≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Martial Arts, Not Worth Your Time, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Year: 1967
Rating:
NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
Sasaki Kojiro tells the story of the title character’s quest to become acknowledged as the best swordsman in Japan.
The movie has beautiful vistas, fluid camerawork, and decent martial arts choreography, but that pretty much exhausts my praise.
The huge problem at the center is […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Martial Arts, Not Worth Your Time, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Martial Arts/ Swordplay
Director: Satsuo Yamamoto
Year: 1963
Rating:
NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
At the end of Shinobi No Mono, the dastardly premier of Japan, Oda Nobunaga (the great Tomisaburô Wakayama) had wiped out the Iga Ninja clan almost completely. Not content with that, his minions have been picking off the stragglers and executing them […]
≡ Category: Action, Comedy, Japan, Martial Arts, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay/ Martial Arts/ Comedy
Director: Kazuo Mori
Year: 1965
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
When Zatoichi (Shintarô Katsu) spends the night in jail for illegal gambling, his neighbor in the next cell, Shimazo Kitase (Koichi Mizuhara) regales Zatoichi with a tale of woe. He has been sentenced to death for a series of crimes he […]
≡ Category: Action, Classics That I Hate, Drama, Japan, Martial Arts, Not Worth Your Time | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Martial Arts
Director: Satsuo Yamamoto
Year: 1962
Rating:
NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
By all rights, Shinobi No Mono aka Band of Assassins should have been a blast. It has everything that you could want in a ninja picture: exotic weapons and poisons, acrobatics and sleight of hand, and intrigue by the bucket.
Alas, the filmmakers are […]
≡ Category: Action, Comedy, Drama, Japan, Martial Arts, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay/ Martial Arts/ Comedy
Director: Akira Inoue
Year: 1965
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Zatoichi’s Revenge begins with the title character voicing gratitude to the sun for the warmth on his face and the rice ball that he’s eating. The humble gratitude for such small things is touching and emphasizes how little Zatoichi has in […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Martial Arts, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay/ Martial Arts
Director: Tokuzô Tanaka
Year: 1966
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Zatoichi’s Vengeance is not the most scintillating of the Zatoichi pictures, but it gets by on the usual professionalism of the series and a little something extra, which I’ll talk about more in a minute.
It starts out in a familiar way, with […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Martial Arts, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay/ Martial Arts/ Comedy
Director: Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Year: 1964
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Here we have yet another strong entry in the Zatoichi series.
The New Year is approaching in Japan, a time of celebration and new beginnings. Zatoichi (Shintarô Katsu) is making a pilgrimage to Mount Myogi, where he hopes to feel the […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Martial Arts, Swordplay, Worth A Look | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Romance/ Action/ Swordplay/ Martial Arts
Director: Tai Katô
Year: 1972
Rating:
WORTH A LOOK
As revenge pictures go, Lady Gambler is middling.
It starts out with a bang. Not a minute into the film, Ofuji (Kyôko Enami) butchers a man with a knife. The killing is protracted and brutal, and all the while Ofuji has a strange sort […]
≡ Category: Action, Comedy, Drama, Japan, Martial Arts, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay/ Martial Arts/ Comedy
Director: Kenji Misumi
Year: 1964
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Someone’s always trying to kill Zatoichi (Shintarô Katsu). When he gives up his ride on a palanquin to a woman with a baby, assassins end up killing her by mistake. Zatoichi resolves to return the baby to the child’s father in […]
≡ Category: Action, Comedy, Drama, Japan, Martial Arts, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay/ Martial Arts/ Comedy
Director: Kazuo Ikehiro
Year: 1964
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Zatoichi’s Flashing Sword has the best opening sequence yet in the series. Zatoichi (Shintarô Katsu) is trying to get some shuteye while numerous flies are buzzing around. In the meantime, a bunch of punks across the room are trying to get […]
