
• Helena's occupation in the video game (an opera singer) is not included in the film, nor is her French nationality. However, it is stated that one of her tattoos was done in Paris, and in a deleted scene, Donovan suggests that Helena "take the jet" for a vacation in Paris.
• Christie's last name of Allen was never revealed in any of the video games.
• Robin Shou who stars in the movie adaptation of the video game Mortal Kombat as Liu Kang also has a bit part as the Pirate Leader. Additionally Mortal Kombat director Paul W. S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt are both producers of DOA: Dead or Alive.
• Max used a device with similar appearance to a Sony walkman MP3 player to take photos of Helena's tattoo in the beach theme.
• In the movie, Bayman is shown working for Donovan. However, in the game, Bayman holds a grudge against Donovan after a sniper was sent by Donovan to kill him.
• Kane Kosugi has portrayed a fluent english Ninja before in the 1994 Super Sentai installment, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, where he played Ninja Black Jiraiya and spoke fluent english during the show. Also Kane has played Ninjas many times before like his father Sho Kosogi, in such roles as Revenge of the Ninja and Nine Deaths of the Ninja.

Errors

• The "Japanese ninja fortress" featured in the movie is actually a city of ancient Chinese design. In addition, a ninja clan would not be staffed by hundreds of armed soldiers.
• Christie was portrayed as a Blonde Thief, however in the game she has white hair and is only an Assassin.

External links

• DOA: Dead Or Alive Official Site (English)
• DOA: Dead or Alive at IMDb
• Mansized DOA review
• Interview Holly Valance By Gilles Nuytens - The Scifi World