GANTZ (Japan - English subtitles)

 Now this Japanese movie was awesome, in the sense of awe and more some. Two young men, who had once been friends, are standing on a train platform. One at the back sees the other at the front, but not vice versa. A drunk falls onto the track and the one at the front jumps down onto the track to rescue him. An express train is coming and his old mate runs to pull him back up, but gets pulled down onto the track too. The rest, as the old saying goes, is history. Or in this case, the future. 

The pair find themselves in a bare room with about half a dozen other Japanese adults who have all died in similar circumstances. They are given equipment to return to the real world to participate in life or death battles with monsters. If they win they return to the room. If they lose they die. If they get a certain number of points, they can be released back into the real world, or resurrect someone who has died in a battle. It is their choice. 

Of particular interest to me was the last battle which took place at Ueno Park where I went on my second day in Japan. I had arrived in Tokyo from Sydney the day before and was exploring my surroundings when a group of young men came over to me and said they belonged to their university's English Club. They said they would show me around Tokyo if I would speak English all the time and help them with their English language skills. Deal. We became firm friends over the three months I was in Japan. 

The oddest thing about this rather odd film was that it ended with 'to be continued' ...