The video presentation here is all right, but lacks the normal polish one associates with the company, while the audio presentation on the disc is lacking slightly as. The last 6 films and the tv series were also produced by katsu productions. Zatoichis conspiracy 1973 zatoichi returns to his hometown and learns a childhood friend has become a feared crime lord, keeping the locals in debt and bilking them of their rice. The zatoichi the blind swordsman set ends with zatoichi s conspiracy 1973, but there s no sense of closure like a book as the character moved onto television from 1974 to 1979, and then katsu returned to the role one last time in zatoichi the blind swordsman 1989.
The colossally popular zatoichi films make up the longestrunning action series in japanese history and created one of the screens great heroes. Zatoichis conspiracy has our hero returning to his hometown and making the acquaintance of his sister, a young orphan raised by the same old woman who raised zatoichi. Zatoichis conspiracy 1973 720p criterion collection. Zatoichis vengeance is a 1966 japanese chambara film directed by tokuzo tanaka and. Miyagi borrowed zatoichi s chopstick flycatching technique. Zatoichis conspiracy zatoichi at the blood fest 1974. The blind swordsman box set gets our highest recommendation and damn well deserves it. Capping off zatoichis feature film era before he made the transition to television in 1974. He also encounters a boyhood friend, shinbei, who now is wealthy and appears n. Directed by kimiyoshi yasuda writing credits yoshi hattori, kan shimozawa produced by shintaro katsu, hiroyoshi nishioka, ikuo kubodera music by akira ifukube cinematography by chishi makiura film editing by yoshiharu hayashi production design by seiichi oota. Fortunately i had samurai saturdays on ifc to teach me there was more to this blind man than meets the eye.
This list tries to track down not only the greatest, but also the most essential zatoichi films which brought this formula to live, tried to improve it or varied it intelligently. In zatoichis conspiracy, the end of an era would come to pass, the last of the old school zatoichi pictures. Capping off zatoichis feature film era before he made the transition to television in 1974, this chapter is suffused. Film editing by yoshiharu hayashi production design by seiichi oota assistant directors masao kobayashi. Zatoichis revenge is a 1965 japanese chambara film directed by akira inoue and starring shintaro katsu as the blind masseur zatoichi. Artsmagic would do well to fix their mistake, and correctly label the film.
If you like zatoichis conspiracy you are looking for exciting, rough and serious movies about with martial arts, adventure, gangsters, samurai, crimes, village and heroes themes of action and drama genre shot in japan. Capping off zatoichis feature film era before he made the transition to television in 1974, this chapter is suffused with melancholy, closing the series on a. Main actor shintaro katsu would go on and direct a final movie about the character that made him famous sixteen years after this film. Sep 17, 2016 road house 1948 ida lupino, cornel wilde, richard widmark, celeste holm duration. Zatoichi is one of the great characters of any medieval japanese film, and unusually he is not a samurai himself. He is befriended by omiyo, who had the same wetnurse as zatoichi. Zatoichis conspiracy 1973 directed by kimiyoshi yasuda.
If you like the formula, every film will hold its share of great entertainment for you. All in all, the merged company had purchased the vhs licensing and distribution rights to episodes 115 and 1720. Once their training is complete they have to infiltrate a fief and kill the clan leader. This originally minor character was developed for the screen by daiei film now kadokawa daiei studio and actor shintaro katsu, who created the screen version. Animeigo s release of zatoichi s conspiracy, the last film in the long running zatoichi series to go through toho, is sadly not up to snuff with the company s many other releases. The bad guy is an official who also grew up in the same village and was a childhood friend of zatoichi. Zatoichis conspiracy zatoichi at the blood fest movie.
Classics and discoveries from around the world, thematically programmed with special features, on a streaming service brought to you by the criterion collection. Zatoichis conspiracy is an average film by the franchises standard. The first 20 films were produced and distributed by daiei film except for the 16th film zatoichi the outlaw and the 20th film zatoichi meets yojimbo which were produced by shintaro katsu s own company, katsu productions, and distributed theatrically by daiei. Frequently asked questions how many zatoichi films were made. The film was shot in a village eigamura located in the mountains of kanami. It is a more or less simple story, which really reminded me of kitamura s azumi. Capping off zatoichis feature film era before he made the transition to television in 1974, this chapter is suffused with melancholy, closing the series on a note of seriousness and. It s enjoyable to watch thanks to an epic atmosphere, some character development, and profound dialogues.
Zatoichi s conspiracy is an average film by the franchise s standard. The blind swordsman 1989 page 1 of 1 previous next page. Oct 27, 2015 zatoichi returns to his home village for the first time in over ten years to find much has changed and that corruption abounds. It is a more or less simple story, which really reminded me of kitamuras azumi. He finds that a childhood friend has become a feared crime lord, keeping the locals in debt and bilking them of their rice. Aug 04, 2004 the series influence reached to hong kong and taiwan action flicks in style as well as the occasional american film. Zatoichi, the blind swordsman is one of the longestrunning series in japanese cinema history, spanning 26 movies 196289, 100 tv episodes 197479, and the recent revisionist version by beat takeshi. The bad guy is an official who also grew up in the same. Watch zatoichi s conspiracy english subtitled prime video. Nicknamed katsushin, he lived in the moment, and relied upon his feelings when acting.
