Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Tweekums This story sees Wang Gang, a one armed Chinese swordsman, travelling through Japan; he is pleased to meet a Chinese family but things take a tragic turn when their young child accidentally blocks an official procession… an offence that means instant death. Wang Gang steps in and saves the boy but that leads to the samurai in the procession massacring most of those present including the boy's parents. Shortly afterwards Zatoichi, the blind swordsman, finds the boy with his dying father and agrees to look after him. Not long after that they meet up with Wang Gang although it is hard for them to communicate as he speaks no Japanese and Zatoichi speaks no Chinese. The three of them eventually take shelter with a local family. While Zatoichi is out the samurai attack and it is assumed that he betrayed them. He does what he can to put things right but unable to talk to each things could easily end in tragedy.This was a solid samurai film with lots of sword fighting but not too much blood. The story is simple but effective; the bad guys are definitely bad and the good guys have an enjoyable degree of ambiguity. Shintarô Katsu and Yu Wang did fine jobs as Zatoichi and Wang Gang respectively; I particularly enjoyed the scenes where they try to converse but only misunderstand each other. Having not seen other instalments in this film series I can't say how this compares but as a stand-alone film it is rather fun; lots of action and some laughs.These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese and Chinese with English subtitles. In the version I saw it was obvious which language was being spoken as the Chinese dialogue has italic subtitles.

bletcherstonerson Yes, I am probably the only viewer that did not like this film, and for one reason...superman jumping ability. I hate that effect. When I see this in films trying to be gritty, it evokes such puerile rage that I feel like burning the world down. Seriously...it's a stupid film effect, used in this movie when the one armed swordsman flies up in the trees, and up the mountain side, one time he does it with a young child in tow, AMAZING!!!!! The reason I kept this at a 5, reasoning that it is still a Zatoichi movie, and that element is still great , however viewers are used to better films than this. I also am a believer that you can't throw the baby out with the bath water. Most of this film is likable, but the descent into cinematic laziness with the super jumping is ridiculous and turns a good story line of disconnected cultures and languages into a Saturday morning cartoon. Don't get me wrong, there are great performances in this movie, and if I were a viewer that could bypass the Chinese art of flying , then I would give this film a 9. Still, it is worth watching and renting, but I would avoid shelling out 19.99, the lowest price I have seen..to own it, no matter how rare.

Chung Mo An interesting meeting of action film genres at a time when one was ebbing into the twilight and the other just starting to go. It would be only a few more years before the chambara genre peters out (but not before some more great films are made) and mostly moves to television. The wuxia (swordplay) genre (where the One Armed Swordsman comes from) split off into the kung fu genre which hits it's stride with the coming of Bruce Lee's "Big Boss" and Wang Yu's self-directed "One Armed Boxer" (no relation to the swordsman), the same year this Zatoichi film is released. The great years of kung fu cinema were just around the corner.Wang Kong (the One-Armed Swordsman) arrives in Japan to find a temple where a Japanese monk has invited Wang Kong to live. Unable to speak Japanese at all, Wang Kong chances upon a traveling Chinese family of entertainers who have made Japan their home. A husband, wife and young boy, they like Japan better then China. Accompanying Wang Kong to the temple the four encounter a procession of samurai transporting specially prepared abalone destined for the Shogun. Everyone must get off the road and let the procession pass or suffer dire consequences. Unfortunately, the little Chinese boy runs after a kite and is set upon by a sword swinging samurai. The mother protects her child but at the cost of her life, the father is killed too. Agast at the cruelty of the samurai, Wang Kong jumps in and kills a number of them. The little boy runs off and is separated from Wang Kong who retreats from further battle. The samurai decide to kill all the innocent people who witnessed the scene and blame the carnage on the "crazed Chinaman". Zatoichi comes upon the frightened child and decides to take care of him. Later the fugitive Wang Kong meets Zatoichi but the two have a really hard time communicating and Wang Kong is very suspicious of Zatoichi's motives. Of course this being a Zatoichi film, an evil yakuza gang gets involved and you know what's going to happen to them.The first thing that strikes me is how different the One-Armed Swordman films were from the Zatoichi films in terms of sophistication. The HK films of the time were still very stagy in look and acting where the Japanese films were well versed in film techniques and acted in a more natural manner. I am not a great fan of Chang Cheh's "One Armed Swordsman" but many people really like it and it deserves it's significance in film history. It was also apparently very popular in Japan.This particular outing with the character is arguably the best produced One-Armed Swordsman film with actor Wang Yu as the character. There are a few issues with the film, the most serious is that the producers assumed that you already know Wang Kong is missing an arm and fights with a broken sword. Anyone unfamiliar with the backstory is going to be confused but the film will still be watchable. Second, the highly refined and excellent sword choreography for Zatoichi really makes the faithful but stagy non-weapon kung fu for Wang Kong look not so good. The kung fu sword work comes off fine however. The Japanese producers were very respectful to the One-Armed Swordman mythos and kept the character true to the original film.The film, while not the absolute best of the Zatoichi series, is very good and touches on a number of issues. There are colorful characters the liven up the film and you will not be wasting your time watching. Recommended.

Tom (bighouseaz) Katsu's sword work is very good in this film. This is especially true in the scene where he rescues one of the characters on the road and also in the fights he has against the boss's minions. Katsu's sword work is especially tight, direct, and brutal.But most viewers will be more interested in the meeting of two cinema worlds, Chinese kung fu meets Japanese chambara. The story can be seen as being very symbolic if you think of the complex and tragic recent history between Japan and China. Zatoichi and Yasuda (the director) could be making a political and/or cultural statement here. In this story a Chinese man is good, a Japanese priest is very bad, and the Shogun's laws are shown to be absolutely absurd. In the end, the confrontation between Zatoichi and Wang comes about because of a series of misunderstandings caused by their inability to communicate with one another. The real tragedy in this tale is that Zatoichi and Wang have very similar characters. They are both honorable men who defend the weak and the poor against the strong and the wealthy. It's a tragedy that they end up confronting one another.I have heard that there is an alternative version of the film with a different ending. I can imagine how it would end, but would very much like to see it. Hopefully someday it will become available.There is some good action in this entry in the series by both Katsu Shintaro and Jimmy Wang. Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman is good entertainment for the fan of martial arts films.