The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi.2003.LiMiTED.DVDRiP.XViD-HLS

Zatoichi (2003) MPAA: Rated R for strong stylized bloody violence.
Awards: 21 wins & 10 nominations

General Information

Supplied by........:.:................HLS
Encoded by.........:.:................HLS
US Release Date....:.:.........06/04/2004
HLS Rls Date.......:.:.........03/05/2004
Type...............:.:...............XViD
Duration...........:.:.............111min
Discs..............:.:..................1
Archives...........:.:...........49x15 MB
IMDB Rating........:.:.7.8/10 (702 votes)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0363226

Release Information

SOURCE.......: [X] DVD Retail...........,
REGION.......: [X] PAL [X] 25.000 FPS
.............: [ ] NTSC [ ] 23.976 FPS
AUDIO........: [X] Japanese..............
.............: [X] MP3 VBR [X] 2ch 130k/s
ASPECT RATIO.: [X] 1.85:1................
VIDEO........: [X] Frame Size [592 x 320]
.............: [X] Bitrate [739 kb/s]
SUBTITLES....: [X] English...............


Plot Outline

Blind Zatoichi makes his living by
gambling and giving massages. But behind
his humble facade, Zatoichi is a master
swordsman, gifted with lightning-fast
raw and strokes of breathtaking precision
Zatoichi wanders into a town run by
sinister gangs and a powerful samurai.Hes
destined for violent showdowns when he
stumbles on 2 beautiful geishas avenging
their parents murder... Duels, wit and a
touch of zen!
o
Cast Overview
...Takeshi Kitano:....:Zatoichi..........
...Tadanobu Asano:....:Gennosuke Hattori.
....Yui Natsukawa:....-Shino...........
.................:....:..................

Plot: The blind masseur/swordsman comes to an town in control of warring gangs, and while bunking with a farming family, he meets two women with their own agenda.

Genre: Action | Drama | Crime | Comedy

The blood in the film has been described by many as being "too CGI". Kitano did this intentionally, wanting to "soften the shock to the audience" due to the high body count. Kitano told the CGI artist he wanted the blood to "look like flowers blossoming across the screen."



Takeshi Kitano's offbeat samurai drama marks a personal triumph for the man himself and a notable entry for the genre. Kitano directs and stars as the blind samurai of Japanese pulp fiction; Zatôichi. He puts in a grand performance and really brings the character to life. His direction is superb also, and he succeeds in creating a foreboding and tension filled atmosphere that also captures the familiar Kurosawa-esque feel of the classic samurai movies. The story follows the fate of blind samurai master: Zatôichi. This master doesn't let a small thing like losing his sight get in the way, and in spite of being blind, the master is still the fastest man with a sword; as he proves on a number of occasions. The first thing you will notice about the fight scenes in this movie is that they are bloodthirsty! That's no bad thing, of course, especially since the second thing you will notice is that there's lots of them. The fight sequences are definitely the highlight of the movie, and they include some highlights in themselves; as we watch in delight as limbs fly and people get sliced and diced! The fights in this film make the likes of Kill Bill look even more ridiculous than it does already.

Takeshi Kitano creates his own world for the characters in the movie to inhabit, and he also seems keen to incorporate as many elements as possible into the plot, which is good in one way as it ensures that the movie is always intriguing and interesting, but it does get a little convoluted and, at times, makes you think "what's that there for?!". Still, the film does offer lots of interesting little tidbits, and it never gets so convoluted that it becomes boring. Well, it can't do; there's always another fight scene round the corner! The film is artistically played throughout, and you get the impression that Kitano has an obvious respect for the art of cinema, which is certainly no bad thing at all. Even though the plot is very familiar, and anyone that's seen more than a couple of samurai movies will have seen one with a plot like this one has; it's inventive enough to carve out a niche of it's own, and it draws it's originality from that fact. On the whole, this isn't a great samurai movie like the ones of yore; but it's encouraging that films like this are still being made, and it's easily one of the best movies of 2003. Recommended viewing!