Tagline: From the ravages of war rises the ultimate assassin.
Plot: Raised to deal in cold blooded death, the teenage assassin girl Azumi
must defeat three evil warlords while also battling her own heart.
My rating: 7/10
Will I watch it again? Nah.
If you should start watching this and find it too slow, do not give up on it until after the kids leave their mountain home and begin their journey. Their Master makes them do something that will splendidly fuck you up and it's awesome. There's lots of gore throughout the picture and a lot of people die, especially at the end. The evil assassin in white, Bijomura Mogami (the Japanese equivalent to Billy Drago), is a lot of fun and he's a refreshingly fun character. The cast does a fine job and all and I liked the picture. It ends up being a better film than it started out as. If there's one issue I've got it's the odd shots that you'd expect from a much lesser film. Hell, even Peter Jackson had a handful of shots in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy that felt like something a low budget film maker (with some talent, mind you) would use but they stood out in a proper, polished film. I knew by the DVD text that this director is the same guy behind VERSUS (2000) which I dug. The action was great. But I was surprised to see that he also made THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (2008). I like his work and I'll have to check out more of it. Good stuff.
Plot: Blind swordsman/masseur Zatoichi is pursued by the retainers of a lord
who fear that he will reveal a secret weakness of their master.
Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a
much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former
rival in love: his own brother. He must face in combat not only the
pursuing retainers but his own flesh-and-blood.
My rating: 8/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
I've only seen a small few of the 25 films in the 60s/70s Shintaro Katsu series and they're all very good so far. Like many in this series, there isn't an awful lot of sword play but there are generally a couple of little scenes and one big one at the end. The opening has some ruffians going up against a one-armed swordsman and he does a fine job of handling himself. Nice.
Zatoichi gets into a scrap with some numbskulls bent on killing him for knowing that their master is gay. That doesn't go well for them. Had they just watched the first movie they would have know what they were up against. It's pretty quiet until the final act where, in the last fifteen minutes, we get the big ass showdown we knew was coming.
Besides the great action, much of this final act is without music. it's a nice touch. The fight lasts a few short minutes and then it's up to Zatoichi to help the wounded one-armed swordsman.
It looks like it's curtains for both of them but we know something they don't, there's going to be more than twenty more films after this and it's all grade-A ass kickin' stuff. And the ending to this one is pretty ballsy. I won't spoil it but it is unusual.
Plot: A squadron of Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers find themselves
transported through time to their country's warring states era, when
rival samurai clans were battling to become the supreme Shogun. The
squad leader, Lt. Iba, sees this as the perfect opportunity to realize
his dream of becoming the ruler of Japan. To achieve this, he teams his
troops up with those of Kagatori, a samurai daimyo who also aspires to
become Shogun. Are either of these power-hungry warriors to be trusted?
My rating: 9/10
Will I watch it again? YES!!!
Think about this for a minute. A bunch of Japanese National Guard types on weekend maneuvers are mysteriously transported back in time 400 years to feudal Japan. They've got modern weapons including a tank, gunboat and a helicopter and they're going up against men with swords and arrows. It kind of sounds ridiculously retarded, doesn't it? Director Saito and pals pull this off almost without a hitch. The almost part belongs to the soundtrack but everything else is absolutely fantastic. I last watched this in 2006 and I was worried it might not hold up a second time but it did.
The action is superb. The big battle sequence near the end feels like it goes on forever and it's amazing how they were able to sustain an enjoyable and exciting war battle for so long. It's incredible and it's got tension. I was really worried how some of the character's fates would pan out. There's also some great use of slow motion. One more bit of praise before I get to the fucked up part. There are a few scenes that are completely silent and they last a lot longer than most people would allow, and they're brilliant.
The score (by Kentaro Haneda) mostly works but it feels like it belongs to a different movie but that's not what's so strange; it's the songs. You've got blues, country/folk and ballads that feel like they were dropped in just because the director said he wanted songs there and someone did it just to piss him off. It's not as offensive as the first time I saw it so maybe it'll grow on me and the director is more brilliant than it seems but they're still awkward and don't fit and laughably so. This isn't a deal killer by any stretch but it's the one thing that I would have to change if given the chance. I can't stress enough how entertaining this flick is and you'll be shocked that they're able to maintain the awesome for 139 minutes. Great ending, too, by the way. Loved it. I have it as part of the Sonny Chiba Collection that has 4 movies which includes the longest cut of G.I. SAMURAI. Amazon has it right now for $3.86 and free shipping (for Prime members). It's a friggin' steal at even double the price.
