Released: 2011
Genre: Action & Drama
Rating: R
Where I Got It: Watched on Netflix
SUMMARY:
Set at the end of Japan's feudal era, a group of 13 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.
TRAILER:
Review:
This has been sitting on my TW pile for a while now. Excuse 1) I couldn't find it anywhere unless I bought it online. Excuse 2) I kept forgetting about it. Finally it is available on Netflix and since Boyfriend loves these movies, it was not hard to convince him to watch it with me.
Oooooh that evil, evil Lord. He was one sick son of a witch. Especially to this one girl. He rapes her, then tells his one guy to come and get her fiance. He comes and asks what the heck happened. The Lord tells him she was raped (she is laying there sobbing). The fiance runs to her and hugs her and tries to comfort her and then the Lord kills him. After that he tortures the girl, cuts off her legs and arms, cuts out her tongue, and then leaves her on a road to die. However, she is found and makes Shimada (I think that was the name of the leader - there were a lot of characters, so it was hard to keep track) decide that enough is enough and begins to recruit his gang of samurais to take this ass down.
The beginning is a little slow, but slow in a way that makes you keep watching. There is so much tension right from the beginning. The action was awesome - even though it took a little bit to get the big fight at the end. The fights were good and not overly cheesy (you know how sometimes that happens with movies like these).
Honestly though...I wish that they added an extra half hour or so, so they could properly introduce each of the 13 guys and get more about them. For some of the guys, it felt so impersonal. Only a handful got a good amount of spotlight and I could even remember their names or who they even are. I get it...there is 13 "main" characters, so it is hard to give EVERYONE a lot of back-story without it getting boring and losing attention.
However, the rest of the film was good. I loved the fight scenes, I loved the story, and I especially love the ending. It was sad, but it was a good way to end it. I did tear up when one of my favorite characters died. You know my luck though....my favorites always end up dying in films/books like these. :/
HAHAHA the horse. I wish I could explain it to you on why the horse in the last scene is so funny. There is this dramatic scene and dialogue happening in the end between two characters (I can't say who, because it is a spoiler) and there is this horse just chilling in the background. Not caring that a war pretty much happened and there are dead bodies everywhere. He's just chilling and eating something. Is it grass? Not possible; it is in the middle of town and even if there was grass there, it would be covered in blood and guts. There is a mini explosion and the horse jumps, but then goes back to chilling. It was hilarious and I had to explain to Boyfriend why I was laughing at a dramatic moment. It was great.
Anyways....
In the end, this was a really good action movie. I wish they introduced the characters of the gang more, but so little time ya kno? The baddie certainly was evil and I'l glad they made him that evil. The scene with the poor girl was so horrible and sad; but it shows that there are evil people out there. It was dramatic, but it certainly got the ball rolling for the gang to get together and take him out. The fights weren't cheesy, they were done well. I liked the ending a lot; it sadly fit (even though the horse had me distracted for a minute). I totally recommend this to those that like action films, especially with samurais! Out of five stars, I give this one 4.
Favorite Character(s): Koyata, Shinrouko, and Hirayama
Not-so Favorite Character(s): The evil Lord (monster)
Re-watch?: I would
4 comments:
It sounds familiar...
It is a popular one in Japan (it even won an award)
I used to see a lot of movies like that and if I haven't seen it, I definitely have it because I remember the name. I'll have to investigate.
:D It is pretty good!
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