Samurai Assassin

release year: 1964
genre: samurai
viewing setting: home laserdisc, 2/21/99
what I expected: wasn't sure
what I got: more generally boring samurai drama

synopsis: Roaming samurai wanna-be Tsuruchiyo tries to join an assassination plot, and then we are subjected to two hours of drama about his past.

impressions: Boring! I don't know what it is about these movies - maybe the culture difference, maybe the translation, maybe samurai movies just aren't for me. Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that this was a drama (and a long one at that) sandwiched inbetween a promising beginning and a massacre at the end. I found that I didn't really care to watch two hours worth of explanation for something so simple. The ending, while fairly violent, also left much unresolved. It's almost like the scriptwriter just said "here, let's take a portion of this man's life and make a movie about it."

body count: several dozen, mostly at the very end

acting: Nothing stood out.

the good: Bloody battle at the end.

the bad: Pretty much everything else.

final word: Boring drama.

rating: C-

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