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SYNOPSIS: Based on Takeru Kaido’s best-selling novel, this gripping medical drama revolves around a group of distinguished surgeons whose success on the operating table leads them to become known as The Glorious Team Batista!
Batista operation --- a bold and innovative surgical procedure in which a failing portion of a heart is cut out to restore its proper functioning. Its chance of operational success is only 60%. Due to the high risk involved, the number of surgeons willing to do the operation is extremely limited.
On the staff of Tojo University Hospital is charismatic Batista surgeon, Kyoichi Kiryu, the centripetal force around which an elite team of specialists have gathered. Ever since Kiryu took up his current post, the super team has had a tremendous success rate of 26 consecutive operations, catapulting the team to global fame under the moniker, “Glorious Team Batista.” And then suddenly, it all begins to fall apart.
MOVIE REVIEW:
You have to take your hats off how the Japanese craft their investigative genre movies and TV series to have your eyes glued to the screens. Never mind the most bizarre of storylines – sleazy murders, petty crimes or deadly mysteries. Never mind the long runtime – these investigative cases often throw countless red herrings along the way just to make up that lengthy runtime. Never mind those good looking characters – these Japanese stars are why many people turn to these shows anyway. So with this latest investigative movie, we are all set to go on a 118 minute journey to uncover the mystery set in a surgical operation theatre.
In your minds, you can picture the eye candy presented in those clean and white hospital robes already.
Yuko Takechi (Midnight Eagle, Be With You) and Hiroshi Abe (Hero, Forbidden Siren) headline this movie where we see a team of medical officers have successfully established an extraordinary surgical process where failing hearts can be treated to work again. When this specialized team suddenly sees death cases on the rise, an investigation is carried out to uncover the truth behind these disturbing deaths.
In true Japanese fashion, director Yoshihiro Nakamura sets up the story with a number of suspects and displays their personalities which make each of them a probable suspect of this mystery. Or is it a murder in the first place? Viewers will be left questioning as the movie plods along, challenging the intelligence and testing the patience of the audiences. Takechi’s hospital director and Abe’s health ministry official find time amidst the setup to spark off some nice chemistry too. Supporting characters are played convincingly by an array of familiar Japanese actors like Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (Ip Man), Haruka Igawa (Death Water) and Hiromasa Taguchi (Cyborg She).
With a plot like this, you can also expect to see some surgical scenes (cue our censorship board’s consumer advice of “some disturbing scenes”) of hearts being, well, to put it blatantly, cut up. Watch out also for scenes where the two protagonists work out pieces of the mystery on a inspired chess board, moving the pieces around knowingly – yes, things like that only happen in movies and not at the detective’s boring office.
At the end of the day, when the culprit is finally revealed, the viewer would get a sense of satisfaction having sat through the two hours of this cleverly scripted drama. Now, if only perplexing mysteries in life can also be solved in a mere two hours like this.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains a 26 minute Japan Gala Premiere featuring interviews with the cast on during the posh event – you’ll get to see the actors out of their hospital robes in dashing suits. Also included is the movie’s Trailer.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The disc’s visual transfer is commendable for its clean surgical look, and there are original Japanese or dubbed Mandarin soundtracks to choose from.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
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