Zatoichis conspiracy 1973 the criterion collection. From 1974 to 1979, the television series zatoichi was produced, starring katsu and some of the same actors. Capping off zatoichis feature film era before he made the transition to television in 1974, this chapter is suffused with melancholy, closing the series on a note of seriousness and emotional heft that it has well earned. Zatoichis conspiracy 1974 kimiyoshi yasuda synopsis. Zatoichis conspiracy 1973 720p criterion collection bluray flac x264ctrlhd.
Its enjoyable to watch thanks to an epic atmosphere, some character development, and profound dialogues. Traveling on the road, zatoichi katsu encounters a dying man who gives him a bag full of money and the. Shinbei seems to be interested in repaying the villagers debts, but is in reality manipulating the. New tale of zatoichi is pretty much perfect, a great samurai film, and, i think, better than the first zatoichi movie. This is shintaro katsus aging badass movie, kind of like unforgiven or rambo, so its a particulary dark and violent picture, the final battle is pretty crazy. The channel is also a repository of videos on a variety of other topics of interest to the author. However after over ten years, zatoichi decides that it is time that he return to his village. It was the 23rd film in the zatoichi film series and the first distributed by toho, while all others were distributed by daiei.
The final film in the long running series, at least it was before the two television series featuring katsu reprising his role as ichi and one final film afterwards, and this is a great way to end. Blood festival of kasama, the blind swordsmans conspiracy. If it werent the last of the classic films in the franchise, there wouldnt be anything memorable about this film. Watch zatoichis conspiracy english subtitled prime video. Watch zatoichis conspiracy online 1973 movie yidio. Capping off zatoichis feature film era before the transition to television in 1974, this entry is suffused with melancholy, closing the series on a note of emotional heft that it has well. The character, a blind masseur and blademaster, was created by. Zatoichis conspiracy 1974 directed by kimiyoshi yasuda genres action, adventure subgenres costume adventure, samurai film run time 90 min. The character zatoichi is a 19th century blind nomad who makes his living as a gambler and as a masseur. If you like zatoichi s conspiracy you are looking for exciting, rough and serious movies about with martial arts, adventure, gangsters, samurai, crimes, village and heroes themes of action and drama genre shot in japan. The zatoichi film series was produced in the sixties but he appeared in film as late as the eighties.
Zatoichi s conspiracy has our hero returning to his hometown and making the acquaintance of his sister, a young orphan raised by the same old woman who raised zatoichi. Not rated 1h 28min action, drama 15 april 1974 usa zatoichi returns to his home village for the first time in over ten years to find much has changed and that corruption abounds. Sep 16, 2015 this list tries to track down not only the greatest, but also the most essential zatoichi films which brought this formula to live, tried to improve it or varied it intelligently. The elements of drama and danger, the essential stable of characters that populate and prove so important to every zatoichi film are just so well honed and involving in this film. Kasama no chimatsuri kimiyoshi yasuda 1973 capping off zatoichis feature film era before he made the transition to television in 1974, this chapter is suffused with melancholy. Zatoichi, zatoichi is a fictional character featured in one of japans longestrunning series of films, as well as a television series.
Zatoichi s conspiracy is not the worst film in the series, but it s a bit blah. Capping off zatoichi s feature film era before he made the transition to television in 1974, this chapter is suffused with melancholy, closing the series on a note of seriousness and emotional heft that it has well earned. Both are set during the late edo period 1830s and 1840s. Zatoichi shintaro katsu miyo yukiyo toake yuri eri yokoyama friend shiro kishibe shinbei of hitachiya eiji okada magistrate kei sato shobei yoshio tsuchiya iwagoro, boss tatsuo endo.
Capping off zatoichis feature film era before the shift to television, this entry is suffused with melancholy, closing the series on a note of emotional heft that it has well earned. Zatoichi, the famed blind swordsman, returns to his home village for the first time in many years. Aug 19, 2014 16 years after zatoichis conspiracy, effectively the final film in the series, and a decade after the tv series that followed, shintaro katsu returned to the character as both director and star in a twilight sequel as the final word on the blind swordsman, simply called zatoichi an approach later used by sylvester stallone in his similar. A 2003 film, zatoichi, was directed by takeshi kitano who also starred as. Zatoichis conspiracy the grindhouse cinema database. Katsu would return for one final adventure over fifteen years later in the 1989 film zatoichi, but the true end was to be found here. Zatoichis conspiracy movie zatoichi, the famed blind swordsman, returns to his home village for the first time in many years. Zatoichis conspiracy msmichel the final film of the original series is a solid entry that broke no new ground but did provide one of the best fight sequences in the entire saga. Zatoichis conspiracy 1973, japan is a chambara film directed by kimiyoshi yasuda contents. Kasama no chimatsuri, zatoichi at the blood fest, zatoichi. That same gambling scene weve seen 24 times before. Zatoichi returns to his home village for the first time in over ten years to find much has changed and that corruption abounds. Daiei, meanwhile, had such popular series as the nemuri kyoshiro aka the sleepy eyes of death films starring raizo ichikawa, while during zatoichi s run katsu busied himself with no less than two other ongoing concerns, the 15 film akumyo series 1961 1974, and the nine film hoodlum soldier series 196572. Unfortunately, he finds that a childhood friend has become a feared crime lord, keeping the locals in debt and bilking them of their rice.
