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Zatoichi [2004]
![Zatoichi [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415Y4MHQ3VL._SL160_.jpg)
Zatoichi mixes a melodramatic storyline, deadpan comedy, and dazzling, CGI-enhanced swordfights into a supremely entertaining package. In Japan, Zatoichi is a recurring character in popular action movies, but Kitano places his own unique stamp on the series. --Bret Fetzer
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, the Japanese actor-director best known in the US for his quirky, ulraviolent gangster movies (Fireworks, Brother, Sonatine) and in the UK (among satellite and cable viewers, at least) for the bizarre It's a Knockout-meets-Endurance gameshow Takeshi's Castle, applies his off-kilter sensibility to the samurai genre in The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi. A blind masseur (Kitano with his hair dyed white) wanders into a small town divided up by rival gangs. Though hunched and shuffling, Zatoichi soon reveals his deadly skills as a swordsman. He befriends a pair of geisha girls with secrets of their own and helps them hunt down the bandits who killed their parents. But one of the gangs has just hired a ronin, a masterless samurai, whose fighting skill may equal the blind swordsman's.
Just brilliant.
Review date: 2008-04-28 Rating: 10 out of 10
I have watched this film SO many times cinema/at home that i'm staggered that it continues to give me goosepimples at every viewing. Look out for the scenes in the gambing dens, paddy fields and the closing credits ... marvellous. i love it.
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Reviews
A great film
Review date: 2008-04-06 Rating: 10 out of 10
I did not expect to enjoy this movie so much; I would not usually watch a movie of this genre, but I have to say, much to my surprise I loved it! It has a real 'feel-good' factor to it and has all the elements of a great watch.
Brilliant
Review date: 2007-12-17 Rating: 10 out of 10
I loved this film.
With a look and feel similar to Twilight Samurai, it seemed to fit in with a certain current Japanese aesthetic. The story was quirky without being over the top, and even that song and dance routine at the end was fine by me.
Correction
Review date: 2007-12-09 Rating: 8 out of 10
I do not want to spoil the ending for those yet to see the film. But the english subtitle at the end is surely incorrect and the word "anything" should surely be "everything. Perhaps a Japanese speaking person will provide the exact translation.
A great update of an old Japanese classic
Review date: 2007-08-13 Rating: 10 out of 10
The films of Takeshi Kitano can be something of an acquired taste. If you have seen films like Sonatine, Violent Cop and Boiling Point, you will know that action scenes are often interspersed with scenes where the characters do not do very much at all. Zatoichi follows with this pattern to an extent, though seem better integrated in this film. There is a great performance by someone called Guadalcanal Taka as the dissolute gambler Shinkichi, with a number of laugh out loud moments. The sword fights are blisteringly violent and well choreographed. The violence is all CGI, which some find unconvincing, but I think works well. The film ends rather incongruously on a song and dance routine, which may not be to everyone's taste, but this remains a great film
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Tadanobu Asano
'Beat' Takeshi Kitano
Creators:
'Beat' Takeshi Kitano (Primary Contributor)
Tadanobu Asano (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Artificial Eye
Manufacturer: Artificial Eye
EAN: 5021866274300
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2004-07-26
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 111 minutes
Language: Japanese (Unknown)