SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Ploydsge just watch it!

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

WakenPayne I originally got this movie before I saw any other Zatoichi movie, whereas with the Yojimbo movies I know very well. So I decided to sit down and watch at least one of them and I did. By this point I am very glad I did watch the Zatoichi movie I did but it seems like this Yojimbo character is a completely different character to the character you will see in the Kurosawa movies, that and Zatoichi is the hero of the movie.The plot is that Zatoichi decides to spontaneously go to a village he hasn't been to for three years, This kind of puzzles me - How does he know where he is for point of reference? Once he gets there he finds the town is under attack by 2 gangs, both led by an estranged father and son. They are fighting to find gold which is hidden somewhere. Zatoichi helps the gang lead by the father and a nameless gangster who's Yojimbo to the son and sensei (who's also a secret agent) tries to kill Zatoichi for 200ryo.The biggest problem is the seemingly false advertising you get. After I watched the Zatoichi movie I thought "So this movie is going to be a crossover of what is at the time 2 of the most beloved samurai movies of all time? Hell yes, I'm in", well - with Yojimbo he seems like less of an intelligent yet slightly cynical bad-ass and more of an assassin who takes contracts for the highest price to buy booze. Even when he's revealed he didn't seem like Yojimbo. Even if it was the same character though, why couldn't he just ask Ichi to go out of town where nobody will see or hear them and say what his intention's are.So people who enjoyed Yojimbo, if they want to see the character again may seem disappointed (although to be fair, as typical of Toshiro Mifune, his acting is excellent). So if you watch a Zatoichi movie and like that then the question is "Will I get my fill on that?"... Yes. It almost seems to me that the writers wanted to go about and make a Zatoichi movie but thought because there's a bodyguard who also fights for good and they got Mifune they thought "screw it, we got Toshiro Mifune - one of the greatest Japanese actors of all time, lets slap 'Yojimbo' on the title to give the producers more money".Aside from that I'll go onto the points that didn't disappoint me. It kind of goes without saying but the acting from all involved is great, the father-son struggle is good even if they down-play it a little and the love relationship between Mifune and Umeno is also something I liked. The action is really fun to watch and the cinematography is so much better than the other movies now that it's in colour among other things like the final scene when the wind is blowing during the sword-fight between gangs.So, at the end, this is just another Zatoichi movie. I am really sorry if you guys sat down and watched this expecting another movie with the character in Yojimbo. I do think that if you can get over the false advertising the movie is actually a decent watch. Is it as good or anywhere near what the title suggests? No. But I will safely say, it does in many respects come close.

ironhorse_iv The title is kind of misleading. In some translating, the title reads as Zatoichi Vs Yojimbo and others as Zatoichi meets Yojimbo. The blind swordsman Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu), whom real man is Ichi. Zatoichi return to a village of his past, only to find it besieged by Eboshiya Yasuke's oldest son, Masagoro and his evil Kobotoke Clan. A huge embezzlement scheme is on, as the Kobotoke Clan is scheming to skim gold from the federal treasury. Toshiro Mifune is Imperial Shogunate Secret Agent Sassa Daisaka employ by the gang mostly spends most of his days drinking. Yojimbo spends far too much time moping around and the film made out Yojimbo to be a slave of the system. He acts as the son's Yojimbo (bodyguard). He longs to be with a local whore who's been forced into the sex trade by a debt she owes the merchant. What misleading by the title is that Toshiro character isn't the one from the original Kurosawa movie, yet the film tries to make homage to those films. Also this movie doesn't even follow close to the storyline from the other Zatochi's films. Viewers who went to see the film to see the film tied up the loose ends of the previous films would be disappointed. At 155 minutes, it's longer than any of the Zatochi films that came before yet Ichi is barely on film here. Ichi is caught up in the middle of a rivalry between two gangs who are led by an at-odds father and son. After becoming indebted to the father for springing him out of jail, Zatoichi goes to work for him as a bodyguard. Ichi meets the son's yojimbo. Naturally, the two begin as adversaries, before forming a kind of strange fellowship and an uneasy alliance to find out where the money is and take it for them. The script is bog down by the pacing from time to time as both characters have agendas within agendas what to do with the money. The plot is needlessly complex, involving many characters and twists. The exchanges between the drunk, yelling Yojimbo and quiet Zatoichi are consistently amusing and funny. The film misused the time by adding too much local plot points with Eboshiya Yasuke's two sons. It's amazing that they found the time to have Ichi and Sassa fight in the same scene, but it happens in the last five minutes of the movie and only lasts for one minute. From all the Zatoichi films, it's not too bad, just not that great. The film may benefit from a second viewing so you can get a better grip on the characters' various (sometimes changing) motivations, but But a single viewing will very much need you to pay attention. All of this is a setup for Mifune and Katsu to go at each other hammer and tongs, each playing serious mind-games with the other, culminating in one serious bad-ass sword fight. Ichi's fighting skill is incredible, with his sword-grip in inverse manner; this, combined with his keen ear and sense of smell and proprioception, renders him a frighteningly formidable opponent. While Mifune's fighting style is brutally efficient, yet at the same time stunningly graceful. There is no wasted motion in his sword strokes as he attacks with lighting-quick strikes, but at times it looks like he's just wildly hacking at anything that moves. His blows are ruthless and powerful, and he rarely requires more than one or two strikes to bring down any foe. Sadly it's only a minute. The cinematography is gorgeous. The colors on this release are pretty vibrant. It's weird seeing Toshiro Mifune in color still. Leone based his style on these types of movies on these Japanese noodle westerns. There's almost no music until the last reel when we get some nice cues from Akira Ifukube, it seems recycled from another film. The subtitles of the newer DVD are wonderful. It provide a simple translation of dialogue and Japanese text that appears throughout the film, which is also color coded to display when more than one person is talking on screen. The other set of subtitles will provide background information to some of the Japanese terms. If watching—get the newer DVD version.

