Samurai
Freesia — Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea — movie reviews
So, I figured some of you guys might be wondering what’s going on with our coverage of Japanese films. Well, I’ve got you covered. Read on for brief reviews of Freesia and Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea.
Freesia: Icy Tears (aka: Freesia: Bullets over Tears) . It’s the old samurai-western feedback-loop, [...]
Shogun Assassin 5: Cold Road to Hell (aka Kozure Okami: Jigoku e Ikuzo! Daigoro) — dvd movie review
Director: Yoshiyuki Kuroda
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Junko Hitomi, Renji Ishibashi, Koichi Sato
Genre: Japan, Samurai, Action
So, after our reviews of the previous four Shogun Assassin DVDs, I’m pretty sure you know what to expect with Shogun Assassin 5: Cold Road to Hell: loads of awesome swordfights, tricked out machine gunning baby-carriage antics, and more arterial [...]
Hana (aka: Hana yori no maho) — dvd movie review
Director: Koreeda Hirokazu
Starring: Junichi Okada, Rie Miyazawa, Susumu Terajima, Tadanobu Asano
Genre: Japan, Samurai, Drama
Koreeda Hirokazu is the master of the saccharine. The man has managed to tackle such subjects ranging from dealing with the suicide of a spouse (Maborosi) to the prospect of life after death (After Life), and in each instance, rather than depressing [...]
Sukiyaki Western Django movie review
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kaori Moimoi, Hideaki Ito, Yoshino Kimura
Genre: Indie, Bad Ass Chicks, Japan, Action
This film has been covered ad-nauseum on other websites, so I’ll make this relatively short. For those of you not in the know, Sukiyaki Western Django is Takashi Miike’s Japanese western. Now, each and every film student knows about the [...]
Shogun Assassin 4: Five Fistfulls of Gold — dvd review
So if you check out this site, and you’ve read my reviews of Shogun Assassin 2 and Shogun Assassin 3, you know what to expect from Shogun Assassin 4: Five Fistfuls of Gold. Yup, Shogun Assassin 4 is the dubbed version of the fifth Lone Wolf and Cub film, Baby Cart in the Land [...]
MOVIE REVIEW [In Brief] . Love and Honor (aka: Bushi no ichibun)
Based on the novel by Shuuhei Fujisawa, Love and Honor (aka: Bushi no ichibun, The Poison Taster) tells the tragic tale of Shinnojo Mimura (Takuya Kimura) a spoiled young samurai, a poison taster for a feudal lord, struck blind after a toxic meal. Thereafter rendered a “useless” person the samurai is rendered housebound, the once [...]
Slaughter in the Snow [The Mikogami Trilogy] — dvd movie review
Slaughter in the Snow, the third and final installment in the Mikogami Trilogy, sees Jokichi (Yoshio Harada, Party 7, 9 Souls) on the last leg of his journey. Kyubei and Chogoro are dead, leaving only Chuji to take care of. But standing in the way of his final target is a knife wielding assassin, Kobunji [...]
The Fearless Avenger [The Mikogami Trilogy] — dvd movie review
One down and two to go. Having slain Kyubei at the end of The Trail of Blood, Jokichi now sets his sights on Chogoro and Chuji, the two remaining parties responsible for the deaths of his wife and son. As the film starts, Jokichi makes a reckless attempt towards killing Chogoro at wake for a [...]
The Trail of Blood [The Mikogami Trilogy] — dvd movie review
Wow, so that was an insanely busy week. Back to some film reviews. First up: The Mikogami Trilogy Box Set. As with all other Box Sets I’ve covered, I will review each film individually. A warning though: This review has been written in bits and pieces for the past week and a half. I apologize [...]
Shinobi no mono (aka: The Ninjas) dvd review early!
Shinobi no mono (aka: The Ninjas) is credited as the film that started the whole worldwide ninja craze, and not without good reason. The film has a level of technical and artistic skill that’s readily apparent to even the most indiscriminant viewer, an intelligent and involving story of historical intrigue, incorporating real ninja tactics for [...]
Shogun Assassin 3: Slashing Blades of Carnage — dvd movie review — Early!
I know what you’re thinking. “Wait. What? Shogun Assassin 3? I’ve heard of one and two, but three? Am I missing something here?” No, you’re not crazy. Technically Shogun Assassin 3: Slashing Blades of Carnage is brand new, a freshly dubbed version of Lone Wolf and Cub 4: Baby Cart in Peril, brought about by [...]
Weinsteins to remake The Seven Samurai
So, I was checking the film news blurbs over at the IMDB, and came across this:
The Weinstein Co. announced plans Wednesday to invest $285 million In Asian-themed projects, including a remake of the 1954 Kurosawa film The Seven Samurai. In a statement, company said that it had also invested an undisclosed amount in the martial [...]
DVD REVIEW [Early] 47 Ronin (1994)
The 47 Ronin is arguably one of the most well known Japanese historical tales, both in and out of Japan. In its native country it has seen over 80 film adaptations and numerous manga, anime, and stage play incarnations. In American cinema, the tale has further been referenced in films including Ronin and Woody Allen’s [...]
Afro Samurai Director’s Cut 2-Disc Edition — anime — dvd review — early!
Being that I’ve already written a number of articles on Afro Samurai, including my first impressions of the series, and a full review of the Director’s Cut of the series, I think I’ve completely exhausted all I can say about the Afro Samurai story. For the sake of a cohesive DVD review, I’m reprinting the [...]
DVD REVIEW [Early] . Shinsengumi
If you enjoy samurai films, you already know of the two main types of films: those that seek purely to entertain, and those that seek to educate through serious drama and depiction of historical events. Shinsengumi is of the latter, a thought provoking historical epic that easily ranks with such notable films as Chushingura: 47 [...]
Ten “Grindhouse” Films Worth Watching
With the arrival of Grindhouse in the theaters today, a lot of lists are coming out with “Grindhouse” films recommended by professional critics. Some of them are actually pretty good. But, for the majority of them, if you look closely at the lists, you’ll realize the recommenders never actually saw the films listed. Some of [...]
ANIME REVIEW . Afro Samurai Director’s Cut
The other day Funimation dropped us a preview copy of their upcoming Director’s Cut of Afro Samurai. Now, being a preview disc, the copy I viewed was pretty rough around the edges — by no means a production grade — but it did give me a nice idea as to the special features that will [...]
DVD [Early] REVIEW . Dora-Heita (aka: Alley Cat)
Directed by Kon Ichikawa, from a wonderful script (long since thought abandoned) by Akira Kurosawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Masaki Kobayashi, and himself, Dora-Heita is not so much a throwback as a realization of a lost treasure. Proudly sporting its classic sensibilities on its sleeve, the film is jam packed with everything you’ve come to expect [...]
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