13 Assassins Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

13 Assassins Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 31, 2026

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow's Eiichi Kudo's Samurai Revolution Trilogy set.

The "evolution" of portrayals of samurai in Japanese cinema is a subject worthy of considerable attention, but for those particularly interested in so-called zankoku jidaigeki films, home theater aficionados have been getting the chance over the past couple of years to build their collections, at least if they have access to either region free or various region coded players. This new Region A release of Eicchi Kudo's Samurai Revolution Trilogy is also being offered by Arrow in Region B, adding to a growing list of titles in both regions, including Cruel Tale of Bushido (available in both regions), The Betrayal (available in both regions) and Revenge (available in Region B only as of the writing of this review). Kudo's trilogy may nonetheless offer a kind of "one stop shopping" opportunity for those intrigued in this subgenre, as the three films, released from 1963 to 1967, offer an often visceral deconstruction of samurai culture, at least insofar as the very term samurai may suggest noble intent and that aforementioned term bushido supposedly indicating a code of honor and a secure moral compass. While the Takashi Miike remake of 13 Assassins was released on Blu-ray almost 15 years ago (!), these look like the first Region A and Region B releases of the three films in this set.

Some purveyor of Dad Jokes (ahem) might jokingly call this esteemed effort The Dirty Baker's Dozen, since this film does in fact feature a titular thirteen hardscrabble types assembled for what might also be jokingly called a Mission: Impossible. Here, instead of a bunch of hardened (ex?) criminals parachuting into France for a perceived suicide mission during World War II, a ragtag assortment of samurai are tasked with another perceived suicide mission, one that has some fascinating political subtext that is nowhere to be found in the Robert Aldrich film.

Another cinematic referent to the story here might conceivably be 300 , since a heavily outnumbered force is at the center of the narrative. What gives this film its dramatic impetus, though, is the fact that the assassins in this film have been hired to take out the presumed next shogun, a despicable type who has already proven he has none of the "traditional" characteristics at least perceived to be associated with such a high office. 13 Assassins has an absolutely epic final showdown that lasts over a half hour, and those who have seen the Takashi Miike remake may find some really interesting differences between the two properties, including the "weather" accompanying the fight.

13 Assassins Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

13 Assassins is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet lumps fairly minimal information about the transfers of all three films in this set together on one page:

13 Assassins / Jusannin no shikaku, The Great Killing / Dai satsujin and 11 Samurai / Juinichin no samurai are presented in their original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with mono Japanese audio.

Additional picture restoration work was completed by Arrow Films at R3Store Studios, London.

This is a striking looking film, speaking purely cinematographically, and the transfer offers really nice detail for the most part. Contrast is also secure, something that is important for what are almost some noir inflected chiaroscuro moments at various key junctures. This transfer arguably boasts a better delineation of dark tones in particular than some of the others in this set, something that helps this transfer elide any egregious crush. Grayscale is nicely modulated throughout. There are some almost impressionistic moments due to things like fog and/or mist, and commendably compression handles those with ease. There are some noticeable ebbs and flows in clarity, and some wide shots in particular can be a bit on the blurry side, along with the traditional quaint anamorphic oddities toward the edges of the frame that are frequently seen in Asian cinema in particular for some reason. Grain is nicely resolved throughout. My score is 4.25.

13 Assassins Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

13 Assassins features LPCM Mono audio in the original Japanese. As one of the supplements gets into, a striking element in this film is the really interesting score by Akira Ifukube, one that combines almost horror film adjacent organ cues with ethnic instruments like the koto. The sound design is often quite "busy", especially in some of the battle scenes, and a few hyperbolic moments probably come close to distorting, if they never quite tip over into it fully. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

13 Assassins Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Tom Mes


• The Samurai Variations (HD; 25:34) is a really interesting video essay by James Balmont covering the career of 13 Assassins composer Akira Ifukube.


• Samurai Guerrilla Part 1 (HD; 26:34) features Eiichi Kudo's assistant director Misao Arai talking with Dirty Kudo (Kudo fils) about Eiichi Kudo's contributions to Japanese cinema in the 1960s. Subtitled in English, though this was evidently originally a French production, so the English subtitles are in a blurred section of the frame that I'm assuming originally had French subtitles.


• Trailer 1 (HD; 2:56)


• Trailer 2 (HD; 2:16)

13 Assassins Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Eiichi Kudo trilogy gets off to an incredibly memorable start with 13 Assassins, and while each of the films is a standalone property in a way, this film certainly creates a template of sorts that is followed in the subsequent films. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very appealing. Highly recommended.