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      Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally

      1989 1h 57m Action Adventure List
      Reviews 90% Audience Score 5,000+ Ratings After his release from jail, a lone warrior (Shintarô Katsu) becomes caught up in a bloody war between rival yakuza clans. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered Jul 05 Buy Now

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      Audience Reviews

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      james h Pretty haunting, I am not sure if that was intentional or a bi-product of the time and Shintaro's feeling about the character... Not the best film in the series, but still a great one. For those who have only seen the 2004 Takeshi Kaneshiro reimagining, Shintaro Katsu's series is far superior, but this, the final film in the series, is not the best place to start. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member - Do. Not. Fuck. With. Blind. Samurai. - Apparently, the women are badasses too. A guitar player just garrotted someone. - Protip: Don't insult the mafia when they're standing right in front of you. - 4 folks with hoes in a field hoe in time to the soundtrack. Interesting. - Paper lanterns with candles inside apparently are a common, and not flammable, thing. - Best line: "Oh he's the neighbor's son. He's quite mad I'm afraid." - That was a pretty neat trick. He is really fast. - If you are that fast, you can prevent someone from drawing their sword by running towards them & body blocking them. Interesting. - Paper lanterns with fire inside still work unhindered in the rain. What sorcery is this? - Creepy. They painted eyeballs on his closed eyelids so he wouldn't look blind. - You can hide a dagger in the neck of a guitar. - Houses made of wood, straw & paper burn really fast. - Aaaaand he just cleanly sliced a stone lantern in half. - These 4 guys hoeing...they keep popping up. Dancing in the field, now hammering a house together. It's like Blue Man Group. - "Shoes" apparently are chunks of wood strapped to the feet with rope. Colored rope, but still...rope. - And they're dancing up a storm in these "shoes". A combination of tap & Riverdance. - OMG, it's the entire cast dancing! Like at the end of a musical! Sweet! - Ok. It was 2 hours long, lots of blood, and some very sad plot points. But it was a good movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member The only Zatoichi film written, directed by, and starring Katsu for the last time, is a reflection of a character he portrayed in 25 films and 100 episodes of a TV series. He includes everything that makes Zatoichi who he is, and gives a fitting farewell to a character that was a very important part of his life. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member A whopping 16 years after Zatoichi`s Conspiracy, Zatoichi is made, a final send off and Shintaro Katsu's final blind swordsman film. The plot is a bit aimless and the running time is long, but the action climax is one of the best I've seen in samurai cinema. Since this was made in 1989, the blood spurts are dark red and realistic, not that bright fake red used in previous movies. The gore and action is realistic, with Zatoichi jockeying for advantageous positions, such as using houses to bottleneck his enemies so he doesn't get overrun. Despite the pedestrian plot, the gory action elevates this final Zatoichi film, even though its not a good send off story wise, its roughly entertaining on its own right behalf. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Tiresome plot. Too many characters with uncleared interaction and development. You don't really understand their relationship and why their purpose. It's also long and drawn out; pacing is also not ideal. The action, especially the last fight is good. But the reason behind the fight is ridiculous and the ending is somewhat unsettling. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Good but not great, in some ways this is both a rehash & respectful nod to the character and fans who made this an iconic role. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis After his release from jail, a lone warrior (Shintarô Katsu) becomes caught up in a bloody war between rival yakuza clans.
      Director
      Shintarô Katsu
      Screenwriter
      Tatsumi Ichiyama, Shintarô Katsu, Tsutomu Nakamura
      Production Co
      Media Blasters
      Genre
      Action, Adventure
      Original Language
      Japanese
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Nov 30, 2016
      Runtime
      1h 57m
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