Samurai Marathon 1855

2019

1h 43m

History

Drama

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78%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

70%

Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

A spy has to win a race to prevent a shogunate from wrecking an alliance.

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Wendy Ide

Screen International

It's undeniably enjoyable stuff.

Jun 24, 2019

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Christopher Bourne

In Review Online

Once the pace slows down a bit...Samurai Marathon settles into an entertaining pastiche, honorably respecting its cinematic forbears.

Sep 26, 2021

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Todd Jorgenson

Cinemalogue

While its true-life inspiration is an intriguing historical tidbit, this uneven Shogun saga struggles to reach the finish line.

May 16, 2020

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Wade Major

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

Uneven, but it ultimately sticks its landing and ends on a very strong note.

May 16, 2020

Full Review

Douglas Davidson

Elements of Madness

So while the film itself is the "lively action flick with a samurai twist" experience as promised, it doesn't evoke the kind of munificence it wants to bestow upon the proceedings.

Rated: 3.5/5

May 11, 2020

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Kevin Wight

The Wee Review

A mix of art and action that's occasionally uneven, but full of adventure and spirit.

Rated: 4

Jan 20, 2020

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Audience Member

The movie reminds me of the movie "The Twilight Samurai". Similar themes are explored regarding the westernization of Japan during the end of the Samurai era.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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Audience Member

My wife is descended from a Date clan samurai family and we appreciate a well crafted action, drama or the occasional comedy film in this genre. We had read glowing reviews and seen the 4/5 star rating for this silly rubbish from ‘acclaimed' director Bernard Rose. Samurai films don't always need to be serious period pieces but the recent trend of contemporary filmmakers, both Japanese and foreign, to stretch the bounds of believability beyond any reasonable historical veracity, in the service of gender politics or attempts at hip humor, leave us empty. I would term this sub-genre historical comedy, and it's difficult to do well and very easy to do badly. Samurai Marathon succeeds at failing miserably. It's not funny and it's not well acted. We're all sucked into watching it because of the references to an interesting historical event as well as a soundtrack that uses music from Philip Glass. The opening scenes of a glowering Danny Huston as Commodore Mathew Perry should have clued us in that this was going to be a ‘B' movie, at best. There are several hunky young Japanese actors in the film whose talents are mostly miserably wasted, who managed to shine more brightly in other recent historical comedies. The fighting scenes were atrociously stupid, sloppy and unbelievable. Late in the film Samurai Marathon completely ‘jumped the shark' when it had Japanese comedic actor Naoto Takenaka strip off his outer garments for no reason at all - accept that director Rose must have seen him do this in any number of previous stupid comedy films - and finishes the marathon in nothing but a soggy loincloth. We're supposed to guffaw at such silliness. And in the final homage to out of place female empowerment, we're all expected to celebrate that in 1855, the only offspring of the local daimyo, a ‘princess,' is going to be allowed to travel from Annaka domain to Edo /Tokyo all by herself, without an escort, right? This film is an offense to anyone of us hoping for any interesting period piece without our credulity being tested so baldly. The real disappointment is that the film employs many good Japanese actors and they are wasted in this rubbish.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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isaac m

Samurai Marathon is an unusual movie that really shows potential with its amazing cast, fight scenes and creative storytelling. On top of that, Bernard Rose, the man who brought Candyman, really showed his artistic skills as a director. Overall, Samurai Marathon is a good movie made in Japan during the 2010s.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Bernard Rose

Director

Takeru Satô

Jinnai Karasawa

Nana Komatsu

Princess Yuki

Mirai Moriyama

Heikuro Tsujimura

Shôta Sometani

Hironoshin Uesugi

Munetaka Aoki

Yoshikuni Ueki

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Samurai Marathon 1855: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

A spy has to win a race to prevent a shogunate from wrecking an alliance.

Director: Bernard Rose
Screenwriter: Bernard Rose, Hiroshi Saitô, Kikumi Yamagishi
Production Co: Dentsu
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Streaming): May 12, 2020
Runtime: 1h 43m

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