Zatoichi - Darkness is His Ally

Rating:
Summary: JUST LISEN TO THE REVIEW BELOW ME!!!!!!!!!
Review: * Kevin Robbins is RIGHT!!!!
* He is the smartest reviewer I ever seen because he is sooo right!!!!!

ADIOS!!

P.S: The ONLY fight that was pretty fast is when Zatoichi is facing five men in the woods.
ANOTHER THING: No final fight!



Rating:
Summary: Still Great
Review: After so many years of playing the role of "Zatoichi" Katsu Shintaro still manages to put out a stellar performance is the reluctant hero "Ichi". His character has grown much older now but still roams the back roads seeking peace but always running into opposition from both the law and the gangsters (yakuza). In the midst of all this he is still trying to help out the less fortunate. Yes there's is less fight scenes but the theme of good conquering evil against all odds is still there. A must for fans of this series.

Rating:
Summary: Darkness is His Ally
Review: I loved this film. I am a relatively new Katsu fan, having started watching him on Samurai Saturdays on IFC.

With that said, I didn't know any of his personal history until having read the previous reviews. It doesn't matter. His end seems poetic in a way. The character that defined the man, never betrayed his code, yet the man who played the character did.

I loved the cinematography, as each scene played like a visual Haiku for my soul to play and replay. It was bloody, which I appreciated, because I think we need to see the full gore of what gangsters these men were in life. This film, unlike the milder TV versions I've watched previously, made you more acutely aware that Ichi had been forced each time to rid this un-repenting evil from the world. The dueling third party even verbalizes this for us during the film.

I found the introduction of the third duelists intriguing and important - since it was the betrayal of his own "code" that led to his demise. It left us wondering if Ichi even knew it was he whom he fought in the end, since I don't believe a word was spoken in the final fight scene, nor before it to let Ichi know that the price on his own head was too much for his friend to turn down - which for as far as Ichi was concerned, this could have just been another swordsman who drew first. But the character development and the caring this man showed for Ichi, led us to understand that it was a great internal conflict that prevented him from trying to collect the bounty on Ichi's head previously. In that regard, he had violated his oath to his master, even though his sword mastery appeared to rival that of Ichi. (The interview is to what I'm referring, where he was hired as a bodyguard.)

I didn't know that Katsu had died, although seeing this news in previous posts means little to this review, except that now, my possession of this DVD makes this highly coveted gem in my collection even more precious. It is a visual jewel, that I will enjoy watching again, and again.

Friends be warned - you may enjoy this film at my house on any occasion at the asking, however, I will never lend this DVD to anyone. It is to me, like Ichi's mirror, where I hope to see that which has previously eluded me.

Rating:
Summary: Darkness is His Ally
Review: I loved this film. I am a relatively new Katsu fan, having started watching him on Samurai Saturdays on IFC.

With that said, I didn't know any of his personal history until having read the previous reviews. It doesn't matter. His end seems poetic in a way. The character that defined the man, never betrayed his code, yet the man who played the character did.

I loved the cinematography, as each scene played like a visual Haiku for my soul to play and replay. It was bloody, which I appreciated, because I think we need to see the full gore of what gangsters these men were in life. This film, unlike the milder TV versions I've watched previously, made you more acutely aware that Ichi had been forced each time to rid this un-repenting evil from the world. The dueling third party even verbalizes this for us during the film.

I found the introduction of the third duelists intriguing and important - since it was the betrayal of his own "code" that led to his demise. It left us wondering if Ichi even knew it was he whom he fought in the end, since I don't believe a word was spoken in the final fight scene, nor before it to let Ichi know that the price on his own head was too much for his friend to turn down - which for as far as Ichi was concerned, this could have just been another swordsman who drew first. But the character development and the caring this man showed for Ichi, led us to understand that it was a great internal conflict that prevented him from trying to collect the bounty on Ichi's head previously. In that regard, he had violated his oath to his master, even though his sword mastery appeared to rival that of Ichi. (The interview is to what I'm referring, where he was hired as a bodyguard.)

I didn't know that Katsu had died, although seeing this news in previous posts means little to this review, except that now, my possession of this DVD makes this highly coveted gem in my collection even more precious. It is a visual jewel, that I will enjoy watching again, and again.

Friends be warned - you may enjoy this film at my house on any occasion at the asking, however, I will never lend this DVD to anyone. It is to me, like Ichi's mirror, where I hope to see that which has previously eluded me.

Rating:
Summary: Not as advertised
Review: If you are ordering this to get the 2003 Takeshi Kitano version the above editorial review is misleading. This is the final Zatoichi film by Shintaro Katsu. I just recieved it today so have not had a chance to watch it but I am a big fan of the series so I will be keeping the DVD but I am looking forward to seeing the new Zatoichi as well.

