Watch Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo For Free

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

hyped garbage

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

In making my way through the Zatoichi films, I was both trepidatious and excited to arrive at 'Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo'. On the one hand I was worried, once we get into the crossover films, that's a sign they're starting to run out of ideas. On the other hand, how can you go wrong with a film that unites Katsu and Mifune? It's also directed by Kihachi Okamoto (The Sword of Doom, Kill!), the only real name director the series has had besides Misumi. And besides, after nineteen instalments there has yet to be one I thought was less than great; the series hasn't shown any sign of slowing down yet.Alas, though, I think this is the first Zatoichi film I thought was merely 'good'.The movie sees Zatoichi returning to his home town, a town that looks very similar to the one in Yojimbo, and here he meets the titular bodyguard. For a while at the beginning I was trying to figure out if this was in fact supposed to be the town from Yojimbo, if the old man in this movie was supposed to be the same old man from that film, and just what the hell Mifune's yojimbo was doing still there considering the ending of that film. Mifune's character also seemed quite different from his character in that film, despite some surface similarities; here he plays kind of a drunken bastard. I soon realized, the best way to approach this film is, it's a different town, and Mifune plays a different character: it's just another Zatoichi adventure, with no connection to Kurosawa's film save a few nods here and there.Really, this is what I was hoping for. Those less familiar with Zatoichi may have been hoping for a true crossover that takes place as much in the Yojimbo universe as the Zatoichi universe, but in the context of the Zatoichi series, this wouldn't feel right. But even just as a regular Zatoichi flick, I was still slightly disappointed in this effort. At nearly two hours this is, I believe, the longest Zatoichi film, but it just lacks the storytelling economy that makes the other entries so enjoyable; this one seems over-complicated and uncompelling by comparison.Further, there were other little things that bothered me about this movie. Katsu seemed less competent than usual - struggling with normal stairs, and apparently unable to gauge the distance of a sound... This film continues the trend of the last few entries towards a darker side of the character, but Zatoichi's aspiration to becoming a 'villain', and simultaneous contempt towards 'spies' just seemed kind of random. And as much as I love Mifune, his performance here really didn't impress me.There are good points to the film though. It's one of the more visually stunning entries in the Zatoichi series, with some beautiful sequences. And the finale is quite satisfying (even if it borrows a bit too blatantly from Treasure of the Sierra Madre). It's a solid film, but considering the talent involved, it could have been something really special, and instead it gets my vote as the weakest entry in the series so far.

A classic of Japanese cinema, Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo, is an all around good time, with great performances, bloody samurai action, and a plot reminiscent of Kurosawa's original Yojimbo.Zatoichi, tiring of life on the road, returns to a village of which he has fond memories. Only to find out that the last three years have changed the landscape considerably. Two years ago, Boss Eboshiya took over the town with his sons, one of which has gone against his father. Eboshiya's son Masagoro has enlisted the aide of a money grubbing Yojimbo named Sasa (Mifune) to find out the town's secret of the hidden gold. A secret only Eboshiya knows, a secret everyone is dying (literally) to find out.Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo features two legendary Japanese actors in two of their greatest (recurring) roles. Zatoichi played by Shintaro Katsu and Yojimbo played by Toshiro Mifune. Both actors are as great as their characters are eccentric. Mifune plays his standard swaggering, drunken, sheisty Yojimbo, while Katsu utilizes his traditional sputtering, honorable, blind swordsman. One of the strenght's of the film is that both characters stay true to the previous works of the same characters, and the interaction between Mifune and Katsu is the stuff of cinematic legend. Although, Mifune's Yojimbo is a little more jaded than in the original Kurosawa flicks, but considering the life of the fictional character... this difference is understandable.As I've mentioned the plot resembles that of the original Yojimbo; two gangs, one town, and scandalous samurai playing the clans against each other. Only in Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo, it's two samurai, who not only are working the gangs but each other as well. ZMY also adds the element of a third assassin named Kuzuryu (played devilishly by Shin Kishida) a man who helps to stir the proverbial pot.Of Course, Zatoichi is loaded with awesome chambara action, the kind that was exclusive to the mid 1960's, an era in Japanese cinema when samurai films were still making the transition from the black and white samurai epics of Kurosawa's days, to the exploitational samurai films of the 70's (such as Lone Wolf and Cub). Which, in laymen's terms means it's bloody, just not outrageously bloody.The film does have it's faults though. Ayako Wakao is great as Umeno, a beautiful prostitute who falls in love with Yojimbo, but her role is underdeveloped, thus the romantic aspect of the film kinda falls flat on its face. Other than that, the ending is abrupt and jarring but these are minor issues for this type of film.Bottom Line- This film should be seen just for Mifune's and Katsu's brilliant acting. If that's not enough (and it should be!), then watch it for the great old school chambara action!