Plot: Iemitsu, Tokugawa Shogun III, hates his eldest son Takechiyo; all his
love is given to his younger son Tokumatsu. One day, he orders Takechiyo
to an initiation rite in Yedo (today's Tokio). Takechiyo lives far away
under the surveillance of Hotta Masamori, head of the Skura clan, where
he was also raised. Hotta does suspect some kind of treachery, but he
can not ignore the direct command of the Shogun. Therefore, he starts on
his travel with Takechiyo and seven accompanying samurais. A large army
under the command of Iba Shoemon, a vassal of the Shogun, attacks their
night camp in the vicinity of a copper mine. Hotta dies in this first
battle, but Takechiyo and the samurai manage to escape. They are chased
by the army, and several skirmishes between the small force and the
larger army follow.
My rating: 7.5/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
I digs me some Samurai flicks and this is a good one. It's funny because I don't think I've seen a bad one yet. Anyway, There's a ton of action from every direction.Ken Ogata is great as the middle aged samurai, Igo Gyobu, sworn to protect the rightful heir, Takechiyo (Ippei Shigeyama). His evil adversary is Iba Shoemon (Chiba). Their showdown is epic and feels like a Western gun duel but with swords. It's even in the middle of the dirt road in town just like in an American Western. You'd think the picture would end there but it doesn't. At first it's a little weird how it keeps going but there's more to the movie than swordplay and killin' folks. The music score by Masaru Sato is really good even though the orchestral style he chose feels strange for a film like this. There are three moments (the first doesn't happen until halfway into the picture) where you get 80s hair metal songs as performed by Japanese artists. We laughed our butts off. They come out of nowhere and make no sense for this 17th Century flick but it's fun in a bizarre way.
Plot: In the Sixteenth Century, in Japan, Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) and Matakishi (Kamatari Fujiwara), two rascals and greedy peasants, are trying to return to the city of Akizuki through Hayakawa, after an unsuccessful attempt of making money with the war between the clans of Yamana and Akizuki. While warming themselves in a fire, they find gold with the symbol MT. Suribachi of the Akizuki hidden in the firewood, and they decide to search for other branches. Tahei and Matakishi meet General Rokurota Makabe (Toshirô Mifune), who is secretly protecting Princess Yukihime (Misa Uehara), and without knowing their identities, they accept to escort and help them in the transportation of the gold through the enemy lines to Akizuki.
My rating: 7.5/10
Will I watch it again? Nah. Twice is enough.
So I won't watch it again? WTF? It's a Kurosawa movie. How can anyone say that? Yeah, I know. I REALLY like Kurosawa's films but this one takes the prize as my least favorite. That doesn't mean I didn't like it, it's just that there are two things that bother me enough that will keep me from coming back - the two corball leads. They're way to silly for my taste - obnoxiously silly. The actress that plays Princess Yuki yells every line of dialogue and that gets old quick, too.
I first came to this film many years ago after hearing that this was a big inspiration for George Lucas when creating STAR WARS (1977). The only thing he took from this was the bigger story as told through two goofballs (ala C3PO and R2D2 - there is a princess but that's coincidental), although I'm stunned he had the restraint not to make them as over the top as Kurosawa did. The rest of the this picture is fantastic. The camera work, the music, the story (which goes in small directions you don't anticipate), Mifune's performance - all of those things work very, very well. I just can't abide by those obnoxious peasants and the screaming princess. It's just too much.
Plot: Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) is a blind masseuse in the Edo period (Ichi is his name; Zato is his title that indicates that he is in the lowest rank of the guild of blind men). He’s also an expert gambler and swordsman, able to best sighted opponents. When Zatoichi comes to a town embroiled in a war between rival Yakuza groups, Zatoichi is drawn into the conflict.
My rating: 8.5/10
Will I watch it again? And again, and again...
In the past 50 years, this film has spawned 25 sequels, a four season TV show (so far, all of which starred Shintaro Katsu), and in the past decade we've gotten a remake with two sequels! That's a lot of Zatoichi. So what's the big deal about a badass blind swordsman? He's a loner, blind, almost supernaturally skilled with his sword and he's an incredibly gentle person who's got a great deal going on inside himself than he almost ever lets on to anyone around him. Ichi is a pretty complex character that grows a little with each film.
Samurai pictures from Japan during this era can be rather calming. There's not that much music (what's there is very well scored in this one by Japan's leading film composers, Akira Ifukube), and the action in this first installment is limited but when there is action (especially from Ichi), it's ON! I dig his style. It's very swift with an elongated quiet pause at the end, allowing his victims to fall.