Capping off zatoichis feature film era before the transition to television in 1974, this entry is suffused with melancholy, closing the series on a note of emotional heft that it has well earned. Hopefully, they gave the character a proper sendoff. Running for 26 films and a television series from 1962 to 1989, shintaro katsu s zatoichi ranks as my favorite jidaigeki series, and my favorite film franchise overall aside from star wars. Zatoichis conspiracy 1973 stream and watch online moviefone. The blind swordsman bluraydvd box set from criterion. Zatoichis conspiracy zatoichi at the blood fest 1974 rotten. At the time of its release, this became the twentysixth episode in the saga of zatoichi, and the first theatricallyreleased zatoichi episode since the 1973 zatoichis conspiracy. On a related note, artsmagic released a film called zatoichis pilgrimage on vhs and dvd in the u. From 1974 to 1979, the television series zatoichi was produced, starring. He also encounters a boyhood friend, shinbei, who now is wealthy and appears not to remember zatoichi. Everything comes full circle when zatoichi returns to his hometown. Zatoichi at large, zatoichi goyotabi is a 1972 japanese film directed by kazuo mori. Capping off zatoichi s feature film era before the transition to television in 1974, this entry is suffused with melancholy, closing the series on a note of emotional heft that it has well earned.
Usually when a film series starts getting long, most of the films in the series are mediocre at best, particularly in the later shows. Not every zatoichi film qualifies as great cinema, but even when the series falters a bit, every single one of these films is still well worth your time. The blind swordsman movie videos for the full length movie and video clips on mefeedia. Zatoichis conspiracy 1973 zatoichis conspiracy 1973. Zatoichis conspiracy is not the worst film in the series, but its a bit blah. This 25th and last film is a great closure to the ichi character and portrays our ichi coming full circle in many ways as he returns to the village of his. To optimize your experience with your screen reading software, please use our website, which has the same tickets as our fandango.
This is a list of all the zatoichi movies starring shintaro katsu. The zatoichi the blind swordsman set ends with zatoichis conspiracy 1973, but theres no sense of closure like a book as the character moved onto television from 1974 to 1979, and then katsu returned to the role one last time in zatoichi the blind swordsman 1989. Overview of zatoichis conspiracy, 1973, directed by kimiyoshi yasuda, with shintaro katsu, yukiyo toake, takashi shimura, at turner classic movies. As this iconic figure, the charismatic and earthy shintaro katsu became an instant superstar, lending a largerthanlife presence to the thrilling adventures of a. Released 1973, zatoichis conspiracy stars shintaro katsu, yukiyo toake, eiji okada, kei sato the movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 28 min, and received a score of out of 100 on metacritic. On a related note, artsmagic released a film called zatoichi s pilgrimage on vhs and dvd in the u. Zatoichis conspiracy from the grindhouse cinema database. I enjoyed the slow buildup and the payoff is nice, but ultimately this is quite forgettable. Zatoichis triumphant return to the big screen after 15 years of absence is a bit like a greatest hits compilation, many scenes mirror events from earlier adventures. Daiei, meanwhile, had such popular series as the nemuri kyoshiro aka the sleepy eyes of death films starring raizo ichikawa, while during zatoichis run katsu busied himself with no less than two other ongoing concerns, the 15film akumyo series 19611974, and the ninefilm hoodlum soldier series 196572.
Kasama no chimatsuri kimiyoshi yasuda 1973 capping off zatoichis feature film era before he made the transition to television in 1974, this chapter is suffused with melancholy, closing the series on a note of seriousness and emotional heft that. Zatoichi s conspiracy 1973 zatoichi returns to his hometown and learns a childhood friend has become a feared crime lord, keeping the locals in debt and bilking them of their rice. He made 24 installments between 1962 and 1973, and made the last one 16 years later in 1989. For whatever reason, chambara released the titles in no particular order. Capping off zatoichi s feature film era before he made the transition to television in 1974. From 1974 to 1979, the television series zatoichi was produced, starring katsu. Zatoichi, zatoichi is a fictional character featured in one of japans longestrunning. But zatoichi in his run of two dozen films stays good to the end. But for the time 1974 it contains gore,bloodshed and rape, which i thought was very hardcore watch out for the facebustermoveeven though it is a little trashy. As this iconic figure, the charismatic and earthy shintaro katsu became an instant superstar, lending a largerthanlife presence to the thrilling adventures of a man who. Zatoichi left his home village when he was a young man, and there were a number of reasons behind this decision.
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