13 Assassins

Theatrical Release Date: 2011 04 29 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 876964003933

Studio: Magnolia

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Brief Nudity, Adult Situations]

Summary: Based on actual events that served as the inspiration for the 1963 film of the same name, Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins follows a group of noble samurai as they seek to slay a tyrannical, politically connected lord before he seizes control of the entire country. Japan, 1844: as the era of the samurai winds to a close, a sadistic young lord uses his powerful political ties to commit heinous atrocities against the common people. Recognizing the dangers to both his country and its citizens should the lord manage to gain any more power, a concerned government official secretly recruits 13 of the most skilled swordsmen he can find to defeat the evil lord once and for all. But reaching their target won't be easy, because the elusive lord is constantly flanked by legions of fearless bodyguards. Realizing that the bodyguards would decimate his modest task force in a traditional battle, the assassins' leader (Koji Yakusho) lays an ingenious trap that will give his men the upper hand, and waits patiently for their prey to take the bait. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Action

Awards: Film Presented – Toronto International Film Festival Film Presented – AFI Fest Film Presented – London Film Festival Film Presented – SXSW Film Presented – Venice International Film Festival Best Foreign Language Film – National Board of Review

Features: cc
Interview with director Takashi Miike
Deleted scenes
Theatrical trailer

13 Assassins

Format: DVD

Release Date: 07/05/2011

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 2.40:1

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 125 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- 13 Assassins
1. Harakiri [5:13]
2. Murder [11:55]
3. The Way [11:26]
4. Gambling [20:22]
5. Henchmen [5:33]
6. Guide [10:53]
7. Town of Death [6:39]
8. Arrival [9:46]
9. Total Massacre [14:42]
10. The Age of War [7:47]
11. Duel [16:33]
12. Credits [4:07]