I love Akira Kurasawa films. Of all his films, one of my personal favorites is Yojimbo. I have also seen most of the Zatiochi films and enjoy them very much. So, you'd think that a crossover that COMBINES the two would be an exceptional film. However, it was, at best, an average Zatoichi vehicle--perhaps even a little below average. First, because expectations will very likely not be met. Secondly, because Mifune's character seems too selfish and inconsistent to be the same Yojimbo from the Kurasawa flick.Now having Mifune's character POSE as a hired assassin/body guard was not a bad thing. But, his loyalty to the Shogun and to Zatoichi seemed unimportant compared to his love for a woman. Towards the end, this lady is shot AND Zatoichi is attacked by a group of about a dozen warriors. Mifune doesn't lift a finger to helps him but takes his beloved to try to revive her. YES, he should have tried to help her, but as a samurai it just seemed rather disloyal and cowardly to forget about everything else at this point. Also, Zatoichi trying to pilfer a small amount of the stolen gold dust for himself seemed a little out of character as well (unless he was going to give it to some starving orphans or something--now THAT'S like Zatoichi).I dunno. The movie just didn't make me as excited as I'd hoped it would. Sorry.

Funnily enough a few years ago I wrote this (...BUT): First things first, for those that are concerned (and I'm sure you will be as I was), Toshiro Mifune is NOT playing the Yojimbo character from the Kurosawa movies. The title is purely a cash-in, though I'm not sure if it is for the modern Western market or the original title translates as such and was designed to con the Japanese market. The only other film I know of where Mifune genuinely plays the Yojimbo character is "Ambush at Blood Pass" which was the film the both actors completed after this one.In all respects, this is a bad film sadly. It has a few nice moments but its clear this was a commercial venture utilising the two most famous male Japanese actors and characters at the time. In all honesty, I know little about the Zatoichi character, but imagine that the original film must be far superior to this. I couldn't really recommend this film to anyone unless you're a hardcore fan of Japanese Cinema or of the two actors. There are many, many better films of the genre to choose from. Even "Ambush at Blood Pass" which is not a great film is still significantly superior to this one. "Zatoichi versus Yojimbo", like many Japanese films of the time seems confused over what audience its aiming at. The result is an unsatisfactory soup of part comedy, part slasher, part period drama, part morality tale which limps from moment to moment. As said previously, some of these scenes are nice in themselves, but the overall effect is somewhat bland with some scenes almost cringe-worthy. For the uninitiated, always try a Kurosawa film first, if not (and you are interested in Samurai films from an historical perspective) then you may prefer to look at the films of Mizoguchi or Kobyashi. If you just want to see a good samurai flick with Mifune in it, then you may want to look at films such as "Red Lion", "Samurai Assassin" or "Samurai Banners" which are more rounded films and are currently available. As said, I don't know much about Zatoichi, but I would imagine the original and early films are better than this one and worth the effort. Still, I hope this proves useful, it would have saved me money!Now after seeing it again I'm surprised with myself. I've seen so many more Japanese films since and I realise how wrong I was. It must be stressed that it is NOT "Yojimbo" from the Kurosawa films but taking the point that this film is purely "entertainment" then it really is a good film, I watched it with harsh critical eyes when I wrote this and I was wrong! The Zatoichi films vary a great deal in quality, and the character has grown on me a great deal since seeing the recent Takishi film. This is by far one of the best from the original set. So I guess I should now say, if you want a high-art samurai flick, then you'll still be disappointed as with my previous comments; but if you want to see a good, well structured, entertaining film with a very good insight into human nature than I would certainly say give it a whirl.