- Note: Blu-ray discs are in a high definition format and need to be played on a Blu-ray player. To find out more about Blu-ray, visit our Hi-Def Learn & Shop store.
- Important Information on Firmware Updates: Having trouble with your Blu-ray disc player? Will certain discs just not play? You may need to update the firmware inside your player. Click here to learn more.
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Product Description
Ichi (Haruka Ayase) is a blind minstrel wandering from town to town in feudal Japan. She is spurred on by the search for one man the blind warrior who trained her in martial arts as a child. When she is threatened by a group of bandits, she is saved by Toma (Takao Osawa), an incompetent samurai who is unable to draw his sword. Rescuing her rescuer, she continues her journey, only to discover that the locals now think that Toma is a superb swordsman. The townsfolk want him as a lawman, the bandits want him dead, and none of them realise that it is Toma s blind associate who is the true martial artist. Reluctantly, Ichi becomes embroiled in a battle between two gangs for the mastery of the town. However, Ichi s initial feelings about her involvement change when she discovers that the gang leader Banki (Shido Nakamura) may know the whereabouts of the man she is seeking.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
As a lover of all things Japanese, originating from a childhood love of martial arts and monster movies, I am perhaps slightly biased when it comes to reviewing the latest Samurai movie. There have been quite a few good samurai movies in recent years, and tonnes of bad ones but possibly the best was Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi- the leatest in a long line of films based on the legend of the blind samurai. With Kitano's trademark style of soft contemplation followed by sudden quick blasts of violence and his unique and quirky take on the character, it was a big hit. With Ichi the legend continues, albeit from a different branch on the story tree. Instead of the silent man of legend we have a vibrant young lady (perhaprs having more in common with the Crimson Bat series) taking over the walking stick, continuing the recent trend of female led sword movies- Shinobi, Shadowless Sword, even Kill Bill. Our heroine is no less deadly though and she soon cuts her way through the cast with beautiful precision.
After an exiting introduction we are treated to the stunning scenary, period clothing and sets, and slow pace we would expect from this type of film. Those unfamiliar and expecting an all out action film may be soon disappointed. There is plenty of character building and story to squeeze in around the action, and there is none of the gore of Lady Snowblood, none of the fancy stringwork of Hero. If you're a fan of The Hidden Blade, Twilight Samurai etc you'll be right at home here. Ayase's Ichi is torn by horrible past events and she conveys both the sadness and violent eruptions of her character well, without resorting to sentiment or over the top shrieking. Takao Osawa also does well as Toma, the bumbling Samurai Ichi bumps into and travels with. The rest of the cast are fine, either bad guys there to be killed or higher grade bad guys ready to expolit. Ichi wants to find the man who trained her, but reluctantly gets drawn into a Yojimbo style war between two gangs. Can she find the man she is searching for, and will it help her move on from her past?
The film lacks the high budget of some other films and doesn't quite have the techincal quality that such financial backing brings. This is largely irrelevant though as the Director makes admirable use of what he has. It is an interesting take on an age old story and packs more of an emotional punch than more recent versions.
After an exiting introduction we are treated to the stunning scenary, period clothing and sets, and slow pace we would expect from this type of film. Those unfamiliar and expecting an all out action film may be soon disappointed. There is plenty of character building and story to squeeze in around the action, and there is none of the gore of Lady Snowblood, none of the fancy stringwork of Hero. If you're a fan of The Hidden Blade, Twilight Samurai etc you'll be right at home here. Ayase's Ichi is torn by horrible past events and she conveys both the sadness and violent eruptions of her character well, without resorting to sentiment or over the top shrieking. Takao Osawa also does well as Toma, the bumbling Samurai Ichi bumps into and travels with. The rest of the cast are fine, either bad guys there to be killed or higher grade bad guys ready to expolit. Ichi wants to find the man who trained her, but reluctantly gets drawn into a Yojimbo style war between two gangs. Can she find the man she is searching for, and will it help her move on from her past?
The film lacks the high budget of some other films and doesn't quite have the techincal quality that such financial backing brings. This is largely irrelevant though as the Director makes admirable use of what he has. It is an interesting take on an age old story and packs more of an emotional punch than more recent versions.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
"Beware. I never know what I'll cut down. I cannot see."
Fans of Samurai flicks will be more than familiar with Zatoichi, the legendary blind swordsman portrayed in over 30 films & several TV series. Ichi (not to be confused with Takashi Miike's sadistic 'Ichi The Killer') is his female student, who is searching for her master - but like her predecessor, it isn't long before she's up to her armpits in blokes waving sharp impliments at her.
When cowardly samurai Toma (Takao Osawa, star of 'Aragami') defends her against the local lowlifes, it is Ichi who ends up having to save HIM. But the local tonwsfolk assume Toma must have killed them all single-handed, he is hailed as a hero & expected to finish off the rest of the bandit gang.