Jason Buchanan

Ever since the climax of Audition caught moviegoers completely off guard back in 1999, the name Takashi Miike has become virtually synonymous with shock cinema. It was a reputation that the director seemed eager to live up to as he delivered a sadistic, nonstop bloodbath in Ichi the Killer, instilled the tired yakuza genre with a fresh blast of surrealism in Gozu, and helmed the only episode of Masters of Horror that pay-cable giant Showtime outright refused to air. Though more recent efforts such as the endearing Zebraman and the kid-friendly remake The Great Yokai War found the prolific cult icon flirting with mainstream success and courting a wider audience, Miike's penchant for unseemly stories and subject matter conspired to keep his popularity constricted to genre junkies and hardcore cinema fans. With 13 Assassins, that phase of Miike's career comes to a spectacular end. The director's first "conventional" masterpiece, 13 Assassins finds Miike striking an intensely satisfying balance of classical storytelling and contemporary style. Though it's common for filmmakers to sacrifice at least some of their integrity to gain a larger audience, Miike's artful take on the samurai genre retains his trademark gruesome sensibility and dark humor -- just in slightly smaller doses. Save for one small yet explosive sword fight, the first 90 minutes of 13 Assassins are virtually action-free. In most swordplay movies, that would prove to be as deadly as a samurai's blade to the jugular; here, however, Daisuke Tengan's adapted screenplay affords the maverick director the unique opportunity to indulge his penchant for the extreme in a way that simultaneously drives the story and raises the stakes. Japan, 1844: as the era of the samurai winds to a close, sadistic young Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira (Goro Inagaki) uses his powerful political ties to commit heinous atrocities against the common people. Recognizing the dangers to both his country and its citizens should the lord manage to gain any more power, concerned government official Sir Doi (Mikijiro Hira) secretly recruits famed samurai Shinzaemon Shimada (Koji Yakusho) to assemble a task force for a suicide mission to assassinate Matsudaira. But reaching their target won't be easy because the elusive lord is constantly flanked by legions of fearless bodyguards. Realizing that the bodyguards would decimate his modest task force in a traditional battle, Shimada lays an ingenious trap that will give his men the upper hand, and they wait patiently for their prey to take the bait. 13 Assassins may take its precious time working up to that final battle, but thanks to Tengan's masterful pacing and colorful characters, the buildup is nearly as exciting as the big payoff. Opening with an act of seppuku that comes in protest to Lord Naritsugu's reprehensible actions, the screenplay builds intensity by showing us precisely what's at stake for the future of Japan should he manage to become the next shogun, then it permits us to watch as Shinzaemon assembles a crack team of master swordsmen to prevent that from ever happening. In showing us Lord Naritsugu's inhumanity at the onset, Tengan and Miike create a villain of epically evil proportions. A cold-blooded beast whose wickedness knows no bounds, Naritsugu is precisely the kind of depraved savage that is always lingering in the back of parents' minds when they tell their children that monsters don't really exist. His obscene malevolence is counter-balanced by Shinzaemon's deeply humanistic and good-humored samurai who values honor over blind loyalty, a position that puts him in direct odds with Hanbei (Masachika Ichimura), his former classmate, and the man who now acts as Lord Naritsugu's head bodyguard. That conflict, as well as the involvement of Shinzaemon's nephew in the mission, keeps the viewer involved by adding a few distinctive personal connections to the proceedings. Likewise, by having the characters speak in a slightly contemporary dialect, Tengan effectively closes the time gap that might otherwise distance us from the action, giving the film an endearingly timeless quality. From the villains to the heroes and everyone in between, the cast of 13 Assassins is uniformly strong: Yakusho is the kind of benevolent warrior that all good men would aspire to be in times of great strife; Inagaki makes one's skin crawl every time he appears onscreen; and as the former playboy in search of nobility, expressive Takayuki Yamada conveys the profound impact of bloodshed on innocence in a way that truly hits home -- especially during the first sword fight and the apocalyptic climax. As the 13th assassin, a feral hunter who displays the deathless tendencies of a "tengu" (supernatural being of Japanese folklore), Yusuke Iseya provides the latter half of the film with some of its most memorable moments. Though not a true samurai like the warriors he falls in with, his filthy, free-spirited character is a sight to behold as he proves that rocks are just as effective as swords by smashing his way through Naritsugu's bodyguards. Likewise, his refreshingly unconventional presence serves as a reminder that not all noble warriors of the time were necessarily of the samurai class. 13 Assassins is a great introduction to Miike for mainstream movie fans who have yet to discover the director, or find his massive, eclectic filmography a bit intimidating. It shows unmistakable flairs of his distinctive personal style within the context of a brilliantly executed, fairly traditional samurai film. By raising questions about the value of dying an honorable death and the meaning of loyalty when your master is the personification of evil, one of Japan's most unconventional filmmakers displays an acute understanding of the country's most conventional subgenres. For that reason, 13 Assassins not only ranks among Miike's personal best, but also stands as one of the most satisfying samurai films of the last few decades. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Ittoku Kishibe  Actor 
Jeremy Thomas  Executive Producer 
Daisuke Tengan  Screenwriter 
Toshiaki Nakazawa  Executive Producer 
Takashi Miike  Director 
Koji Endo  Composer (Music Score) 
Shigeji Maeda  Producer 
Takashi Hirajo  Executive Producer 
Hirotsugu Yoshida  Producer 
Minami Ichikawa  Producer 
Michihiko Umezawa  Producer 
Toichiro Shiraishi  Producer 
Takahiro Ohno  Producer 
Koji Yakusho  Actor 
Takayuki Yamada  Actor 
Yusuke Iseya  Actor 
Goro Inagaki  Actor 
Masachika Ichimura  Actor 
Mikijiro Hira  Actor 
Hiroki Matsukata  Actor 
Ikki Sawamura  Actor 
Arata Furuta  Actor 
Tsuyoshi Ihara  Actor 
Masataka Kubota  Actor 
Sousuke Takaoka  Actor 
Seiji Rokkaku  Actor 
Koen Kondo  Actor 
Yuma Ishigaki  Actor 
Kazuki Namioka  Actor 
Kazue Fukiishi  Actor 
Koshiro Matsumoto  Actor 
Mitsuki Tanimura  Actor 
Takumi Saito  Actor 
Shinnosuke Abe  Actor 
Masaaki Uchino  Actor 
Ken Mitsuishi  Actor 

Country: Japan,USA