An American samurai fantasy directed by Carl Rinsch, starring Keanu Reeves and Hiroyuki Sanada.
A "half breed" (English Japanese, but this is never mentioned) man is in love with the daughter of a feudal lord. A witch is fooling around with the political situation to have the lord executed and an evil man installed in his place, engaged to the daughter. The son of the lord and the half breed gather a group of fighters to dethrone the evil man.
Very pretty, but pretty boring. The plot failed to hold my attention. Some of the characters were developed and changed over the duration (son of the feudal lord goes from hating Keanu to fighting alongside him). I really didn't get the half English thing. I thought he was half Tengu and that the witch should have been played by a white woman because then the non-human characters would also be non-Asian. The video was mostly new Hollywood style, without a hint of Japanese framing (like camera on the roof). There were also tons of digital effects. If some physical effects like models, props and mechanically animated costumes had been mixed in, it would have been more convincing. Audio was decent and I could hear everything. It also came with good subtitles. I rate it o.k. because of too much CG and 1 white actor on an all-Asian cast.
A Japanese samurai drama directed by Masaki Kobayashi, starring Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai.
A feudal lord forces a young man to take his wife after a disagreement. Although reluctant, they fall in love. However, her first son with the feudal lord is about to inherit his leadership and he takes the woman back against the will of the young man and the "shared" wife. The father of the young man supports the young couple strongly because his marriage is loveless and they have become the only good thing in his life.
This is definitely worth watching. Samurai Assassin (1965) was a fluke. Usually, samurai flicks with Toshiro Mifune are good like this one. The characters showed strong emotions and some stood up for what they believed in while others spread corruption and injustice. Needless to say, the plot was very much to my liking. It comes down to the writing being good. Casting was good, but that was secondary. I was watching through the first hour and a half as the drama escalated, knowing that like Harakiri (1962), it would end in like half an hour of violence and bloodshed. A good clue was the father telling the wet nurse that the floor mats were moved so their feet would not slip in the blood. One of the signature camera moves of this era and genre is one of my favorites. A camera was placed on the roof of buildings (image). It's hard to explain how and why that impresses me so much, but it looks so cool. Maybe it's my video game past which makes me a fool for views down onto actors. If you like samurai cinema of 1960s and 1970s Japan, this is one to see. I rate it solid green good because it's everything that samurai films are supposed to be. Watch it!
A Japanese samurai film directed by Kihachi Okamoto, starring Toshiro Mifune.
A ronin who does not know his father is part of a conspiracy to overthrow the current government.
Lots of political intrigue and not much sword fighting. The plot developed very slowly, but this developed the characters very well too. The cinematography was absolutely amazing. I mean like Fire Over England (1937) kind of amazing. You know it looks good when I use 2 images. The 2 hour duration seemed a little long to me because of the slow plot. That's really all there is to say about this film. I rate it o.k.
A Japanese samurai series directed by Kenji Misumi, Yasuzo Masumura and Yoshio Inoue, starring Shintaro Katsu.
Hanzo is a loose cannon petty officer with a big dick and a penchant for blackmail who has had enough of government corruption.
Sex and violence! Four and a half hours of Hanzo in one day is a little bit much. It started off great, but I was wishing it would end like 3/4 through the third film. The pacing was really moderate all the way through. There were a few sections where editing cuts picked up speed in fights and sex scenes though. The plot was basically the same through all of the films. There were different people involved in side-plots, but the main idea remained constant. The main characters were developed quite well. Hanzo himself identifies himself by his penis maintenance regimen in the beginning of each film and then goes on to have his lackeys lower a girl in a net onto him, who he spins while she hangs from a rope. The lackeys were criminals that Hanzo freed and act as comic relief. The constant villain is Magobei "snake" Onishi, Hanzo's superior officer, but Hanzo dispatches other bad guys in each film. The dialogue was all written well and crossed the language barrier decently. The actors all knew their roles and played their characters fine. Obviously, Hanzo was the best. The sets and costumes were evidently planned very well and fit the samurai genre to a T. The camera-work included lots of creative angles and shot composition. The first film even had an "inside the vagina" shot. Special effects included lots of blood, as would be expected and was definitely appreciated. The audio was mixed dynamically, with good dialogue levels and a funky psychedelic rock soundtrack. The overall style reminded me of Lone Wolf and Cub. On IMDB, Sword of Justice has 6.8/10, The Snare has 7.1/10 and Who's Got the Gold? has 6.7/10. I think these ratings are very low for such a good series. I rate this awesome for Hanzo's wang and excessive blood.
A Japanese samurai kaiju fantasy directed by Tetsuya Yamauchi.
A royal child is taken from his home by a kung fu and magic teacher when his parents are killed by a dragon that was summoned by a rival samurai. As an adult, he encounters adventures which lead him to return to his home and battle the evil samurai.
