Azumi

Incredible.

Thanks to the folks here @ AZN Films, I've had the good fortune of discovering a tremendous handful of standout foreign films ... movies that do not get the kind of play that they could on my side of the ocean but films, nonetheless, that are as powerful, insightful, and complex as any of Hollywood's best.

AZUMI is a tremendous step forward for the folks behind VERSUS. VERSUS is primarily an indie/zombie flick with a great twist ending. Don't get me wrong: I own VERSUS, and I've watched it twice, enjoying it more on the second viewing than I did on the first. But AZUMI is the kind of film that'll earn the talent far more respectability around the world -- as this experience deserves to be discovered by as broad an audience as it can.

The story is classic: a group of warriors head on to fight one final quest to rid their lands of evil ... but, as oft happens in tales of this nature, evil gets the upper hand. In the end, only Azumi -- a petite samurai who lost her faith along the way -- storms the stronghold to save her mentor, facing over 200 enemies in a sword-to-sword battle as much for redemption as it is for survival.

Granted, the film is not without a handful of campy moments, but they are easily dismissed against the backdrop of the warrior's epic struggle to accept the fact that -- regardless of how hard she tries -- she cannot escape her destiny.

AZUMI sports some of the best swordplay I've seen from anything I've purchased at AZN, and that includes the stellar ZATOICHI rebirth at the genius of Takeshi Kitano. Arguably, the only film that springs to mind that surpasses the battle is Jet Li's HERO ... but that film is in another category altogether.

I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with this purchase. It offers a terrific package along with a crisp transfer and a wonderful audio track.

Discover AZUMI, and discover what a contemporary samurai film is all about.

I'll be quick. The photo is sometimes fantastic and usually great. Cgi is nice, but is too cheap/flawed in some occasions, one example is the birds in the beginning.

I can't decide on an opinion on the fight scenes, either the choreography is quite bad and editing is good at hiding that, or editing wastes choreography.

Story is silly, but it should be, I got no problem with that.

Acting is acceptable for this kind of movie, is think. Sometimes it really stinks, but I blame the director for that.

Directing, the directing is a real disappointment, terrible. Timing is often way off. Characters are undeveloped and some scenes are composed really bad.

Overall good movie but with uneven quality. Best guess is that they just ran out of money.

"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.

If you're looking for a nice change to the regular martial arts fare coming from Hollywood these days, Azumi is a refreshing film.

The Villains, while still a little stereotypical are just psychotic enough to be fun.

The action is well paced, and the story adequate to drive the film towards it's inevitable climatic scenes.

The timing used during many of the fight scenes feels a little different to your typical Hollywood work, it's hard to pick the exactly difference, but it leaves you with a strangely different feel to the action on screen. The effects are great, the sets are great. I enjoyed the soundtrack, with scene changes often resulting in a sudden change in ambient sound - something that standard films tend to cover with sound or cross fades.

Overall a good solid film, don't expect an Oscar winning narrative, but the action is worth the watch.

I think that this movie is not just about warriors...is about their choices..power to accept that the good sometimes become evil... what is good some peoples it's bad for others...some scenes are so beautiful that they can make you cry... I think I can see this movie a million times for the man in white and the woman in black...to understand which of them is the good one and what is evil one...to understand the power of red color...The Japanese made from this film a paint same as "Hero".. Maybe for the majority of people who experienced this movie it's just an action movie but for me is a very special... See this film because first of all is a very entertaining!