原本的名字	Zatoichi [2-disc uncut version]
發行日期	2004年04月02日
演出	Takeshi Kitano, Tadenobu Asano, Emoto Akira 北野武 淺野忠信 柄本明
導演	Takeshi Kitano
畫面格式	16:9
影片格式	NTSC
聲效	Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS
語言	Japanese, Cantonese
字幕	English, Chinese
類別	動作
版本	香港版
PAX-Code	PAX0000095217
產品編號	4895033741572

Play-Asia.com says:  Zatoichi, the tale of the wandering samurai, has been expertly adapted into a modernised Jidaigeki (period action film) by 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano. Artistic, involving and exciting. A highly recommended film from the staff here at P-A.

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Zatoichi, the blind masseur/samurai, wanders into a small farming town and unwillingly gets caught up in other peoples problems.
Two geisha's visit the town to take revenge on the boss of a clan that killed their parents, a Ronin (samurai without a master) travels to the village to become a killer-for-hire so he can provide for his sick wife, and the farmers are being bullied by the neighbouring clans to pay fees for no reason.
Zatoichi soon becomes intwertwined with all these people and must take justice into his own hands.

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Zatoichi is probably one of the most complete movies i have ever watched. Every character and every story is fully explored and explained.
There is never any question about "why are they there?" or "why did they do that?". The characters backgrounds are fleshed out really well and very satisfying, the Ronin (played excellently by Ichi the Killer's Kakihara, Tadanobu Asano) may have needed just a little more fleshing out but it was still very satisfying.

The acting is top notch with everybody pulling of excellent performances, they are all great; Kitano Takeshi, Tadanobu Asano, Emoto Akira, all of them were believable and fitted the characters perfectly.

Zatoichi is such a visually appealing movie.
It has artistic camera work and the outfits and set designs are unbelievably cool.
Everything right down to Kitano's groovy bleach-blonde hair is a treat for the eyes.
This is one violent movie and the special effects are well-blended with the live action screenplay, despite almost all the blood being CGI it surprisingly works well. The CGI body-part severing is perticularly well done, while the CGI swords (at a few minor parts) look pretty lame although if you squint it all looks fine ^^.

Zatoichi is a blind swordsman and durin the film his eyes are always closed, in the older movies Zatoichi (played by Shintaro Katsu) always had his eyes open showing his --nearly completely-- white eyes, while in this movie all the acting Kitano does is with his eyes closed.

Sound-wise this movie is a real treat, the modernasation is felt in the sound of farmers plowing the ground or builders building a house mixed with modern rythm and beats of electric sounds.
Perticularly impressive is the music at the huge dance festival the village holds at the end, all the classic Japanese drums mixed with modern music sounds great.

The afformentioned Festival at the end of the film feels so uplifting and creates alot of emotion.
It gives you the feeling that your journey and struggle with the characters has finally been resolved and creates the feeling of a big weight being lifted off the viewers shoulders. It is pulled off remarkebly, as well as the whole films emotional attachment, and you truly feel as though you have shared these peoples struggles and you've known them all your life.

Zatoichi is an instant classic. The story is pretty open and close, but it's how it unfolds that makes this movie great, you can watch this film alot of times before you become sick of sharing their journey, and that's a big plus. A movie with alot of replay value is money well spent.

ESSENTIAL PURCHASE

-Adam Kitano

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• Review (DSO)