|
Just finished this and I have to say it is one outstanding film. If you like period pieces that don't hit you over the head with boring and drawn out stories, action films that have a bit more intelligence than your standard films, and war films that are not overly heavy with blood and guts, with a splash of humor masterfully weaved in, you can't do much better than this. While I am not the biggest Miike fan out there, I am highly impressed with this undertaking and it is a great popcorn flick to settle in with if you like Japanese period films with lots of sword play (and pretty much zero cable acrobatics, thankfully). quote: Cult director Takeshi Miike (Ichi the Killer, Audition) delivers a bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a wartorn future. --(c) Magnet Pictures The film is based on true events, and is a remake of Eiichi Kudos 1963 black-and-white Japanese film of the same name, Jūsan-nin no shikaku. All around great cast, interesting story, slight glimmers of supernatural threads, and some amazing samurai battle scenes that leave you craving more. If I had some complaints, I would say that it is a bit hard to keep up with in the first half hour, as it is pretty fast paced and the characters come in and out pretty quick leaving you wondering who is who. Also, it isn't the deepest film in history, but what it delivers in action it delivers in spades. The characters can also be a bit flat at times, but it is forgiven as it stays within the time constraints and doesn't get bogged down with the details that could make this a 12 hour film. Well worth the rental or if you can catch it in a theater still. Rotten Tomatoes gives it 96% IMDB Link Directed by Takashi Miike Produced by Toshiaki Nakazawa (Sedic International) Jeremy Thomas (Recorded Picture Company) Takashi Hirajō (TV Asahi) Screenplay by Daisuke Tengan Story by Shōichirō Ikemiya Starring Kōji Yakusho Takayuki Yamada Yūsuke Iseya Gorō Inagaki (SMAP) Masachika Ichimura Mikijirō Hira
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2011 03:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 13:36 |
|
|
I really liked everything about this movie. I'm a big fan of the samurai genre, and it's great to see worthy entries still being made. The setup, the plot, the pacing, the characters, and the visuals are all really top notch. My only complaint, I think, is that the payoff was not quite as sweet as I was anticipating. It was epic, it was a giant battle with an unbelievable amount of asskicking. It just got a little bit repetitive. The swordplay could have used a little more variation. But I haven't heard anyone else make this minor criticism, so by all means you should go check this movie out. 4/5
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2011 04:03
|
|
|
I had never heard of this movie until reading this post. I am a big Zatoichi fan, and have watched all the old Lone Wolf and Cub movies. I can definitely vouch for this movie. The premise of the movie was a bit generic (shogun's evil-brother assuming a powerful position and must be stopped) however, the graphic scenes, the mind-blowing craziness/psychotic nature of this guy just reinforces why he needs his butt whipped. The action was awesome; the characters weren't as generic as they would be in a western action movie and the plot was entrenched from the start which made it impossible not to have all your hope placed in the hands of the good guys. 4.5/5
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2011 04:17
|
|
|
Just watched a 2nd time, it's amazing for so many reasons. Probably my favorite folklore-turned-epic film, it puts Western drivel like Braveheart and 300 to shame. Miike hits every beat with pitch perfect accuracy. I'd write more but the film speaks for itself. 5/5
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2012 04:19
|
|
|
I was turned off by this at first because I figured it'd just be a Seven Samurai rip-off. Couldn't of been more wrong. This was fantastic, not dragged out at all, and the final battle was just plain awesome. Pros: Everything Cons: Nothing 5/5
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2012 02:48
|
|
|
This movie was on the track towards earning a 5 from me, but then you find yourself at Ochiai, at the climax of the film (~80 mins in) and what follows almost completely ruins the entire movie. The climax is so bad, so ridiculous and so over the top that only naivety and willful ignorance will save you from it. All they had to do was let loose the trap, fight Noritsugu and his lieutenants, die in the act and this was a packaged deal. Instead you watch 13 men, everything relatively realistic about them, devour 130 in hand to hand combat. That combat scene is so bad, so so so bad, that they didn't even bother to shoot angles where the enemy isn't staring at the Assassin's backs while they swing wildly at all in front of them. After 10 minutes of that, you have to be thinking, "ok, there's no conceivable way any of these Samurai will die, they're absolutely immortal." Somehow, and I cannot explain how, 11 of them perish in anti-climactic albeit dramatic ways. I read afterwards that far too much was borrowed or stolen from Seven Samurai, and I have to agree, there is very little original here as some have claimed. New scenery, new actors and set in a different time period, but, everything else is practically identical. That itself is never a bad thing unless you've seen the original movies this is based on, which, I have. People aren't judging this appropriately, because it's a foreign film, whatever, it's not as good as we're led to believe. 2/5 Xenixx fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Dec 19, 2012 |
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2012 02:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 13:36 |
|
|
I feel like the final third of the film doesn't understand what makes the first 2/3 so good. But those first two acts really are great. 3/5. Mechafunkzilla fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Dec 26, 2012 |
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2012 05:41
|
|