shabulia This film brings together two of the greatest characters created in Japanese cinema. Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) is the blind swordsman who goes back to a village that he remembers as peaceful and tranquil. It has been two to three years since his last visit and he longs to get away from the constant attacks that plague him on a daily basis, as he has a price on his head. But all is not as he remembers. When he arrives to his beloved village, he finds it is torn between a father and son that have their own gangs involved in their own family feud. As a result, the village is torn between the two men as the son seeks his father's gold (which may or may not exist).As the blind masseur becomes involved in the midst of this feud, the son's hired bodyguard (Toshiro Mifune) is introduced. Mifune ever-so-slightly reprises his role from the Akira Kurosawa films, Yojimbo and Sanjuro. It's not the exact same character, but only the most devout film buffs would see the subtle differences. As the Yojimbo discovers just who Zatoichi is and the price on his head, the two banter back and forth with threats and insults and even a few sword fights as the plot thickens.The film keeps you guessing until the very end as to whether or not these two samurai masters will end up friends or foes. All the while, Shintaro Katsu and Toshiro Mifune give master performances in their roles as usual. What Toshiro Mifune brings to this long running series of films is a stark contrast to Shintaro Katsu's simple and quiet Zatoichi. Toshiro Mifne's Yojimbo is harsh, loud, and aggressive when comparing the two. Putting these two great actors together, while playing off one another, results in a well balanced and enjoyable opposition. We all know who the hero is but what happens between these two? Do they find resolution or does it all end in a bitter and bloody sword battle? The only way to find out is to watch.I enjoyed this film immensely. I cannot recommend it enough to fans of Japanese period films, Zatoichi fans, or Toshiro Mifune fans. If any of those appeal to you, then you owe it to yourself to watch this film. You will find nothing but sheer delight in this great masterpiece. This is also a great entry into the Zatoichi films. Even though this is a sequel you will not be lost by starting with this film in the series. This marks the 20th film of the Shintaro Katsu Zatoichi films. It was originally shot in 1965 in color and is in Japanese with the optional English subtitles. The transfer to DVD has been masterfully handled by AnimEigo and the translation is great. I was amazed at how crisp the picture and the sound was for being such an old film. Again I cannot recommend it enough. If you have any inclination to see this movie do not hesitate. I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Tom (bighouseaz) It has taken several viewings of this film to finally come around and enjoy it (for the most part). Toho Studios has now taken over the Zatoichi franchise and this means a larger budget production. Of course Mifune and Katsu together were guaranteed to draw a lot of attention when the film was released in 1970.Zatoichi is tired of killing and remembers a beautiful, peaceful village up in the mountains. Then he's off to the village to enjoy the plum blossoms and the sound of a babbling brook. Or maybe not! The village is not the same and several bad characters plot to make themselves rich at the expense of the locals (and the Japanese Treasury in this case).The repertoire between Zatoichi and the Yojimbo (Sasa) is entertaining and funny. Sasa tells Zatoichi to act more like a criminal, and Zatoichi, ever ready to please, pounds down a bottle of sake. The two call each other idiot and freak. At first these are hateful terms, but over the course of the film, they come to respect one another, and continue to use the same names for each other.This is the longest film in the Zatoichi series (116 minutes) and it needn't be. The first hour works well, but the next 30 minutes or so sees the story meandering along with the introduction of another government spy (turned bad) that adds nothing to the main story.The sword work in this film is only good, not great. The final confrontation between Zatoichi and Sasa is short and ends as one could predict. This film could have really been a gem if the film concentrated on the development of Zatoichi and Sasa's relationship. The two characters are entertaining and the film will please most chambara aficionados.