Not A Great Film, But Not Bad Either: An Interesting Watch First of all, I recommend this film with caution. There are many flaws in the film, and the ending isn't that great, not bad, but not good either. Second of all, this is much better than the original Samurai Resurrection with Sonny Chiba. Now that film was pretty bad! If not one of the worst film's of the Samurai/Horror genre. [As a matter of fact, has Sonny Chiba ever done a good film? Really!] Anyway, comparing this film with the original is not fair, because while the original film was horrible, this one is at least entertaining. While this film could, and should have been better, it was still an interesting watch. The film starts out pretty good, and there are some very good elements in it which I found interesting. Especially the Resurrection process [yes there is CGI in the film]. Cheesy in some scenes, better in others.
The film begins with the Shimabara revolt, and the resulting deaths of thousands of Japanese Christians, including the Christian cults leader, Amakusa. His belief that the Christian God will save him because of his faith makes him lose his belief in the Christian faith. Therefore, he embraces evil. Somehow is able to come back from the dead, even though he was decapitated. His plan is to try and resurrect skilled samurai who have long been dead, through as process called Makai Tensho [demonic transmigration], or give new life to old samurai whose skills are no longer great. I didn't really care for many of the fight scenes, however, some were very good. The main problem was that the fight scenes were cut out way too early; however, the film is not a classic, and if anything I wasn't expecting a Toshiro Mifune type performance.
The film has some interesting scenes, and although I would not say this was a very good film, it wasn't a failure either. However, you will like it, or you won't. If you just want a decent film, with some genuinely creepy and eerie samurai/horror scenes, then you might like this film. The actors were pretty good I thought. Although the Cult leader did look a little out of place, his character matched the film. Also, on the plus side of the film however, not only were the character actors quite good, but some of the action scenes were done very well. Plus, the scenary in the film was quite impressive. In fact, if more went into the scriptwriting, this could have been a very good film. As it was, it is somewhat of a letdown, but still entertaining. Rent is first to see if it is your type of film. Recommended with extreme caution.
(3,5 Stars) Good for fans This film is good for'people who like movies like Azumi, it's caracters are good and remember me of the game Tekken and the story is quitte nice if you are the type of people who like samurai movies not to historic.
Samurai Ressurected! THE GOOD: The movie had good casting, great scenary, and a great display of fighting. The fighting were authentic moves and the characters looked realistic. Some people might rate this movie bad, because they don't understand Japanese films. The story was good and if you understand Japanese films and culture, this movie will set in for you quite well. The movie would of been great, but some things had to bring it down.
THE BAD: The movie was pretty short. It could of been pushed a little longer. The ending wasn't conclusive enough and you will want more when you see the ending. The story of Jubei Yagyu's adventure is pretty detailed and the movie didn't give it enough time to explain it all. The fight scenes could of been much longer too and I don't see why they cut so much of the fight scenes when that was the most important parts of the movie. They tried to squeeze out too much in too little time. The lack of more blood also made the movie sink down. In Samurai movies, the blood is essential and fans of Jubei seeing blood squirting from a chopped off head is what they want to see.
OVERALL: The movie was a good showing with flaws. It had all the elements, but it didn't live up to the hype. Still, it is a good movie to at least watch once or twice. And for fans, it is a good one.
Re-Resurrect ion / Samurai Resurrection Let me Break it down for you.
I Reccomend you do not even rent this film, heres why.
1) The story was one that had the special effects of a made for televion movie. Hey wait! dont leave, read the rest.
2) The script had the aspirations of a young, ambitous,overzealous writer with the mindset and outlook as shallow as a teenager writer all over it. Maybe it was just the "Main Character" who blew it. It had points it had no real plot. And if i had to count how many times warriors paused to stare at eac- hother before a fight, or even staring out into the distance as if it were to evoke some deep thought in s ourselves.. I would run out of fingers and toes, it wasnt even how many times they did it, but when they did it it was like for 10-15 seconds each time. At this time i was not even upset i knew the film was alr- eady a rat. I swear to god if i looked at how many films this person directed it would be 3 tops and his age very young. Check this out i just did and well the guy is middle aged but the number of films hes directed is three.
Whoever casted this film did a great job, perhaps it even has some great scenery but it all gets washed out by how many times this film failed against triumphed. This film was as weak as the paper it was written upon and should be burned.
Big Disappointment I rented this movie hoping that it will be a great remake of the original "Samurai Reincarnation". My hope was quickly dashed when the movie proved to be full of cheesy special effects, unconvincing violence(one decapitation scene was particularly sorrowful), fuzzy plotline, and general lack of acting ability. The main character, Amakusa, looked like some Japanese heavy metal guitarist without the guitar. Musashi looked like some old guy out of shape. The bonus CD had some interesting segment on Yagyu Jubei and his hometown.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
