I have not seen either but i am going to buy branded to kill today ( Icant find it at a video store and think I will like it). So I was wondering if the movies are similar to each other and which one you liked better.
shareI personally preferred Tokyo Drifter. They do have many stylistic and narrative similarities, so if you enjoy one, you're likely to enjoy the other.
shareI prefer tokyo drifter. Prettier colour, cooler theme tune!
Last Film Seen: Dr Strangelove - 8/10
"Branded to Kill" for sure.
It's better on every level.
Unless you like campy stuff.
"Tokyo Drifter" has lots of bright colours, psychedelic decors, crazy outfits and lighntning.
Cooler theme tune is so not true. Certainly when it comes to the soundtrack, "Branded to Kill" is the winner.
I thought Branded to Kill was too obtuse and abstract, so that means I like Tokyo Drifter more. My favorite Seijun Suzuki film is Youth of the Beast, though.
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I've only seen branded to Kill up to now, but I'm in the middle of watching Tokyo Drifter at the moment, very impressive, very diffrent from Branded.. but just as compulsive. The opening sequence really blew me away - The almost under-exposed/high contrast look really hooked me. And then when all of that colour comes in - Wow!
Have youth of the beast lined up for the next viewing, as you can imagine im looking forward to it.
Laugh and say I'm green
Which is the better "action" movie?
shareTokyo Drifter has better action -- Branded is much more nonsensical, hard to make sense of what's going on. IMHO Drifter is the better of the two
"Death, you are my bitch lover!"
Personally I thought that Youth of the Beast was better than both. Tokyo Drifter was a little too silly and campy but fun never the less. Youth of the Beast is one of the most over looked genre films.
sharetokyo drifter is fairly dully paced and uneventful compared to Branded To Kill. Branded To Kill is a barrage of insanity, it's like a collection of 40 second scenes, each of which is completely original stylistically, all thrown together with bizarre editing styles. Tokyo Drifter is pretty subdued in comparison.
shareYou should watch Fighting Elegy by Suzuki also. I think it's in the same level or even better than BTK and TD
sharei definately enjoyed tokyo drifter more...i just recently realized maybe it was that campy kind of feeling, i just thought it was funny. as far as sound track goes i just loved that drifter song, the one that he kept whistling...i guess i should give branded another chance, but drifter was the shiz
sharei agree with you, Youth of the Beast is the best Suzuki film i've seen so far, but i only have the ones that are Criterion. I want to get his box set though, i'm sure its definitely worth it. I think Tokyo Drifter is probably my least favorite, but that's not saying a lot because i love all his movies that i've seen. So either way, you'll walk away stunned and amazed. I'm gonna watch TD again though, i need to give it another go to analyze.
sharehonestly i thought youth of the beast had weirder continuity errors than branded to kill. granted i expected that kinda thing from branded to kill, whereas youth of the beast seemed like all loose ends would tie up by the time credits roll.
shareBranded to Kill is so much better than Youth of the Beast and Tokyo Drifter.
shareHere is a very simple answer: both of these films are somewhat difficult to follow (for westerners?). So to start out with, I would go for "Tokyo Drifter" because it is in color, and the characters all wear different color jackets, which makes it easier to tell them apart.
This reasoning is simple to the point of being stupid, I know. I also thought the plot of "Tokyo Drifter" was easier to follow, although yes, it is somewhat more "camp" than "Brandced to Kill".
My two cents 2 1/2 years after this thread started. Branded to Kill is a movie I will see again, I doubt I'll watch Tokyo Drifter again unless I'm channel surfing and run by it (doubtful). I actually don't think I even finished Tokyo Drifter it was so boreing and formulaic. Branded is just so bizarre it was unforgetable in my book.
shareI borrowed both films from my college the other day. Now I wanted to see Branded To Kill for a while and I figured to get Tokyo Drifter just for the hell of it. After watching both I was surprised by the results. Branded To Kill was good, but in the long run was a bit of a let down, and kind of boring at times. Now on the other hand I loved Tokyo Drifter, I thought it was funny, tense, violent, and over all very enjoyable, which was completely different from what I first thought it would be.
sharetokyo drifter is better in every way...
shareNot that it matters, but after seeing both of them, "Branded to Kill" is by far the better film.
sharewow i love threads like this where there really is absolutely no consensus.
if you made a 'crucified lovers vs ugetsu' thread on the mizoguchi page 9/10 people will say ugetsu, which (however stupidly) kind of puts you of seeing the loser in the contest. I've just ordered Drifter and once i see Branded and the Beast films mentioned i'll edit this post with my opinion!
I enjoyed both films immensely, though I would have to say I enjoyed Branded to Kill more, as I feel it had better imagery, though Tokyo Drifter had good music. Also it has one of favorite lines I believe it goes "after all beasts need beasts."
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