Cheap Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 1 - The Tale of Zatoichi (DVD) (Kenji Misumi) Price

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Customer Reviews of Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 1 - The Tale of Zatoichi

"THE TALE OF ZATOICHI" introduces the legendary character and its star, Shintaro Katsu. This film from 1962 also introduced a new era of samurai film. Zatoichi, a lowly blind masseur who practices in a small province gets caught in a turf war between rival yakuza gangs. Yakuza honcho Sukejuro, aware of Zatoichi's reputation with his deadly cane sword, tries to hire him -- unsuccessfully -- as a mercenary. Unfortunately, Shigezo, the other gang leader, has already hired a fierce warrior with an equally intimidating skill to challenge Zatoichi. Thus, the legend begins. The finely honed story is greatly enhanced by the stunningly choreographed action. The black and white widescreen picture looks great and the English subtitles are easy to read. Bonus material includes a gallery of original theatrical stills.

Ichi is on the scene
In this first installment of the Zatoichi series we are introduced to a lovable blind rogue who is torn between his sence of honor and and his unwillingness to get involved in the affairs of two warring yakuza factions. In the midst of this he finds a true friend and love but must ultimately sacrifice it all. Ichi is indeed a lovable hero who as a messeuse is in the lower caste of society but is respected by people of all levels. While he is blind, his cane sword speaks for justice and for the downtrodden. I have seen five in the series and I am tying to get all of them in my collection. They are true classics which have a plot, character development and sizzeling sword play. After you see this film you will want to collect them too.

A True Samurai fan

Nice Classic Samurai Movie
This first DVD (movie) is the Japanese version of the classic American western. Zatoichi is a blind samurai who is a reluctant member of the yakuza. As such, he is hired by a local yakuza leader to fight in an upcoming war against another boss. The movie is interesting and Zatoichi is an interesting character.

That said, there are a few problems. Some of the subplots don't work very well and seem to have been added to fill the movie. From the DVD, I was a bit disappointed with the subtitles. I won't say they are actually domesticated, but they aren't the best. So minor things end up being untranslated. Also, the translators decided that certain terms should just be given the character's name. For example, Zatoichi asks where a certain guy is and the Japanese lady says her "oniisan" (brother) has just stepped away. The translator decided that rather than say "My brother has just stepped away", to just use the brother's name. It may seem a minor point, but the female character is saying that the male character is her brother. That doesn't come across in the subtitles when the character's name is used. Also, the translator decided that when Zatoichi addressed the other samurai with the "-san" honorific, this meant "Master". Well, that's not what he said and not what he meant. Other characters addressed the same samurai with the "-san" honorific and that was ignored. This may be minor, but I like for the subtitles to be accurate yet readable.

Bottom line: a nice, classic Japanese movie. Well worth spending time watching.