Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Yashua Kimbrough (jimniexperience) Masterclass in the Art of Bloody Violence - but violence with a purpose . Direction within the violence , and excellent direction in the story as a whole.Based on the Lady Snowblood manga by Kazuo Koike; a child is born an asura, born for the sole purpose of avenging her family's murder and humiliation by four bandits. Born to a mother serving a life sentence on murder, and cared by a strict priest honing her assassin skills, she has all the tool needed to carry out her mission - a long bloody tale that drags police, a news reporter, brothels, and rivals , blood sprayiage everywhere all in the name of her mother's honor and redemption.The movie that inspired Kill Bill, Rurouni Kenshin, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Red Dead Redemption, among countless others . Instantaneous classic

Jithin K Mohan One of the most beautiful, stylistic and brutal action films I've seen. Tarantino essentially ripped off this one with Kill Bill. The cinematography and music were some of the highlights along with the great action choreography. Some of the most memorable sword slice killing in cinema is here. A must watch especially for all the Kill Bill fans.

Charlie Picart This is a hard movie to rate. The Criterion version is beautiful; the picture quality is really high and shows off some nice photography and simply nice Japanese scenery and settings (though some of them are obviously studio). The actors play well; the story is simple and well put together... The music is also very enjoyable and the action is clean and brutal. Almost fun... and yes you get this whole Tarantino vibe that explains the gain of popularity this movie has had in the 21st century. But ultimately the movie is slow and a little boring? All the pieces taken separately work well but it's simply not that enjoyable... at least in my humble opinion.

mevmijaumau Toshiya Fujita's Lady Snowblood, (based on the manga of the same name) starring Meiko Kaji, is now most commonly known as the film that inspired Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. Tarantino is a notorious copycat, but I frankly don't find that to be a big deal, I mean other filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick copied from other films all the time yet nobody has a problem with that.Kill Bill lifted many elements from Lady Snowblood; the female revenge plot with four main villains (the one played by Lucy Liu is even inspired by Shurayuki), battles on snowy fields, fountains of watery blood, fights with the female villain's henchmen, an animated sequence (in LS it's a series of scenes from the manga because I assume the budget was too low for an animated scene), the protagonist killing a girl's parent, division into chapters, some of the music which was plain borrowed, and the non-linear chronology. I actually prefer Lady Snowblood to Kill Bill because it has a far more absorbing atmosphere, which is one of the most important things for a movie to have as I see it.Lady Snowblood is divided into four chapters and dramatically narrated by some anonymous. Surprisingly enough, the camera-work is just brilliant for an exploitation film. There are many interesting techniques, like zooming in on a stair-ascending character's partially obscured face in the background and then focusing on her as soon as she appears on the others' level, or suddenly zooming out of the scene high into the sky. The color cinematography and costume work are all very memorable.The bloody scenes have the usual fire hydrant-like blood fountains common in many samurai films at the time, I mean that's just classic, I can't believe some people are having problems with that. The over-the-top acting also isn't a nuisance, it's a lovable exploitation film trope that just makes the movie better. Meiko Kaji is great both in the leading role and on the film's soundtrack; the main song Shura no hana (translated by Tarantino as The Flower of Carnage) is amazing, probably one of the best movie character theme songs I've heard so far.Lady Snowblood also has a sequel by the same director, a Hong Kong remake, as well as a sci-fi re-imagining which came out years later. But yeah, sadly it's most famous for being an inspiration to Tarantino, which is unfortunate because it's a great film on its own, a masterpiece in its own genre - highly entertaining, dark and colorful. Be sure to check it out.9,5/10