A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.
Kujuro Hirayama: No mercy! There's no samurai code or fair play in battle! No sword? Use a stick. No stick? Use a rock. No rock? Use your fists and feet! Lose your life, but make the enemy pay!
Although most of the opening credits after the distributor's name are in Japanese, there are three in English: Recorded Picture Company, Yahoo! Japan, and Tsutaya.
The runtime of the Japanese release is 141 minutes, for but the international distribution a reduced cut of 126 minutes was released, which among other things omits some scenes referring to Japanese mythology (such as several scenes which indicate that the hunter Koyata is not of human flesh, but a demon).
It was only a couple of years ago i saw the famous Akira Kurosawa movie " Seven Samurai" for the first time. A movie that inspired other directors to make great films such as "The Magnificent Seven" and "A fist full of Dollars" and there is no doubting that 13 Assassins resembles Seven Samurai in many ways and although this will never be talked about in the same way as Kurosawa's masterpiece , i enjoyed nearly as much.
It's a very simple story about a group of samurai who are out to kill an evil lord who could destroy the country if he is allowed to live.
This is extremely violent and at times , especially in the first half hour , some scenes might be classed as upsetting but it's totally justified so we feel the emotion of wanting the lord dead and knowing how important it is.
I have to admit i did get a little confused when so many Japanese names were being talked about at the start and the fighting did go on a little bit too long in the last half but all in all it's a good film that fans of the genre will absolutely love.