Zlatica
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
tostinati
Inescapably, the fight scenes, the quest theme, the character archetypes have all been much better handled by older films. The one area where this film might give classic older films a run for their money -- in the cinematography -- is also one area where TV commercials give some older films a run for their money. In other words, at the most superficial level of "styling", I guess this film does what it sets out to do. But I think it all feels too offhand and tongue in cheek to really satisfy the serious fan of the genre. If you come to this sort of film through the Kill Bills, it may do it for you, as a sort of 2% solution of Kill Bill. But if you have seen the great Kurosawas, there's an even money chance this won't even capture your attention for it's modest running length. I found myself dozing, and dreaming of far better films that I'd have to dig up and take a look at next time I have the chance.I wanted to like this, but I have to report that I can't recommend it. It's too feeble, too jokey, too tongue in cheek. It's a weak pastiche that fails to deliver much besides style, and that none too well.5 stars of 10.
apestars
In America there must be thousands of Westerns filling up the shelves of many movie studios. The same is true of samurai movies in Japan. It's just a little piece of each culture. Not that it is the same story every time, but people watch them and feel safe to know what is going to happen (a bad guy is going to mess stuff up, there's going to be some good fights, and the good guy is going to win in the end).I saw Samurai Fiction after watching a great deal of 'typical' Japanese samurai movies (most haven't even been released in the US) and felt that the music the (with the 'western style' instruments) was a fresh addition to a long line of movies caught up in the tradition of making samurai movies 'the way one's supposed to.' The director (a former director of MTV videos for Japanese bands) also uses younger actors and rock musicians in leading roles in an attempt to appeal to the younger generations of Japan whose tastes are quickly drifting away from the older samurai generation's.All in all, Samurai Fiction is a fun movie that is easy to watch for those of us that would like a breath of fresh air from the samurai movie scene.
frankgaipa
Best I can say for this is the two actors (pardon my inability to figure which actor names) who come center stage in the latter half of the film, the samurai who's carrying the stolen sword and the retired swordsman with the daughter, show commanding enough presences that either could command the screen in a real samurai film. They even make Samurai Fiction's protagonist seem a little more interesting by association.The problem with guitar-based rock in films portraying this period is people don't walk, run, fight to a four-beat. I just re-watched Hidden Fortress on the largest screen with the best sound available here. Mostly it's scored with traditional wind, string, and percussion instruments. But in a few, I think unfortunate, instances, Kurosawa gave over to western instruments for the sort of "welling-up" music with which Westerners now attempt to wrench emotions their directorial skills haven't earned. I shudder to think that, besides swiping the plot, Lucas may have let Kurosawa's western interpolations inspire that awful Star Wars music. The soundtrack of Sogo Ishii's Angel Dust showed a film can be scored Japanese style-with modern instruments and techniques, and even interpolate, without being destroyed by, Western sounds. But what Ishii does is a long way from playing electric guitar unkeyed to screen movements. In the same theater as Hidden Fortress, months before I saw Toyoda's Portrait of Hell destroyed, to blindly good reviews, by a live indie band that seldom even glanced at the screen.On the other hand, I mostly liked Ryuhei Kitamura's Versus. Go figure.
Kent-13
Music video director Nakano Hiroyuki offers his superb feature film debut, photographed in brilliant black and white. The film moves at a rapid pace, filled with episodes of great swordplay action and a number of hilarious antics. Popular Japanese guitarist Hotei Tomoyasu not only provides the movie's excellent soundtrack but also portrays the powerful samurai master Kazamatsuri. Terrific performances all around, but it's Fukikoshi Mitsuro as the wonderfully silly Inukai Heishiro and Ogawa Tamaki as the strong-willed Koharu (Heishiro's love interest) who steal the movie.
