Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler

Original title: Kaiji: Jinsei gyakuten gêmu

2009
12
2h 10m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

2.1K

YOUR RATING

Kaiji Ito (Fujiwara) moves to Japan after graduating from high school. Unable to find a job and frustrated with society at large, Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalising cars, and drinking. Two years later and his life is no better. A debt collector named Endo arrives to collect payment. She then offers two choices to Kaiji: spend 10 years paying off his loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay his debt and possibly make a whole lot more. Meanwhile, the unscrupulous Endo is actually conning Kaiji, believing he won't come back from his voyage. Kaiji is then up for the night of his lifeÂ…Â…

Play trailer1:10

1 Video

9 Photos

Drama

Kaiji, a young gambler who is constantly in debt, enters a deadly gambling competition in order to wipe away his loans.Kaiji, a young gambler who is constantly in debt, enters a deadly gambling competition in order to wipe away his loans.Kaiji, a young gambler who is constantly in debt, enters a deadly gambling competition in order to wipe away his loans.

Director
- Tôya Satô
Writers
- Nobuyuki Fukumoto
- Mika Ohmori
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

2.1K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Tôya Satô
Writers
- Nobuyuki Fukumoto
- Mika Ohmori
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos1

Trailer 1:10

Kaiji

Photos9

+ 4

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Nobuyuki Fukumoto, creator of the "Kaiji" manga on which this film is based, appears in the film as a black-suited man.

Quotes
Yukio Tonegawa: A Slave... why? Didn't you swap it before the blood sprayed on it?
Kaiji Ito: Sorry, but no. All I did was pull the face down Citizen and Slave cards close to me, then put a Citizen card over one, only to pull it back. In other words, I only pretended to swap.
Rinko Endo: He didn't swap them?
Yukio Tonegawa: Impossible! HOW COULD THIS BE POSSIBLE? WHY, WHY DIDN'T YOU SWAP THEM?
Kaiji Ito: That's easy. Because I had faith.
Yukio Tonegawa: Faith?
Kaiji Ito: Clearly, you're brilliant. Out of anyone I've ever met, you have the sharpest mind.
[holds up a blood-stained card]
Kaiji Ito: A man like you... would never fail to notice this blood. Of course you'd notice. And when you do, you'd be suspicious. You'd scrutinize it, realize it's a scheme and see through my plan.
[slams the card down on the table]
Kaiji Ito: YOU HAVE TO, BECAUSE YOU'RE SMART! That's why you'd be suspicious, and would recall how I'd swapped cards on the ship, and that I had the chance here. Then you'd snicker... how foolish I am. You'd be completely convinced. And why not? After all, your opponent is trash compared to someone like you. TRASH! You'd gloat. Because you're superior. NO TRASH HAS EVER COME CLOSE TO BEATING YOU. SO I USED YOUR ARROGANT SUPERIORITY AGAINST YOU! AND THIS PATHETIC SLAVE BEAT YOU!

Crazy credits
The Nippon Television Network Corporation logo is accompanied by a ghoulish chant of "zawa".

Connections
Followed by Kaiji 2: The Ultimate Gambler (2011)

Soundtracks
It's All Too Much
Performed by Yui

User reviews15

Review

Featured review

9/10

Entertaining with plenty of twists.

It's easy to criticise this film for being very over the top and downright outlandish, and that's because it is. It definitely has some overacting and very silly moments or dialogue, does it really hurt this film? No. The entire premise is over the top right off the bat, the film is about a guy playing a casino game (on a boat for some reason, maybe to bypass illegal gambling laws... who knows?) which is basically rock paper scissors to wipe out his debt and if he loses is doomed to pay it off through slave labour. I can't turn around and say "Aw man, they've managed to make this silly!" on top of that it's an adaptation from a manga, a good adaptation as you would expect from a cast reunited from the live action Death Note (that's right they actually had a good one before Netflix).

This is a very entertaining film and with almost all films you know the hero is going to come out on top, this film is very good at baiting you into thinking he's found a way to basically cheat the system. I like the original idea that there is debt collectors who would victimize people to extort more from them including a sort of underground (ironically) mining operation that pays them a pittance then entices them to give it back in exchange for luxury items.