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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 18342
Released: February 28, 2006 |
| Our Price: $4.92 |
| Used Price: $1.99 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A compilation of three different short films entitled cut box & dumplings by directors from japan korea & china that all deal with the theme of human monstrosity & exploring the outer limits of the macabre. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 05/22/2007 Starring: Bai Ling Tony Leung Run time: 125 minutes Rating: R
Description of 3 Extremes:
The idea of unleashing three of Asia's wildest directors in the same omnibus film is a terrific one, and putting the likes of Miike Takashi and Park Chan-wook to work in the Twilight Zone-style mini-feature is mouth-watering for fans. (Just look at what happened when Miike made an installment of Showtime's Masters of Horror series--it was deemed too crazy for broadcast.) Alas, the results are a letdown. First up, "Dumplings," is from Hong Kong's Fruit Chan, and it's the most cogent (and ickiest) of the bunch. Bai Ling plays a specialist in preparing dumplings that promise to restore youth and health for her customers; the weird part is she also runs a particular clinic on her premises. Ugh. The Korean offering from Park Chan-wook is "Cut," a warp on filmmaking about a self-centered director who gets trapped at his home (or is it the set of his new movie?) by a deranged former extra. The sadistic machinations here make Hannibal Lecter look reasonable, and the segment gets points for weirdness, but Park's take on revenge fantasies is much more exciting in Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Miike represents Japan with "Box," which really is in the spirit of an old Outer Limits episode, complete with a "gotcha" ending that doesn't seem worth the trouble. Sure, twins are always a good topic for horror, but this segment is a long way to travel for not much. All three segments look good--there's little hint of the grindhouse cheapie here--but overall it's a disappointment. --Robert Horton
3 Extremes Reviews:
Overrated 
2009-11-11 - I bought this movie based on the reviews that it was super creepy and pretty sick in some parts. Don't get me wrong I have watched plenty of foreign movies especially some of the Korean ones like Old Boy and the two others in that series as well as a lot of Japanese horror.
This movie did not frighten me in the least. It was so painfully obvious in the first story what the dumplings are that it kind of ruins the entire thing. The second one has many social connotations I am sure but that really isnt my thing.
I found the third story to be creepy in some parts but at the end I guess I just didnt understand what had happened. I dont consider myself to some movie genius like many of the reviewers here but I usually am able to understand...this just kind of jumped to what they thought might be a creepy ending but made very little sense.
I say save your money, and if you want to watch a movie where people eat weird things buy Ravenous instead with Guy Pearce.
Great for fans of these three directors 
2009-07-01 - If you love Asian cinema and enjoy these three directors then this is sure to please you. I have a full review of this film ...]
3 masterpieces
2008-05-23 - this title should be 3 masterpieces instead!!3 short films by 3 master film makers!i will particularly stand at the last film"box"by takashi miike.what you get here is film with very little dialogues,basing the most part of its narration in the sceneries the director creates..desolate scenes with minimal use of actors,that achieve thru lyrical photography,to create at some points,a phantom of abscence.a loss of what was..the key character is present in this film only by her abscence,while both halves are with thoughts of guilt,longing and salvation that originate from deam.two different minds united by fate and set as actors on the stages of their own dreaming,creating parallel stories that are bound to come across,at awakenings cold touch..salvation never comes,"when the actors stop acting,does the film become real?"
3 Extremes
2008-04-29 - 3 Extremes - just terrible we turned it of about 1/4 of the way into the movie, really fake and phony nothing good to say about it.
MAJOR SUCK FEST
2007-08-30 - I barely made it through this dvd and when it was over I rolled my eyes and shelved it. The trilogy of films on this dvd are just plain silly. "Dumplings" is ridiculous. It's a story about a fetus-munching woman. The slow, deliberate 'crunch, crunch, crunching' of fetal bone is over emphasized and almost comic. The second story has the usual twitchy Asian lunatic torturing and punishing. And the third story is forgettable.
Please do not waste your money or your time on this DVD. If you want to watch truly incredible Asian films, I recommend A Tale of Two Sisters, OldBoy, Dark Water and The Eye 1 and 2. If you want to watch a movie with truly vile moments in it, watch Audition. If the sight of a lovely young woman vomitting into a dog dish and feeding it to a starving man she keeps tied up in a burlap sack doesn't make you queasy, I don't know what will. And that's just ONE of the nauseating scenes in Audition. Don't watch it if you have a weak stomach. Seriously.
3 Extremes II and III are mostly boring with little or no shock value, with the exception of the story "Going Home" which is on 3 Extremes II. It stars the incredible Eugenia Yuan (Memoires of a Geisha, The Eye 2) and is a complex and bittersweet story. If you want to purchase one of the 3 Extremes movies, I recommend 3 Extremes II because of "Going Home". As for 3 Extremes III, I was not scared, disgusted, or moved in any way by this dvd. I am amazed at some of the other reviews that give this DVD a 5 star rating and comment on how horrible and frightening the 3 stories are. Guess those reviewers haven't watched OldBoy or Audition. Those two movies are NOT FOR CHILDREN.
