ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

mevmijaumau Lead actor Shintaro Katsu sits in the director's chair for the penultimate movie of the original Zatoichi saga. Despite being the 24th in the franchise (you'd expect them to get worse over time), Zatoichi in Desperation is easily one of the best installments of the series.The story itself is nothing new. Zatoichi tries to help people and gets into trouble with the local thugs. However, this movie is much darker than any other in the original series. Not only does Zatoichi accidentally cause an old woman's death by falling off of the bridge in the intro, but the remainder of the plot is unusually bleak for the series. There's not much humor either, besides one cum shot gag. One interesting thing about this movie (besides the uncharacteristically silent and black intro credits scene) is that Zatoichi doesn't get to be a savior of the situation at one point, leading to unsettling deaths, which is a cool little piece of subversion. There's also more sex than usual, giving the movie a rougher, exploitation vibe that I can't help but like.The other thing that sticks out about this movie is how pleasing it is to look at. Not only is the setting a melancholic sandy beach town (not really a typical Zatoichi location), but the camera-work is so over the top and brings to mind some of the techniques from the Japanese New Wave. Sudden zoom-ins and outs, out-of-focus shots, free-wheeling shot composition, obstructions in the foreground, wacky color combos, crane shots, floor shots, silhouettes and dynamic editing. It surprisingly doesn't come across as a pretentious overkill that swallows the story; instead, it makes it a lot more interesting to watch than its predecessors just because it's so unlike the rest of them. The soundtrack has also been replaced by funk music, which oddly fits the movie.Highlight of the film: Zatoichi gets his hands stabbed, so he ties his sword to his hand so he can fight.

Ersbel Oraph It started up well, yet, at a certain point the script turned to a level of imbecility comparable with a big studio US creation. Well, compared with the level of the US Academy this can easily can take an Oscar for best script.On the other hand this movie achieves something almost unique. The visual style is so unusual (especially for somebody used with the standard blockbuster) that both makes the film unforgettable and hard to watch. In my opinion this is what Mean Streets and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie should have looked like if the tech team involved would have been skilled enough. The gambling scene alone makes Rounders look like a half baked high-school project (which is not far from the truth anyway).A 6 for cramming so much into this movie. You have a social message, the indolence of the rich (the young watching the fishermen's boats burn), the unromaticised noblemen, etc.Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch

Chung Mo Katsu Productions was at a high level of output at this time. Katsu was producing the Zatoichi series, the Lone Wolf series, the Hanzo the Razor trilogy, the Mute Samurai television series and the Lone Wolf television series. All within a span of two years. In addition to acting in several of these efforts (of course) he also took the director's chair on several occasions. This man had a lot of energy.While sometimes actors who take the helm show a lack of concern with the visuals preferring to focus on the performances, Katsu is an exception. The visual style here is unlike any other Zatoichi I've seen and in fact unlike most other chambara films. Everything is shot in deep focus with moody lighting and stark saturated colors. The style is somber and depressing. The next (and last in the series) Zatoichi film is back to the standard look. If you like this film I would suggest looking into Katsu's Oshi Samurai series which continues the atmosphere.One of the best Zatoichi films but not similar to the others. Recommended but prepare for a somber experience.

winner55 I have not seen more than five of the classic (and undeniably classy) Zatoichi samurai films, but this is surely the best, cinematographically, so far. It;s hard to believe this was shot in Eastman Color, a kind of poor second to Technicolor (and with far less durability; either the negative was especially preserved, or digital restoration was performed by a true expert; but in any event, this film is absolutely gorgeous to look at.The story is dark, as others have noted; but the Zatoichi series, like most of the sword-fight genre series films to come out of Japan, is pretty heavy-handed stuff; the Japanese seem to take this sort of thing very seriously. Yet there is no doubt Zatoichi "24" stands out as exceptional, from both the series and its genre. The reason, I think, is its almost total sense of social dislocation; Zatoichi is treated by the other characters as somehow less than human, and his determination to fight at the end somewhat more than human, and so he comes across as something other than human; but the other humans of the film come across as rather poor representatives of the species. I should note that there is very little dialog in this film, particularly at the most dramatic moments, which heightens our sense that we are watching some tragedy from another reality. The question here is, has director/star Katsu pushed his character to such an extreme that he is no longer representative of his genre, but somehow an independent dramatic entity, a "grade-A film", as might be enjoyed by those who disdain genre-films? well, I suggest this film to such viewers, as the "one chambara (Japanese sword-fight)film to see". But in any event, it is an exceptional, and troubling, cinema experience for anyone.