Ichi's interactions with the more sympathetic characters are very touching. While he may deceive them a little (not everyone can know he's a lot more in touch with the world around him than he lets on), he is completely justified in his secrets. With each film we get a scant few more details into his past and what made him the man he is today. ZATOICHI is not just samurai sword series of movies. These are dramas with moments of swordplay. If you dismiss this picture and others like it for being simple "dudes in dresses with swords" movies, you'll be missing out on some excellent cinema no matter how you slice it.
Plot: In this first film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, adapted from the manga by KazuoKoike, we are told the story of the Lone Wolf and Cub's origin. OgamiItto, the official Shogunate executioner, has been framed for disloyalty to the Shogunate by the Yagyu clan, against whom he now is waging a one-man war, along with his infant son, Daigoro.
My rating: 8.5/10
Will I watch it again? Definitely.
In 1980 an American producer thought it'd be a great idea to take a couple of these LONE WOLF movies, combine them, keep all of the action and throw out the drama bits, dub it with American actors, slap a modern electronic score on it and call it SHOGUN ASSASSIN (1980). It wasn't a bad idea because on the level of kickass samurai action, it's fun but as a dramatic narrative it's lacking. I suspected then that I would enjoy the original films better and I was right.
Wakayama is great as the titular samurai on a quest of vengeance and that kid is super cute. There are lots of surprises when it comes to the fighting. The baby cart is tricked out with all kinds of neat modifications. The fights are fast and furious with lots of arterial blood spray and you-know-who is going to be triumphant every time. Even though he's the best in the land, meaning you know he'll always, it's still very exciting and fun. The Hideaki Sakurai wrote a wonderful score with a smattering of fuzz guitar that works surprisingly well.
One thing that took me by surprise is how quiet and gentle the film is. There are fight scenes with no music, scenes with little to no sound (like the complete silence during the rainstorm) or dialogue. For a samurai action movie it's very relaxing and that's probably the film's biggest strength. It's a remarkable picture and the only thing that makes it better is that there's 5 more films in the series and they're regarded as being just as good as the first!
Plot: Yuki's family is nearly wiped out before she is born due to the machinations of a band of criminals. These criminals kidnap and brutalize her mother but leave her alive. Later her mother ends up in prison with only revenge to keep her alive. She creates an instrument for this revenge by purposefully getting pregnant. Though she dies in childbirth, she makes sure that the child will be raised as an assassin to kill the criminals who destroyed her family. Young Yuki never knows the love of a family but only killing and revenge.
My Rating: 9
Would I watch it again? Is watching a Japanese broad run around for 97 minutes killing folks with a samurai sword hot as hell?
Did you read the plot outline? It's pretty fucked up. This is one of the best of the Pinky Violence (PV may refer to the films set in modern day but I'd still consider it one 'cause it's got a badass chick on a revenge kick to the death) films out there. WOW WOW WOW!
You wanna see where Tarantino got his inspiration for KILL BILL from? Most of it is in this picture. He used the opening song, some dialogue, characters and some shots. But all of that doesn't matter. What matters is that we have this film to view for ourselves and it's a masterpiece.
The plot is so thick with revenge that you can break a knife cutting it. The arterial blood sprays are abundant and the little twists we get are fun, believable and welcome because with each one introduced you know it's going to have to make the film longer. And that's a good thing 'cause I didn't want this one to end. I can't wait to watch the freakin' sequel.
Unlike a lot of these types of films from Japan there's no nudity. No big deal. Just an observation. But they make up for it with tanker trucks full of blood. It's like watching the sun gently rise in the morning over a golf course when suddenly, for as far as you can see, the sprinklers come on and do their work. It gets on the camera, the walls, everywhere. Nice.
Here's a neat little scene where Yuki (Lady Snowblood) removes this cat's hands...
So what that QT stole bits from this. If you watch enough movies you'll see all kinds of things he's borrowed from. At least he's really good at it. I've always heard that if you're going to steal, steal from the best...and of this type of film, it's probably the best of its kind.
Plot: The Bride wakes up after a long coma. The baby that she carried before entering the coma is gone. The only thing on her mind is to have revenge on the assassination team that betrayed her - a team she was once part of.
Kill Bill 1 Trailer:
Kill Bill 2 Trailer:
My Rating: 10/10
Would I watch it again? Duh
I love Tarantino's films. In interviews he's a pompous, conceited egomaniac, but his films kick all kinds of ass. I saw both parts of KB four times each in the theater. I couldn't get enough. Everything about it is magnificent. The dialogue, music, story. Everything. Tarantino gets, often times, the absolute best performances out of his actors. I've never seen Uma better, and I don't recall seeing Carradine better than he is here.