Great! This was cheesy and lo-fi, but that's why it's so good. The kaiju monsters were really cool. They appear at the beginning and end of the film, but the middle gets bogged down in politics and too many characters. There were also other special effects in the smaller scale action scenes scattered liberally throughout the duration. What we've got here is good style and special effects, but somewhat lacking in plot, characters and pacing. I rate it awesome because waiting for the monsters was worth it.
A samurai film directed by Takashi Miike.A small group of samurai plan an attack on a larger group in a small town.There were some continuous battle scenes, but I didn't notice because I was playing guitar. Can you blame me? The beginning was so boring that I had to do something! The style was good, but the pacing was unbalanced. I'm rating this adequate.
A samurai film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, starring Sonny Chiba.After a failed christian rebellion, the leader comes back to life with the power to resurrect others. He assembles a gang of undead henchmen and the son of the shogun's swordplay teacher must fight them.The style was really cheesy, which was cool. The primitive CG was entertaining too. There was some good music in the soundtrack, but it mostly got covered up by loud action sequences. The plot was a little murky, but otherwise, it was fine. I'm rating it adequate.
A samurai romance directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, starring Toshiro Mifune.An ugly, but intelligent samurai coaches a handsome, but artless samurai to win the heart of the woman who they both love. A war breaks out and both men must go and fight.Also known as Samurai Saga, this is not bad. The characters are identifiable and the plot is clearly presented. The style is somewhat lacking in parts, but that can be forgiven. The only really cool stylistic section is the very end, but I don't want to spoil it any more than that. I'm rating this adequate because it's it's a fine film, but not something to go on a quest for.
A samurai film directed by Toshiya Fujita.A child is born to a woman who was raped and whose husband was killed by a gang. The daughter takes on her mother's quest for revenge.This is the film that Kill Bill was based on. The style is similar to Shogun Assassin, so if you like the red spray paint style of bloodletting, you'll like this. There is some wire-work involved, but not too much. I'm rating it good and trying to find the theme song.
A samurai film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, starring Sonny Chiba and Toshiro Mifune.In reaction to a string of insults, a feudal lord draws his sword in the shogunate castle. He is sentenced to death and his family name will be abolished. The rest of his clan plot revenge on the man who insulted their lord and was not punished.This is the same story as 47 Ronin, but presented much better. It's 2 and a half hours long, but worth watching. The plot is amazingly coherent, but the characters seemed like an army of clones. I guess that's where the thing about all Japanese people looking the same comes from. I'm rating this adequate.
A samurai film directed by Kon Ichikawa.A group of ronin plan an attack on their enemy and then execute the plan.The first hour and a half of this film was the most boring samurai cinema that I have ever seen. The attack takes place in the last half hour and features some "red spray paint" style bloodletting. The characters all seemed to be the same except for the girl selling pens. She was over-enthusiastic and acting her little ass off. I'm rating this poor for being so damn boring.
A samurai film by Hideo Gosha.A ronin who killed a counselor is on the run from a group who want to kill him. He becomes partners with a gold poacher and they go to the shogun's mountain where they get involved in the conflicts of the area.The plot really didn't do it for me and the characters were not very unique. Overall, it was just a boring old samurai flick. I'm rating it o.k.
A samurai film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa.One samurai wants another's wife and will do anything to get her.This film seemed very westernized. The soundtrack was mostly orchestral and it was in color. As I listened to the few traditional Japanese pieces of music, I was reminded of really horrible guitar playing. It sounded like they got a beginner with a guitar that was out of tune to record tracks. The plot was straight forward without many twists and the characters were very static. I'm rating this o.k. because it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.
A samurai film by Takeshi Kitano.A blind masseur with a walking stick/sword befriends a farmer with a gambler son and a pair of roaming geishas. The blind man helps the gambler to win at dice and massacres the local yakuza gang.This was a decent samurai flick. Being newer, it featured some nice blood sprays caused by quick katana-work. The plot was conveyed in a strange manner, but ended up working out for the best. The pacing was slow, but very good and there was some real style shown. This gets one of those solid green ratings that I wish I could give more frequently.
A samurai film directed by Masaki Kobayashi.A ronin visits the house of a feudal lord, seeking an appropriate place for his seppuku ritual. Thinking that the ronin just wants money, the lord tells him a story of another man who came for the same reason. The ronin still insists on killing himself and a swordsman is sent for. While they wait, the ronin tells the story of how he ended up there. Then things get interesting...I thought this was great! a real fucking samurai flick! They portrayed the necessary poverty and ruined lives (rich, happy samurais are boring) and the whole soundtrack was in traditional Japanese instrumentation. The plot twists and the characters change... it's amazing. Also, there's a big fight at the end. I'm rating this awesome.
action films directed by Hiroshi Inagaki.Musashi Miyamoto grows from a young soldier to an accomplished fencer.There was no audio at the end of the third film.This was typical samurai stuff. Everybody's poor except the nobles and almost everyone fights. I'm rating it o.k. for conforming to the norm.
