Aya Okamoto, Eihi Shiina, Hiromasa Taguchi

Kanzaki is a detective on the case of a serial-killer who is removing his victims hearts. The day he is to be married, his fiance is killed by the serial-killer. He discovers that when they have six...( read more  read more... ) hearts they will be able to summon demons from beyond the 'Gate of Rage' to grant any wish. Kanzaki's dead fiance becomes Guardian of the Gate of Rage and Kanzaki followers her into the world of the dead to protect her.

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67% liked it

6,408 ratings

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Directed by: Norio Tsuruta, Ryuhei Kitamura

Release Date: December 5, 2003

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DVD Release Date: March 29, 2005

Stats: 247 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (247)


  • February 25, 2007
    A woman is murdered on her wedding day. She is brought back to avenge her own death. Good acting and good action.
  • May 24, 2007
    Bloody great fun.
  • November 5, 2009
    Mix "Ghost" and "Crouching Tiger" and you've got Sky High. Admittedly, I was zoning out on some key parts of the movie so I never really did get why the villain was doing what he was doing. Some parts seemed to drag wayyy too long, and if you don't like the absurdness of asian ...( read more)cinema, this may not be for you. I'd be willing to give it another chance someday when I'm more alert.
  • October 13, 2009
    A rather fun fantasy film, though with deep emotion, and presents an interesting view on death and the afterlife.
  • July 29, 2009
    One thing I didn't expect from the director of "Azumi" and "The Midnight Meat Train" is a film that looked like an episode from a TV series and was a bore from start to finish. But this is exactly what this two-hour misfire appeared to me.

    "Sky High" is basically a ghost story...( read more) with martial arts. It involves a completely made-up, game-like cosmology in which people who die a violent death appear before a Gate of Resentment whose Guardian gives them a choice between three possible futures. Though they have twelve days to make up their minds, only five recent victims of a Japanese serial killer happen to stand before the Gate for the duration of the film, so the whole action must take place during a lull in the day-to-day business of dying.

    Meanwhile on earth, the serial killer (a martial artist with blow-dried hair, a long black coat and sunglasses, you know the type) is being chased by cops who literally can't connect the dots.

    As a piece of entertainment, "Sky High" is really bad. The script is poorly constructed, the acting dismal, the emotions completely fake and the action sequences are performed by models who were chosen for their looks and not their martial arts capabilities, resulting in a product that can only appeal to teenage otakus who just want to see pretty boys and girls in cool clothes, haircuts and poses.

    Philosophically speaking, there is nothing in the film a ninth grader couldn't have come up with. There are ponderous and self-important discussions about God, death and the meaning of life, but it's all wind. I'm sorry that such artificial stories about the after-life should appeal to people who are not prepared to do any hard thinking about what actually happens when you die, as we shall all do soon. Those who like to indulge in such fantasies probably think that you can just make up your own scenario and God will oblige.

    One of the gratuitous conventions in the film is that if you kill, you go to Hell, whatever the context (e.g. whether you killed in self-defense or out of malice) and with no possibility of repentance. That's just it, like an algorithm. This is a completely absurd premise, but the heroes have to work with it, resulting in more arbitrary decisions in an arbitrary world.

    I love fantasy. But a fantasy film that has nothing to say about anything real is for me a complete waste of time. Unfortunately, in our video-game culture, movie audiences seem to be more and more receptive to such purely conventional worlds, full of sound and fury but signifying nothing.
  • May 21, 2009
    My favorite movie from my favorite manga. If your not into foreign films please give this one a chance.
  • May 18, 2009
    i thought it was cool
  • January 17, 2009
    its an iteresting movie
  • October 17, 2008
    Another Japanese movie from the Versus director about a serial killer gene therapist that is stealing hearts to ressurect the Devil to pull his wife out of an unexplainable coma. One of the victims, a cop's wife, goes to a cheesy set piece called "The Gate of Rage" and somewhere ...( read more)in the midst of all of this, chics start fighting with swords! Extra points for unintentional silliness, cheesy effects and a creepy-cute priestess. Oh, that "Gate of Rage"....
  • September 15, 2008
    No this wasn't the nice family friendly Kurt Russell superhero yarn, this had more hearts being cut out with big knives.

    I was expecting it to be as wacky, gory and funny as director Ryuhei Kitamura's silly masterpiece 'Versus'. It wasn't; it was a more serious, stylish and grow...( read more)n up film.

    Very slow in places and about 20 minutes too long, but was still enjoyable with some very nicely choreographed sword fights and some suitably over-the-top performances.

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Comments


  • Malaki72
    October 27, 2006
    This is my favorite Asian cinema film of all time. I loved it!!!!

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