SunnyHello Nice effects though.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

the_wolf_imdb The movie is very strange hybrid between French and Japanese cinema. As a pure Japanese movie it might work somehow. It would be nothing exceptional but okay.As a hybrid Japanese - French movie it is quite a failure. The Japanese actors might enjoy their visit to France (and vice versa) but having fun holidays should not act as excuse of making a movie. The "Japanese part" seems to be serious, actually quite hardcore historic horror demon curse story. The "French part" seems to try to to introduce some international martial combat variety, some "fun elements" in the form of young confused Arab sidekick and some "modern elements" in form of the computer games.These parts does not fit however. There is no observable chemistry between the lead characters, no explanation of the purpose of the "game", no reasonable explanation of the conclusion. The movie has no focus, no drive, no urgency, it is just and attempt to somehow glue unconnected scenes to have some variety. In the end it looks as a cheap EU sponsored rip off of the Mortal Combat. And that's quite bad actually.

ajoyce1va Not the worst movie ever made -- that might be Gigli, or perhaps Battlefield Earth. Along with the negative aspects, widely commented on above, Samourais has some interesting positives.First, there's Kurata. He did his most notable work 35 years ago (!), but he still looks good and can handle the fight sequences with skill and grace. The best is his solo duel in the airport restroom. For some reasons, despite his character's supposed fame, skill, and ancestry, the demon's henchmen send a junior thug with a sword to meet him -- yeah sure, no problem walking through an airport with that! He meets the sword attacks by pulling out a pair of tonfa, just like in "Kung Fu: the Invisible Fist" (his best early work, rentable from Netflix), and beating the stuffings out of the guy.Second, there are the production values. Good photography, good editing, some handsome locations shots by the second unit in Japan. There are no huge explosions or car chases. Special effects are limited and appropriate to the, uh, story.Third, (I may be alone in thinking this), there is the integration of the fighting sequences with the, uh, story. Cheaply made Hong Kong chopsocky flics are pretty much just a series of fights -- one against many, or one against one to no ultimate purpose. In Samourais, the attacks of the demon's crew are more or less directed to a plot-directed purpose.Finally, there's a modest attempt by the fight choreographers to inject a little realism. When the Commissioner's daughter is attacked early in the film, she does the usual Supergirl kicks and blows, but then she uses her bicycle chain as a weapon, and draws (fake) blood with it. Looked real. Likewise, in the opener, where we see the demon's first rebirth back in feudal Japan times, the titular Samurai fights off a gang of thugs, but instead of vaguely waving his sword in the direction of his attackers, like Zatoichi or Sanjuro do, you could actually believe that the Samurai was trying to do these guys some damage.On the negative side, there's a lot of stupid dialog and bad acting, including Kurata's. His acting in the early 1970's was pretty much restricted to looking bored between fights, and pouring a lot of emotion into the action scenes. In Samourais, the emotional content is gone, and he usually looks world-weary rather than bored. No matter how good Kurata looks as a man of 56 (when Samourais was made), he's still sleep-walking through the role. The worst feature of the film, often mentioned in other comments, is the sidekick character. If you liked Jar-Jar Binks, you'll love Nadir, who unfortunately survives through the end of the picture. It won't hurt to fast-forward through all of the scenes where Mako, the junior lead kid, appears with him.Bottom line: the story seems intended to insult the intelligence of everyone over the age of 12, but the overall production is good enough to make renting it justifiable. Or you might do as I did, and tape it when it shows up on the Spike cable network again.BTW, the scenes shot in France don't show the Paris you may remember as a tourist. It's the Seine Saint-Denis arrondissement, France's version of the old East Bronx housing project vertical slums.

whattorso I didn't know until now that countries like Spain and, or France were capable of making things like Samourais. I understand America's obsessive impulse to rent movies that are hilariously terrible, but I didn't know that Europeans are answering our demands. I'm not saying all foreign films are great, but for the larger majority of what we absorb in foreign cinema, American audiences usually get the upper rung.However, Samourais seems to be the product of a massive delusion on the part of the director, writer, etc. I don't know how money gets spent on things like this. If movies are meant to incur a profit, Samourais' net gain must have earned the director a sandwich.If I wanted to see a film that included scenes with insipid lackeys working at a video store,transmute into what's supposed to be ancient warriors/demons coming back from the past to battle, I. . .well, to tell you the truth, I don't know why I would ever watch something like this. I find that actually reading about Japanese mythology or renting Kurosawa films much more enterprising. Why spend money on something with clunky cumbersome dialog as it is? Especially considering that the dubbed features only convey that the French/Spanish dialog is bad in itself ! The worst is the action sequences- Historically, most martial arts films puts characters into the perspective that they are warriors fighting against impossible odds, however, this film mutates that concept horribly. The fighting sequences are just as awkward and clunky as the dialog, and they lack the fluid execution and limits that most martial arts movies are actually implicative of. This movie seems like it was made by someone who failed a course in metaphysics in college.The only thing good about this movie is the repulsive french rap during the credits.

kulabas Actually there is no need to speak long about this one.During the movie,you can not find a way to connect this movie into the samurai culture.An interesting idea but lots of clishes.This movie needs a director who knows how to get into action.<Actually when I see John Woo's name in the airport scene,I get some kind of hope.>The characters,the dialogs,the things happened,the things done;they are all well-known from the American movies.Besides,while there is nothing new in the screenplay side,the action side is worse.There are a couple of fight scenes to remember and the final fight going parallel with the PS2 game is just a brilliant idea.But there is no director to use these in the way they should be.So if you want to see something glorifying about Samurai,keep on sticking with 'THE SEVEN SAMURAI'