7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
Zatoichi is a 19th-century blind nomad who makes his living as a gambler and masseur. However, behind this humble facade, he is a master swordsman gifted with a lightning-fast draw and breathtaking precision. While wandering, Zatoichi discovers a remote mountain village at the mercy of Ginzo, a ruthless gang leader. Ginzo disposes of anyone who gets in his way, especially after hiring the mighty samurai ronin, Hattori, as a bodyguard. After a raucous night of gambling in town, Zatoichi encounters a pair of geishas—as dangerous as they are beautiful—who've come to avenge their parents' murder. As the paths of these and other colorful characters intertwine, Ginzo's henchmen are soon after Zatoichi. With his legendary cane sword at his side, the stage is set for a riveting showdown.
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Michiyo Ohkusu, Yui Natsukawa, Guadalcanal Taka, Takeshi KitanoForeign | 100% |
Drama | 31% |
Crime | 13% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, Spanish, Arabic
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Some may favor the complex, breathtaking fights of modern martial arts masterpieces; some may enjoy watching skilled swordsmen whirl about in a fifteen minute dance of death to determine who deserves to limp away in one piece; some may prefer to witness grueling battles, rife with tension, that result in the climactic felling of a foe who makes a single, critical mistake. For anyone else, there are films like director Beat Kitano's Zatoichi, an at-times stunning oddity that revels in exhilarating one-strike kills, unforgettable split-second duels, and sudden and shocking fountains of blood that herald the arrival of the acclaimed blind swordmaster himself. Unfortunately, Kitano also grants his supporting cast far too much screentime, weaves too many bizarre eccentricities into an otherwise promising tale, and proudly wears his love of kabuki theatre all too prominently on his heavy sleeves.
Zatoichi rests his blade after spilling a miscreant's blood...
Zatoichi slashes its way onto Blu-ray with an unfaithful, over-processed 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that has little regard for Kitano's directorial intentions, features contrast boosting that changes the film's palette, and suffers from enough edge enhancement and noise reduction to blind any videophile who looks too closely. Ironically, portions of the supplemental package are devoted to the exact aesthetic Kitano desired for his film; an aesthetic that isn't represented by the high definition presentation we see before us. It isn't a dramatic discrepancy -- fans readying their pitchforks shouldn't expect a Halloween-esque snafu -- but it is disheartening nonetheless. Unfortunately, the hits keep on coming. While colors are bold and black levels remain deep throughout, depth is flat on occasion and dimensionality is unreliable. And even though detail is much sharper than it is on the domestic and international DVD releases of the film, textures are sometimes smeared, ringing is a consistent issue, and clarity wavers depending on a variety of variables (shot-to-shot lighting chief among them). Likewise, the image is far cleaner than it's been before, but artifacting, banding, edge halos, and some minor crush still creep in and spoil the proceedings.
As it stands, those who crave a slick and shiny picture (and aren't sensitive to the side-effects of EE and DNR) will probably be pleased with the results. However, Zatoichi diehards and discerning videophiles will be shocked by how little respect the transfer technicians have paid to Kitano's work.
Imagine a furrowed brow thirtysomething tilting back his head, shaking his fist at the heavens and bellowing, "ENGLISH DUBS!!!" Picture that and you'll have a pretty good idea of my reaction to Disney's Ultimate Force of Four Collection lossy fiasco. Like its brethren, Zatoichi features a loud and gaudy DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track... in English. Its original Japanese language mix is presented with a flat and faulty Dolby Digital 5.1 track (640kbps) that lacks the finesse and power of its lossless counterpart. Admittedly, the differences aren't vast enough to completely dismiss the Dolby offering, but in this age of lossless milk and honey, there's absolutely no reason that the studio couldn't have granted Zatoichi two DTS-HD MA tracks. Ah well. Dialogue dominates the film, creating a rather front-heavy experience, but brief eruptions of sword-clashing violence boast enough LFE kick and rear speaker punch to keep things interesting. Prioritization is spot on, voices are intelligible, and ambience -- particularly during scenes in which the blind swordsman has to rely on his heightened senses -- is impressive. If only everything else was as admirable. Dynamics are a bit frothy, pans are occasionally stocky, directionality is inconsistent, and ambience appears and disappears at will. Ultimately, both tracks are decent but flawed, injecting too much disappointment into this release to warrant a higher score or stronger recommendation.
The Blu-ray edition of Zatôichi includes a pair of meaty special features: an extensive, insightful, and revealing behind-the-scenes documentary (SD, 40 minutes) and an engaging collection of interviews (SD, 22 minutes) with cinematographer Katsumi Yanagishima, production designer Norihiro Isoda, costume supervisor Kazuko Kurosawa, and master swordsman Tatsumi Nikamoto. Both offer English subtitles.
Alas, I enjoyed watching Zatoichi's behind-the-scenes documentary a bit more than the film itself. A promising production, Kitano's game-changing revision is brimming with potential, but sadly fails to cash in on its most compelling asset: the blind swordsman at the heart of Kitano's scattershot tale. The Blu-ray edition is problematic as well, cursing the film with an unfaithful video transfer, a lossy Japanese language track, and an all-too-short collection of special features that, as good as they are, only last an hour. No one -- fans, newcomers, or the curious among you -- will walk away from this one without complaining about something. Hardly the reaction the release of an award-winning film should inspire.
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