or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
11 used & new from £6.74
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Zatoichi [Blu-ray] [2003]
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

Zatoichi [Blu-ray] [2003]

Blu-ray ~ 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £24.99
Price: £7.48 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £17.51 (70%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Thursday, February 11? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
9 new from £7.48 2 used from £6.74
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • N.B. This title is in high definition format and needs to be played on a Blu-ray player. To find out more about Blu-ray, visit our Hi-Def Learn & Shop store.

  • 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

Zatoichi [Blu-ray] [2003] + Ichi [Blu-ray] [2008] + Red Cliff [Special Edition][Blu-ray] [2008]
Total RRP: £79.97
Price For All Three: £26.44

Show availability and delivery details

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Zatoichi [Blu-ray] [2003]
71% buy the item featured on this page:
Zatoichi [Blu-ray] [2003] 4.0 out of 5 stars (3)
£7.48
Red Cliff [Special Edition][Blu-ray] [2008]
9% buy
Red Cliff [Special Edition][Blu-ray] [2008] 4.2 out of 5 stars (42)
£12.48
Ichi [Blu-ray] [2008]
9% buy
Ichi [Blu-ray] [2008] 3.6 out of 5 stars (47)
£6.48
Warlords [Blu-ray] [2008]
5% buy
Warlords [Blu-ray] [2008] 4.1 out of 5 stars (18)
£7.98
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Actors: 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano
  • Directors: 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano
  • Format: PAL
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 18
  • Studio: Artificial Eye
  • DVD Release Date: 27 Oct 2008
  • Run Time: 115 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B001EBO97Y
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 22,513 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Synopsis

Takeshi Kitano, best known for such gangster films as VIOLENT COP, BOILING POINT, and BROTHER, makes his first period drama with ZATOICHI, an updating of the classic Japanese character portrayed by Shintaro Katsu in movies and television from 1962 to 1989. Zatoichi is a blind samurai who shuffles from town to town, righting wrongs with his remarkable sword hidden within his cane. He is also a masseuse who likes to gamble. Kitano serves as director, writer, co-editor, and star of the film, playing the protagonist under his acting name, Beat Takeshi. This version of Zatoichi, based on the stories of Kan Shimozawa, is more violent than the earlier series, as Kitano strives to make it more realistic. He has also infused a clever sense of humour, while cinematographer Katsumi Yanagishima adds beautiful depth of field to many scenes.
When Zatoichi arrives in a small town, he unknowingly walks into a classic tale of revenge, as two women plot to kill the men who murdered their family. As Zatoichi becomes more involved, an eventual showdown with young samurai Hattori (Tadanobu Asano, who excelled in Takashi Miike's very violent ICHI THE KILLER) is inevitable. ZATOICHI is thrilling filmmaking at its best, an endlessly entertaining samurai epic from a man who fully understands the genre and is not afraid to take it to the next level.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Ichi [Blu-ray] [2008]

Ichi [Blu-ray] [2008]

Blu-ray ~ Haruka Ayase
3.6 out of 5 stars (47)  £6.48
Mad Detective [Masters of Cinema] (Blu Ray) [Blu-ray] [2007]

Mad Detective [Masters of Cinema] (Blu Ray) [Blu-ray] [2007]

Blu-ray ~ Lau Ching Wan
4.6 out of 5 stars (5)  £13.48
Oldboy [Blu-ray] [2003]

Oldboy [Blu-ray] [2003]

DVD ~ Choe Min-Sik
3.2 out of 5 stars (8)  £9.48
The Empress And The Warrior [Blu-ray]

The Empress And The Warrior [Blu-ray]

Blu-ray ~ Donnie Yen
4.4 out of 5 stars (5)  £6.48
Ashes Of Time Redux [Blu-ray] [2008] [DVD]

Ashes Of Time Redux [Blu-ray] [2008] [DVD]

DVD ~ Leslie Cheung
4.5 out of 5 stars (4)  £11.98
› Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(2)
(2)
Agree with these tags?

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars King kitano, 11 Mar 2009
By Mr. A. N. Lawrence - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Up there with my favourite films of all time, had to purchase on blu-ray even though I have the DVD, well worth the pennies!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Transfer not up to Blu-ray standard., 12 Jan 2010
By Mr. H. C. Orr (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Having recently bought a new Pioneer BDP-320 Blu-ray player, I've been buying and watching some great films in the high definition format. I've enjoyed lustrous transfers of films such as "Gone With The Wind", "North By Northwest" and "Zulu" over the last few weeks, and so I had high hopes for "Beat" Takeshi Kitano's 2003 film "Zatoichi".

The transfer is deeply disappointing. Having already seen the film in standard definition, there is absolutely no discernable difference between that version and the Blu-ray. Poor contrast levels and picture noise are the ever-present in this version of the film. It's just not good enough.

In retrospect, it's hardly surprising. Artificial Eye relases, along with those from the BFI, are usually lazy and slipshod affairs, with poor transfers and so-so extras the norm. In short, AE are the anti-Criterion. It's sad that people -like me- get sucked in with assumptions of a higher quality from Blu-ray releases merely because some high def releases are very good indeed.

The film itself is reasonable (although Takeshi's 1997 "Hana-Bi" is in another league in terms of quality) and I would probably give it a 3/5, but the transfer just is not. Add to that the usuual bog-standard "making of" documentary and biographies (all which you could find on the internet), and this is one to avoid.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Japanese Legend With A Modern Twist, 9 Oct 2009
Zatoichi, the blind swordsman. This film made me laugh and cry. If you're a fan of Japanese cinema then Zatoichi is a must see. This film is nothing short of spectacular. The story is nothing special but has a bit of everything you need, a sad childhood, the search for vengeance, the problems of gambling addiction, transvestism in feudal Japan... not to mention some incredible swordplay. The special effects are all CG and so can look a little fake but somehow still incredibly cool, the costumes and settings are wonderful, the acting and direction brilliant. Takeshi Kitano is a modern day genius, a talented actor, director and comedian. He's taken a Japanese legend and given it a modern day twist that should please old and new fans alike.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
Subtitles? 1 May 2009
Zatoichi [Blu-ray] 1 January 2009
› See all 2 discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject






i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.