Michael Parks is a character acting genius. To see him as Earl McGraw in part one and then have him turn up UNRECOGNIZABLE in part two as Esteban Vihaio and give an amazing performance in two completely different types of rolls is just...amazing.
Then there's the anti-climactic ending bothers an awful lot of people.
PULP SPOILERS
Bill is clearly advancing in his age. He does have some fight in him but he's past his prime and probably hasn't engaged in massive close combat like he's about to with Uma. He's certainly in no condition to match her considering that she's taken on dozens of highly skilled killers and beaten or killed them on her way to get to Bill. She's going to win if it came down to it. He knows it and she knows it. He has his Q&A time with Uma and starts drinking. They take the conversation outside. He's tipsy and ready to die. In a matter of four or so seconds she complies and kills him. So there's no big fight. Bill chose that death rather than fight it. He accepted his fate for wronging Uma. He deserved it and he knew it. End of story. Up to this point we had been treated to one fantastic fight after another and to have the film end this way, with the opportunity to catch our breath and absorb, was a ballsy choice and the right choice.
END OF SPOILERS...YARRRRRR!
People claim that this is Tarantino's Spaghetti Western. Where? How? He makes great use of some SW music from other films, there is a location in the American desert and this has a revenge theme but it's not a SW. Maybe someone can explain it to me. I have over 300 Spaghetti Westerns and I've watched a fair share. I don't see it.
I do have to comment on the obvious greedy bastards at Mirimax that are responsible for the release of this film on DVD. It's outrageously over-priced and the lame extras of literally fluff just don't cut it. They just released both films on Blu-ray with a list price of $35 each! Outrageous. So essentially the MSRP is 70 bucks for one film. Granted, you can get them cheaper but even at 45 for the whole thing it's just wrong. Bastards!
Plot: Tetsuro Tanba plays a nihilistic ronin who faces down the "Clan of the Forgotten Eight", who got their name because they lost all their basic emotions like conscience, gratitude, loyalty, shame etc. With his sword Onibouchou (literally: Ogre's Kitchen Knife!) Tanba's character hacks into their ranks in ways that has limbs and severed heads fly everywhere and the blood flows in rivers! On his way, he only stops to take every woman he meets, forcefully if need be!
My Rating: 8/10
Would I watch it again? I love this kind of shit
There's a scene where our hero, Shino the Assassin, approaches a beautiful young woman. She opens a pair of shears, places them to her neck and tells Shino, "One step closer and I'll kill myself." Shino pulls out a large knife and says, "This one is more efficient."
Or how about this one. Shino, and his annoying-soon-to-die-a-grisly-death-sidekick, are attacked by an assassin who surrounds them with fire and flees. Shino, facing certain death, is rescued. How? Six heavily robed women put hoods over their faces, roll frantically back and forth over the flames, extinguishing them little by little until the fire is out and Shino is no longer trapped. They lie there motionless as one waves for Shino to come over and motions him to cut her out of her robes. He does and she's completely nude. Then she cuts the others free and they are equally nude!!!
Still not convinced you need to see this? It gets better.
After explaining to Shino that they were sent by a clan leader to protect him, they mosey off through the woods still nude. They are attacked by an assassin and the women get into defensive positions, They suddenly have knives (which must have been hidden in their vaginas because they didn't have them a second ago) and fight. One by one they are overcome by an assassin and now it's Shino's turn to save them.
This kind of shit goes on all through the picture. What an amazing film. It's so wild unpredictable that you can't wait to see what's in store next. There's fountains of blood from severed limbs, ears and heads that go flying through the air in slow motion. There's nudity galore from countless beautiful Japanese women. And it's got a great ending that's just screaming for a sequel that, to my knowledge and searching, doesn't exist. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Japanese cinema of the 60s and 70s. They delivered so many amazing images and sequences that you are not likely to see from any other country. THIS is entertainment.
Tagline: The Deadliest Dragon That Ever Smashed the Street Gangs!
Plot: Chico (Chiba) arrives in a city where there are two waring gangs. Chico gets wind of a large hidden stash of heroin owned by the, now dead, former leader (Rico) over all of the gangs and sets off to find it and keep the two gangs at war. Meanwhile, he as befriended a small boy whose father is a samurai assassin working for the rival gang.
My Rating: 8/10
Would I watch it again? Oh, yeah
Viva Chiba! Everybody knows what a badass Bruce Lee was, right? Well, everybody should know that Sonny Chiba is the closest thing to the badassicity of Lee after Lee's death. He became an international star with THE STREET FIGHTER (1974) and its sequels, as well as the spin-off SISTER STREET FIGHTER (1974). So if you're not familiar with this guy then that's a great place to start.
