The Princess Blade

R

Released Aug 8, 2003

1h 32m

Action

Fantasy

Sci-Fi

List

57%

Tomatometer

28 Reviews

53%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

A warrior (Yumiko Shaku) seeks vengeance against her mother's murderer, the leader of a band of assassins that fights rebels.

Read More

Read Less

Critics Consensus

The action is fast and tightly choreographed, but The Princess Blade never draws its disparate elements into a compelling movie.

Read Critics Reviews

Derek Elley

Variety

Delicately rendered, if full of pretty banal sentiments, the film's softer central section is a necessary counterweight to the other two acts, which are largely shot in an oppressive blue filter.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Marc Savlov

Austin Chronicle

Action directors take note: This is how it's done.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 5, 2003

Full Review

Gary Dowell

Dallas Morning News

[Yumiko Shaku] doesn't project the confidence or menace that the role requires. Trying to pass her off as a stone-cold assassin is like casting Britney Spears as Marie Curie -- it just doesn't jibe.

Rated: C-

Sep 20, 2003

Full Review

Pete Vonder Haar

Film Threat

A fine remake of "Lady Snowblood," with Donnie Yen fight choreograpy to boot

Rated: 3/5

Oct 22, 2005

Full Review

Brian Mckay

eFilmCritic.com

the film's opening action sequence is the first of several that are likely to have you thumbing the backscan button because they look so damn cool (and are so damn fast).

Rated: 4/5

Feb 21, 2004

Full Review

Paul Sherman

Boston Herald

Rated: 2/4

Feb 2, 2004

Full Review

Read all reviews

Liam D

It has some great action sequences but the plot is lacking

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/15/22

Full Review

Audience Member

The Princess Blade (2003) I had an opportunity to see this film at a Portland (Oregon) Film Center special event. Unfortunately they were having technical difficulties with the Dolby audio and we were given tickets for a showing later that weekend. The early parts of the movie that I saw were very impressive. The action sequences (by noted Kung Fu movie choreographer, Donnie Yen) were good enough to make me rent "Iron Monkey" before going home that night. The movie, "Shurayuki-Hime" or "Princess Blade" (yes, it's a remake) is set some time in the near post apocalyptic future. I loved the flaming begining titles. The emperor has stepped down and the Japanese society has closed itself off from the world. Pandemonium reigns supreme. Yumiko Shaku plays a young sword wielding assassin named Yuki, a modern day Ronin; killing for whoever pays for it. After killing off an escaping member of her gang she meets up with an old man from her past that tells her that her boss had actually killed her mother. She is the last of her Takemikazuchi clan and should leave. Yuki goes back and confronts the boss, confirming that he had killed her mother, fights, and runs away herself when she finds out that what the old man told her was true. In her escape, Yuki hops onto the back of a moving truck driven by a young man who has secrets of his own. He's some kind of hacker living inside of a gas station out in the country with his sister. Soon Yuki and the young man grow closer. They even contemplate running away together, but both of their pasts come back to haunt them. This was a well made movie. The first half was very stylized, but the second half of the movie began to get muddled. I know that I may be ethnocentric and am used to American-made movies, or at least the older Samurai movies of 60s. After the second half of "Princess Blade", I wasn't sure what it wanted to be. Did it want to be a sensitive, romantic "chick flick", an action picture, a Samurai revenge picture, or science fiction movie? They were all over the genre map. Again, I'm probably just culturally conditioned wrong for this movie. Perhaps they simply ran out of money before filming the end of the picture. I liked it enough to recommend it generally. It's very enjoyable with some great action sequences. Somehow, I think that they could have done better had they kept up the momentum.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

great but could do with some work

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It's an action packed movie with great acrobatic swordplay from beginning to end.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Watched a number of times. Liked the action, kind of put all Jackie Chans' movies to shame.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A cliched revenge story but enjoyable none the less. Pretty decent fight scenes and a good soundrack to boot. Enjoyable enough but not one I would strongly recommend. If you need to watch Japanese girls swinging swords watch 'Azumi' instead of this, after that watch 'Azumi 2' and if you're still not satisfied 'The Princess Blade' may help.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Shinsuke Sato

Director

Hideaki Ito

Takashi

Yumiko Shaku

Yuki

Shiro Sano

Kidokoro

Yôichi Numata

Kuka

Kyusaku Shimada

Byakurai

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

68%

90%

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

28%

74%

Appleseed

24%

58%

Blade: Trinity

57%

45%

Natural City

80%

87%

Predator

TRAILER

for Predator

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

A warrior (Yumiko Shaku) seeks vengeance against her mother's murderer, the leader of a band of assassins that fights rebels.

Director: Shinsuke Sato
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: 20th Century Fox
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 8, 2003, Original
Release Date (DVD): Nov 25, 2003
Box Office (Gross USA): $76.1K
Runtime: 1h 32m
Sound Mix: Surround