The films' pace is slightly too leisurely in places, as the numerous supporting characters are fleshed out. Yet conversely, it features some incredible action scenes & beautiful cinematography. Haruka Ayase was apparently a controversial casting choice but in my view, is perfect for the role - Ichi is a violent force of nature in the style of 'Lone Wolf' Oogami Itto, with the detached serenity of a Buddha statue, which Ayase combines with an understated vulnerability. This gives an interesting new dimension for the Zatoichi franchise to explore - and let's face it, it needs one, having been flogged to death over the decades. I look forward to the sequels.
Fans of Samurai flicks will be more than familiar with Zatoichi, the legendary blind swordsman portrayed in over 30 films & several TV series. Ichi (not to be confused with Takashi Miike's sadistic 'Ichi The Killer') is his female student, who is searching for her master - but like her predecessor, it isn't long before she's up to her armpits in blokes waving sharp impliments at her.
When cowardly samurai Toma (Takao Osawa, star of 'Aragami') defends her against the local lowlifes, it is Ichi who ends up having to save HIM. But the local tonwsfolk assume Toma must have killed them all single-handed, he is hailed as a hero & expected to finish off the rest of the bandit gang.
The films' pace is slightly too leisurely in places, as the numerous supporting characters are fleshed out. Yet conversely, it features some incredible action scenes & beautiful cinematography. Haruka Ayase was apparently a controversial casting choice but in my view, is perfect for the role - Ichi is a violent force of nature in the style of 'Lone Wolf' Oogami Itto, with the detached serenity of a Buddha statue, which Ayase combines with an understated vulnerability. This gives an interesting new dimension for the Zatoichi franchise to explore - and let's face it, it needs one, having been flogged to death over the decades. I look forward to the sequels.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
`Ichi' is a modern take on the Zatoichi theme and whilst not bad, doesn't quite live up to it's predecessor. The whole film has a slightly `made for TV' quality about it, I can't put my finger on it but it's not as polished as it could be and the filming style seems more suited to a TV drama. There are beautiful set pieces, locations and costumes and these are the real highlights of the film. It has to be said that this film doesn't have the best acting skills in it, but the direction more than makes up for this with some excellently framed shots. The close ups of various natural scenes (Japanese maple leaves and pond fish for example) are stunning in their simplicity. The fight scenes are well choreographed and whilst graphic in places they aren't as excessive as some other films I've seen or compared to the regular gore fest films that come out of Hollywood these days. The storyline is fairy engaging and kept me watching until the end, although I'm not sure how soon I'll be re-watching this film, it may be a one watch wonder. If you like the Zatoichi film and Japanese dramas in general then this will right up your street and is well worth considering.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
loved it
Ichi one of my favouriye japanies films, loved it, just brilliant :)
Watched it three times and definantly going to watch few more times...
Watched it three times and definantly going to watch few more times...
Published 17 days ago by Ms. Z. Sereikaite
Rather good fun, if a bit silly
I`m not very well versed in Japanese culture, history or anything, so I might not be a good judge as to whether this is good or not, but my wife and I both thought it was quite... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Little Cat Voom
BARGAIN! Good Watch
ok there are better films out there.... but come on for £3 you cant go wrong. I admit it doesn't come close to House of Flying Daggers but as a 'general' watch its great. Read more
Published 8 months ago by lilsue
Avoid!
If you are interested in Japanese culture this film will most likely disappoint... it is illustrative of nothing but the Japanese film industry's intermittent interest in using... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Francis King
its good
if you have ever heard of zatoichi, ichi is the female version . i can pretty much say it is a sequel to zatoichi without him in it. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Gerard Egan
stylish samurai film
ICHI tells the story of a blind shamisen player & singer, Ichi, who is cast out of her group for 'knowing a man' (we assume this is because she took a lover, but the sad truth is... Read more
Published 20 months ago by S. Samraoui
Zatoichi - the TV movie of the week version
I imagine most people coming to this movie will have already seen Takeshi Kitano's excellent take on the familiar Zatoichi story. Read more
Published 22 months ago by P. Baxter
Rather unusual
I found this film took quite a lot of concentration to follow, it wasnt the subtitles, just the plot. Read more
Published on 7 April 2010 by S. Williams
I loved it, Great Blu Ray
Well I for one loved it. Not perfect but the difference with this one compared to other 'draw - slash' movies is this one had emotions and often touching. A must for Zatoichi fans. Read more
Published on 7 April 2010 by Volvi
A welcome addition to the canon
Whilst not a patch on the recent `Zatoichi' from Takeshi Kitano - which I thoroughly recommend - this is very entertaining hokum. Read more
Published on 22 Jan 2010 by Grr
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