Here's a pic from THE STREET FIGHTER...
The film starts with a newscaster voice-over scenes of gang violence. Here we learn that the former boss, Rico, is dead and there are two brothers who each leads half of the former gang. They are at war with another to gain control of the city for themselves. There's also a large stash of heroin worth 1 billion yen hidden by Ricco before his death. Chico rolls into town and wants a piece of it. He meets a little boy who claims his father is a samurai. He follows the boy to his makeshift home near the wharf. There he meets the boy's father and within minutes is fighting along side him kicking the asses of one of the gangs.
"Everyone in this room will die by the hands of Chiba (seated left)"
There's more ass-kickery on top of that and it's beautiful. You know that technique of using slow motion, speeding up for the impact and then back to slow motion used in movies like THE MATRIX and 300? They use it here and it's done better than those two films!!! And this is 19-freakin'-76 we're talkin'!!! It's fucking awesome. The clip above includes that scene.
"Everyone in this room will die by the hands of Chiba!"
It's kind of cool how this feels like a western at times. The story is not unlike that of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS which was taken from YOJIMBO. The action scenes are badass. Lots of people die and die beautifully. When a truce is called between the two gangs, Chico doesn't like it. He needs them fighting so he can continue earning large dollars while looking for the heroin so he uses a samurai sword to cut off an arm belonging to a member of his own gang to make it look like the other gang's samurai warrior did it. They're at war again. Hooray for us 'cause that means more ass-kickery.
"Everyone on this beach will die by the hands of Chiba!"
There's blood sprays, body parts getting whacked off, women being brutalized (not a good thing, of course, but these people are brutal). One of the gang leaders beats his girlfriend with a belt and leaves her bloody only to have Chico drop in later, treat her right and bangs her. Later on he rubs it in the guys face telling him how to get what he wants. Nice.
The voice work is really good, surprisingly. The only gripe I'd have about it is the kid sounds like Bart Simpson but as a grown-up smoker. Other than that this movie is tons of fun. The anamorphic widescreen print is far from perfect but considering it's thirty years old it's pretty damn good. It's part of a 6-film, 5-disc set (called THE SONNY CHIBA COLLECTION) I picked up for just over ten bucks at Deepdiscount.com. The sale's over but you can still get it for less than 14 clams which is still a fantastic deal for 6 mid-70s Sonny Chiba action films AND they're all anamorphic widescreen prints! VIVA CHIBA!
Plot: Shogun decapitator, lone wolf, ronin. Travels with his son, Daigoro, in search of the Shogun that is paranoid of his skills. In the attempts to kill Lone Wolf, Shogun's ninja kills his wife and leaves him to care for the boy. Lone Wolf swears that Shogun will pay for his deeds. Revenge and justice drive Lone Wolf through Japan's forests and deserts in search of vengeance.
My Rating: 7/10
Would I watch it again? No, because I'd much rather see any of the LONE WOLF AND CUB films this is compiled from instead.
This film has a cult following. I've heard about it for years and I finally got around to seeing it. Now, I loves me some martial arts films, ninja films, Japanese samurai films and such. There are 25 or so films in the Zatoichi blind swordsman series and I've seen a few. They're all very good. And I've seen quite a few other Japanese samurai pictures and they were also very enjoyable.
From what I understand, SA came about when an American producer decided to take two films (from the film series of LONE WOLF AND CUB from the early 70s) and put them together to make a more action-filled movie with a new English dubbing. It sounds like a disaster. It isn't but then it's not exactly a home run either. The result is action-filled (and I'd say a little too much) but it also has a few "what the hell is going on?" and "now WHO are these guys?" moments that arise because of the combining of two seperate story lines.
Surprisingly the English dubbing is good. The music's OK but, knowing this film is the combination of two other fims, I couldn't help but think, as I watched it, that I'd probably enjoy each of the two films in their original language much better. I haven't seen either of them yet but I expect it will happen sooner than later and for that reason I'm not going to comment much on this film because what's good about it, I suspect, probably plays out much better in the orginal films.
"Zee plane, Boss! Zee plane!"
I will say this, though. If you're not familiar with the samurai genre then this would be a good starting point. You can do a helluva lot worse. I would only hope that, upon seeing it, it will whet your appetite for more of the genre and seek out any of the ZATOICHI series or any Akira Kurosawa samurai film and see what great action and great drama can do side-by-side.
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"Zee plane, Boss! Zee plane!" 
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