Sword Movie Question

S

Smoke

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 14, 1998
Messages
2,573
Well folks, I have to tell you ever since joining this forum I've made it a habit to see some knife related flicks.

One flick blew me away in terms of entertainment, the Zatoichi/Blind Swordsman series.

I thought it was a small series of tapes. I did not expect 20+ episodes. Anyhow, I've seen Blind Swordsman's Vengeance/Revenge and am getting Zatoichi meets Yojimbo.

My question, which tapes do I get after that?
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Smoke! YES!!! Here I thought that I was the only weirdo who appreciated Shinataro Katsu's portrayal of old Blind Ichi. We have a mom 'n pop video store that carries all the available titles. Zatoichi meets Yojimbo is pretty good. Did you know that Yojimbo was a series itself! Toshiro Mifune portrayed Yojimbo for years. Ironically, both Mifune and Katsu died the same year.

As for your next video, Please consider, "Zatoichi and the chest of gold." The swordplay is awesome, IMHO, it's the best of the entire run! Especially the gambling scene. BTW, Shintaro did all his own sword work. I thought the gambling scene consisted of trick photography, but after repeated viewings at the frame-by-frame level, you can see that it was all him!
Give it a shot, I'm sure you'll like it!

-Redleg out.

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"Blessed is the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle..." excerpted from Psalms 144.

[This message has been edited by Redleg (edited 04-15-2000).]
 
Redleg, where I live they sell/rent the entire Musashi Trilogy, Yojimbo Series, Zatoichi series, and Lone Wolf Cub series.

"Chest of Gold" it is.
My poor wallet is aching.

[This message has been edited by Smoke (edited 04-15-2000).]
 
I'd like to add a spice to Zotoichi movies. In Katsu Shintaro's eager for reality, he's wieldging real katana in some scenes of some recent Ichi sereas. Katsu, a dedicated actor, really lived to make Ichi live on screen. Hope you eojoy the series more.

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\(^o^)/ Mizutani Satoshi \(^o^)/
 
Zato Ichi and Lone Wolf were both real life brothers! The actors, that is. In fact, Shintaro had a hand behind the scenes mounting the six original Lone Wolf/ Babycart/Kozure Ookami films and probably the tv series that followed (sans Wolf actor Tomisaburu Wakayama). The brothers appeared as leads or support in many other films over a span of decades and had more than a passing acquaintance with unarmed and weapon combat. Wakayama died a few years prior to Shintaro.
Jeff
 
And along those lines, don't forget to catch the Rutger Hauer movie "Blind Fury" which was modeled after the Zatoichi series by its director (a Zatoichi fan himself).
 
I have Blind Fury, actually just the sword scenes. It's not bad just different and marks the return of Sho Kosugi.
 
If you're interested in animation, too, probably the best (or most well-known) anime titles in the samurai genre is _Ninja Scroll_ (Kawajiri Yoshiaki, 1993, 91 min). It's about a masterless ninja who is relectantly enlisted to stop a covert effort by eight demons to overthrow the Shogunate. Excellent animation, classic combat scenes, good storyline with some political intrigue.

If you're not familiar with anime, don't wrinkle your nose till you've seen it. _Ninja Scroll_ in particular pays homage to the ethos of the older samurai films, while taking advantage of the possibilities of animation.

Give it a go: Jubei's (our hero's) sword keeps a shaving edge even after hacking away at the granite demon ... it must be a Busse. And as for the granite demon himself: his boomerang-sword, probably weighing in at 100+ lbs, is pretty impressive, too. Felling dozens of trees with one swoop, it must by an HI khukuri variant!

And that's just the first 10 mins. Check it out --

Glen
 
Hey Smoke!
What did you think of, "The Chest of Gold"?
-Redleg out.

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"Blessed is the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle..." excerpted from Psalms 144.
 
Redleg, I'm saving up for it. I just finished The Edge and might go for The Magnificent Seven Series.

BTW, I didn't know there was a Blind Swordswoman.
 
I second storyville, "Ninja Scroll" will blow you away. The best anime ninja movie I've seen. An officemate lend me the sub-titled version video tape way back in 1995, I end up buying the the dubbed version few weeks after and still run the movie from my vcr from time to time.

The starting scene at the bridge, the granite monster, venomous lady ninja, walking bee hive, crawling shadow, silk line controlling master, and many other characters will keep you in your seat up to the end of the movie.

I just hope they'll release a dvd version.

jubei2.jpg


2d_edge
AKTI Member # A001059
My Knives Photos


[This message has been edited by 2d_edge (edited 05-09-2000).]
 
2d_edge:

Ninja Scroll is available on DVD.

Take a look at www.express.com they have them in stock.

Ash


[This message has been edited by Ash (edited 05-09-2000).]
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again, NINJA SCROLL KICKS A$$!
It has been run thru my vcr too many times to count and still going.

Heck, I think I'll watch it tonight.

Hey storyville, Kesai (the granite demon) uses what is called a buhddist club.
I love it when he pulls that guys arms off and starts chugging the blood. That is just EVIL.

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http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=126319&a=926274
 

Personally I'm fond of the opening scene in Ninja Scroll, ya know, the rice ball bit
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KSwinamer

Atheism....A non-prophet organization
 
Ninja scroll definitely rocks. I used to watch Zatoichi when I was a kid, also this other one, "Abarenbo Shogun" that my aunts used to watch on TV. Oh, and Kurosawa movies are pretty cool too...
 
Philip, I already have Seven Samurai, I just want to see the movie it spawned.

Lately I've watched a whole slew of sword, knife, and gun movies.
The Musashi Triology
The 47 Ronin
Rashomon
Yojimbo
Zatoichi's Revenge
The Wild Bunch
The Edge

I'm not an anime fan, just doesn't appeal to me.
 
Smoke, if you're looking to see Seven Samurai derivatives, don't forget "13th Warrior". Outnumbered bunch of expert swordsmen (plus a misfit) trying to protect a small village being terrorized by a ruthless gang of enemies ... sound familiar?
 
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