sword fighting, zombie horror, and comedy. Director Kitamura made this creative decision because he believed Versus could have been the first and last film he'd ever produce and chose to risk everything by adding film elements that influenced him. Regarding the film's style, Kitamura stated: "It’s all me. It’s all Ryuhei Kitamura-style, and I’m not going to try to change or steer away from anything. I’m only trying to get better." The film did not receive the title Versus until the end of shooting. During production, the film was referred to as The Return: Down 2 Hell, despite the fact that the film was not going to be released under that title. In fact, a friend of Kitamura's (who would end up working with the director as a second unit director for Godzilla: Final Wars) suggested the title Versus to reference the struggles Kitamura suffered through while trying to launch his career. Release Versus held its premiere at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival on October 29, 2000. Reception Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes has a 73% approval based on 15 reviews with an average score of 6.5/10. The Rolling Stone called the film "A Japanese zombies-vs.-gangsters action-horror comedy that plays like Quentin Tarantino remaking THE EVIL DEAD while on a speed binge". Sight & Sound praised the film by commenting "With Kurosawa-style swordplay, martial arts and elaborately choreographed gun battles". Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News commented on the film "I've never seen anything like it, it's a new kind of movie." B.P. called the film "Poetic and splendid, this movie thrilled me" and MADMOVIE claimed "Hollywood made Hong Kong-style movies will never come close to his (Ryuhei Kitamura) movie." Alternate cuts There are three different cuts of Versus, the original cut, the R-rated cut, and the Ultimate Edition. Prior to being released commercially in the United States in 2004, DVD distributor Media Blasters produced an R-rated edited cut which removed the film's gore scenes. As a result, the R-rated cut is four minutes shorter than the original cut. Around that same time, Ultimate Versus was produced and released which featured ten minutes of new footage as well as some alterations. Ultimate Versus In 2004, director Kitamura and most of the original cast and crew returned to the forest to film new scenes to further realize Kitamura's vision of the film. Tak Sakaguchi directed the action sequences for