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Azumi

2003 [JAPANESE]

Action / Adventure / Drama / Fantasy / Thriller

8
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 47% · 32 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 81% · 10K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.7/10 10 15380 15.4K

martial arts assassin assassination swordplay mass murder katana

Plot summary

In war-torn Japan, the Tokugawa Shogun, desperate to restore peace to his people, orders the assassination of the hostile warlords. A beautiful young woman is raised from birth with nine other orphans, to become an assassin. Her name is Azumi, the ultimate assassin.

Director

Ryûhei Kitamura Photo
Ryûhei Kitamura

Top cast

Shun Oguri Photo
Shun Oguri as Nachi
Aya Ueto Photo
Aya Ueto as Azumi
Kazuki Kitamura Photo
Kazuki Kitamura as Kanbê Inoue
Ken'ichi Endô Photo
Ken'ichi Endô as Isshin Sajiki
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
1.21 GB
1280*720
Japanese 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 15 min
Seeds 5
2.25 GB
1920*1080
Japanese 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 15 min
Seeds 13

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by wandering-star 6 / 10

I was entertained but expected more

"Azumi" is about a girl and 9 boys who are raised in the mountains by a master samurai. When they "come of age" their purpose, or mission, is revealed to them: carry out an order by the shogun to assassinate three warlords who would plunge Japan back into war.I did like this movie, but the big downside for me was that the plot follows the typical ho-hum Action movie format... heroes fight many faceless bad guy minions along the way, occasionally encounter a "key" or really skilled bad guy, and in the end it culminates in the fight with the BIG bad guy. One of the reasons I love Asian cinema is to see things that are a departure from the usual format, so I guess I expected a little more from this movie.Also, I don't mind graphic violence in films but there was a bit much in this movie (I will describe it as "constant"). I think movie violence is a little like the F-word... sprinkled here and there it can have real meaning and add punctuation or expression... 2 1/2 hours of it constantly, is kind of numbing. For the difference I am talking about, see the American film "Hostel" versus the Japanese "Audition".As a samurai film it does not really strike a balance between character and plot development, and sword fighting. I am thinking of other films that do this really well like Yamada's "Twilight Samurai" or "The Hidden Blade", the "Zatoichi" film or TV series (not counting the horrid 2003 film!!) or take your pick of Kurasawa's films.But, taken strictly as an uncomplicated action movie, I think it's entertaining and worth seeing.
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Reviewed by lailoken 8 / 10

A well-executed romp

Not intended to be an accurate reference to feudal Japan, this flick is great fun and worth a watch. The characters have been modeled after some modern-day Anime characters and video game heroes, and the film itself felt like a paradoxic mix between the styles of "Kinji Fukasaku" and "Akira Korosawa" to me. A mix of Japanese pop-culture set in old Japan.

The camera-work was pretty good and the soundtrack fitting. The characters were sufficiently surreal to be unbelievable, but well suited to the genre.

The is a must see!

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