DVD Corner

13 Assassins Blu-ray Review

The 50 minute battle sequence makes “13 Assassins” worth watching.

The plot: Fearing that a murdering madman (Lord Naritsugu) will become a part of the Shogun Council, a Shogun official hires a samurai (Shinzaemon) to assassinate Lord Naritsugu. Knowing he can’t do it on his own, Shinzaemon gathers up a rag-tag team of assassins/samurais to take the Lord down.

If you’ve ever seen a Takashi Miike, you know that he’s one of the most original and unique filmmakers around. Even if not all of his film works, they are always interesting. Rather than make another bizarre or disturbing flick (ala “Audition” or “Visitor Q”), Miike has opted to direct a more serious film about samurais that feels like a tribute to the works of Akira Kurosawa. Granted, it’s no Kurosawa, but that’s a tall order anyway.

If you can get past the slow moving first 76 minutes and the lack of real characterization, the rest of the film is an absolute blast to watch. The final 50 minutes of the film consist of the 13 assassins making their move on Lord Naritsugu and his 200 men plus army in a small village. To say it’s an epic battle is an understatement. It’s violent, filled with explosions, traps, arrows, and plenty of slicing and dicing with swords. There are even some strange Miike esque moments thrown in for good measure (such as the flaming cattle). It’s one of the most well rehearsed and cinematic battles put to screen and it’s a must see for action and samurai cinema fans.

Summary: Despite a fairly straight forward story, the impressive action scenes more than make up for the films flaws. Recommended.

Video/Audio:

The film is presented in 2.40:1 1080p. The interior scenes tend to be a bit on the grainy and dark side. The lighting by candlelight is clearly intentional, but it doesn’t look grea on screen. The exterior shots look sharper all around (especially during the epic battle).

English and Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD audio tracks are included on this disc. The English dub is generally atrocious. The Japanese track is the only one you should play here. It’s superior in every way.

Extras:
* Digital copy.
* Magnolia, “13 Assassins,” and HDNet trailers.
* BD-Live capabilities.
* 20 deleted scenes.
* A spoiler heavy interview with director Takashi Miike. He chats about characters, scenes, etc.

July 5, 2011 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | 13 Assassins Blu-ray Review, Takashi Miike