FILM · 2006 · UK
DOA: Dead or Alive
30 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (30)
- #001
Principal photography on DOA: Dead or Alive ran from May to July 2005. The film was first set to open in the United States in 2006, but it was subsequently shelved and pushed back a year to a June 2007 release. According to Holly Valance, roughly 40 bikinis were ruined during the production.
- #002
The female stars trained for four months before traveling to China for the shoot.
- #003
In the first fight scenes, the on-screen layout and the announcer's voice were taken directly from the game.
- #004
Filming the Christie / Helene rain fight took two weeks.
- #005
It was Holly Valance's first major role in a film.
- #006
In the video games, Hayate and Ayane are step-siblings, while in the film they are in a romantic relationship.
- #007
Christie was initially shown topless as she stepped out of the shower and then fully nude during the fight in the hotel room. This was censored in post-production to secure a PG-13 rating. Uncensored footage can be seen in the deleted scenes. An attempt was made to include the original footage in this sequence and release an "unrated" DVD version of the film, but those plans were later cancelled.
- #008
It was the first western film shot in Hengdian.
- #009
Eliot (the fighter Ryu Hayabusa encounters) is the only fighter introduced in Dead or Alive 4 (2005) who appears in the film. In the games, Eliot is a young blond boy from Britain; in the film he is an Asian man.
- #010
Sequels were planned but were cancelled.
- #011
Kasumi and Gen Fu have a brief fight in which Kasumi paralyzes Gen Fu, but the scene was left out of the film. It is included among the deleted scenes on the DVD.
- #012
Christie Allen's original nude fight scene was in fact actress Holly Valance's idea. However, for fear of an R rating, the scene was reshot from scratch.
- #013
Before Jaime Pressly was cast as Tina Armstrong, both WWE Women's Hall of Fame members Torrie Wilson and Trish Stratus were considered.
- #014
Milo Ventimiglia was originally meant to be Weatherby but left because he did not like the way the character was being developed. He instead took a role in another video game film, Stay Alive (2006).
- #015
As with most of the characters in the film, Kasumi's personality was made cold and hard, in contrast to her more open and affectionate nature in the games.
- #016
Some of the characters wear their default outfits directly from the Dead or Alive games, while others show inconsistencies, such as Tina Armstrong wearing a denim jacket and jeans in a reference to Hitomi's default costume.
- #017
In the video games Christie has white hair, but in the film she is blonde.
- #018
At around 1 hour 9 minutes, during the hacking sequence, code flashes rapidly on screen. The scrolling code is Linux source code required to run Linux on a DEC/Compaq Alpha processor.
- #019
Hitomi's personality was given to Helena Douglas.
- #020
The film is an adaptation of the second game, DOA2: Hardcore (1999).
- #021
In a scene where Leon fights Kasumi in the room where Christie and Max are in bed, you can briefly see Leon perform his usual fighting stance while dodging attacks.
- #022
Lisa Hamilton, Kokoro, Bankotsubo and Raidou are just a few of the original Dead or Alive cast members who do not appear in the film; two new characters were also created just for the film: Max, who helps Christie with the task of stealing the money, and Weatherby, who falls in love with Helena.
- #023
WILHELM SCREAM: (at around the 41st minute) as Hayabusa throws a guard off a balcony.
- #024
The segment in which Tina Armstrong and Zack decide to challenge each other, in a courtyard with a castle in the background, is essentially L's Castle, which was Leifang's stage in the original Dead or Alive.
- #025
Jeremy Bolt described the film as a cross between Charlie's Angels (2000) and Enter the Dragon (1973).
- #026
In an interview, Tomonobu Itagaki said that Aya Ueto wanted the role of Ayane and Kumiko Goto wanted the role of Kasumi.
- #027
Ryu's assault on the base is a possible nod to the Ninja Gaiden series, in which Ryu also appears. However, while Hayabusa fights with the Dragon Sword in the Ninja Gaiden games, in the film he fights hand-to-hand.
- #028
Ayane's appearance in the film differs from the games. The differences: her eyes were brown instead of red; her bangs were styled differently, sweeping to the sides rather than covering her forehead; her branded ribbon was replaced with a string-like accessory; her ethnicity was changed (from Japanese to half Norwegian-Filipino, and she looks much more Norwegian than Filipino); and her actress was 32 years old and frankly looks much older than Ayane is said to be.
- #029
This was the last film Corey Yuen directed before his death in 2022 from COVID-19-related complications.
- #030
Sarah Carter, Jaime Pressly and Holly Valance appeared in Entourage.
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