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: Katsu's final installment in the Zatoichi series seems to me to be rather dull and uninteresting considering the potential such a film could have had. One is left at the end with a feeling of novelty and discontentment primarily because the film is only an echo of the richness of the chambara genre that made Zatoichi such a powerful cinematic experience to begin with. Now don't get me wrong, there is plenty of action here if action is all one seeks, but the essential plot is confusing, incomplete and unsatisfactory. The successful recipe of the previous films has, in this film, been literally run into the ground to the point of redundancy. Again we find Ichi pitted against insensitive Yakuza thugs who underestimate him and torment a village until they are mowed down by Ichi's perceptive cane sword. The dueling third party played by Ken Ogata is a one dimensional artisan/psychopath with no redeeming quality. The main bad guy, played by Katsu's son, is nothing special and lacks the luster of previous 'bad bosses' in the Zatoichi series. The fights are unnecessarily violent with fake blood squirting all over everything, which is interesting because traditional chambara made its point without vulgarity, and usually one could find a whole army of baddies being dismissed by the master without a single drop of blood ever being seen.
Aside from that the fight scenes are well choreographed and fast paced. The film makes use of earthy tones and somber moods to convey Katsu's, who also directed the film, own poetic perspective on Zatoichi's chaotic world. There are also sub-plots that never seem to develop into anything in this film. These include a baby bird that Ichi saves, an orphanage in the hills run by a young girl, a female Yakuza boss who admires the yakuza code and Ichi's reflections on his mother, who mysteriously has never been referred to in any of the other Zatoichi films but whose cosmetic mirror Ichi has retained to reflect on from time to time.
Also missing from this one is the display of martial skill in the action sequences. There is very little quality sword work, not to mention innovative combat scenes. There are however plenty of scenes which simply don't make any sense. Like a scene where the Yakuza open fire on Ichi but none of the bullets hit him, and another where Ichi rolls into town in a huge barrel. These odd scenes, and there are many more like them, coupled with unlikable characters has rendered this last film rather lame. The DVD itself is not digitally remastered so the quality is about the same as a VHS copy. The subtitles are alright, but sometimes they are unable to convey the cultural dimension of the dialog.
While making this film one of the stunt men was accidentally stabbed with a sword that was supposed to be a prop. When he later died there was a degree of criticism leveled against the production for failing to take safety into account. This film did poorly in Japanese theaters and a year or two later Katsu was arrested for smuggling cocaine into Japan. This led to his own dethronement in a way, shame being what it is in Japanese ethics, and as cancer ate away at his throat the career of Zatoichi came to a close. There has recently been a remake of Zatoichi which introduces the absurdity of pop culture into the genre, but I haven't seen this remake. Needless to say, Zatoichi passed away with the passing of Katsu. His best films were during the 60's, for the 70's saw the rise in quantity over quality, and trashy filming became popular in Japanese cinema. This film has its moments, and any admirer of the series will want to have a copy, but it remains one of my least favorite in the series.

Rating:
Summary: A true samurai ? He's more than that !!!
Review: Now ,From beginning to end , this is one of the Best' "In and outside" of it's genre, for foriegn film. not even starting on production, acting, writing and charector development"
FAN'S OF THE ZAOICHI SERIE,S SHOULD ADD THIS ONE....

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and slow, all at the same time
Review: The attention to detail and the telling of the story moved so dramatically slow. It actually took me 2 days to watch this movie (I fell asleep the 1rst time, but then again, I am trying to watch it after I get home from work, but I digress).

The movie is very, very well done. The characters are fantastic, the scenery is very nice, and the action scenes are as good as any other movie you could put it up against. The sword fighting scenes are probably close to unmatched in term of precision combined w/gore. Very, very nice.

The problem is there is a lot of time between fight scenes, and two of the fight scenes are very similar. There is probably 4 fight scenes in the whole movie.

But the last fight scene, Ichi vs. about 50 men, makes the whole movie worth watching.

I do strongly recommend renting this movie 1rst, as it may be too slow for some martial arts movie fans.

But if you find yourself falling asleep, and mad at yourself for renting/watching this movie, skip to the last fight sequence; its worth the price of admission alone!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Zatoichi ! The final battle!
Review: This is the final Zatoichi movie and perhaps the best . Shintaro Kutsu (Zatoichi) died in 1997 of throat cancer. This movie made in 1989 shows an aging, graying Katsu with a raspy voice. It appears the cancer was known at that time. However in no way does the film suffer in action or quality. It exceeds the previous movies! It appears that he knew this was to be the last and went ALL THE WAY to make this a grand production.

Zatoichi comes to a town in turmoil with 2 bosses competing for control of the town. Add in one corrupt local official,a hired artistic assassin, 2 lovely women, and you have the largest Zatoichi production.

Zatoichi, a blind traveling massuer, wanders the country side getting into trouble everywhere he goes. With a heart of gold, and sword of steel he slices his way through the bad guys, dozens at a time. After 25 previous movies, he is the master of the cane sword by this time in his life. He may be in his best physical form of any of the movies. This, his 26th Zatoichi film, does contain some blood and some gore (earlier ones had little or none). There is also a brief sexual incounter in this film (mild by todays standards). This too is unusual for Zatoichi for normally he avoids any close relationship with women because he is a blind man that doesn't stay in any place more then a few days. In his mind he is yakuza (a gangster).

The DVD is well done and of good quality. There are some trailers and some photos of Zatoichi posters as extras. Of all the Zatoichi films, there are still six more to be released. I have not been disappointed in any so far. The first two are B&W with some audio distortion and loss of picture quaility. The newer films (like this one) are in great shape. Zatoichi is a humble mix of morals, kindness, justice, action, comedy,...oh yeah...throw in a little blood trailing a flashing sword! At his death Shintaro Katsu may have been the most famous Japanese actor ever. Only Toshiro Mifune was close.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing.
Review: This was my first Zatoichi movie and I was amazed, at both the action and the character. While the movie had it's slow moments that action made up for it with ease. No doubt that his prior movies based on the blind swordman will be added to my collection.