Blood of the Samurai

Last updated
Blood of the Samurai
Blood of the Samurai 2001.jpg
Directed byAaron Yamasato
Written byAaron Yamasato.
Produced byPaul Booth
Starring
  • Bryan Yamasaki
  • Michael Ng
  • Shawn Forsythe
  • Colleen Fujioka
  • Stephanie Sanchez
  • Rick Lum
Production
company
Hellcat Productions
Distributed by Cinema Epoch
Release date
  • November 3, 2001 (2001-11-03)(HIFF)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2000 [1]

Blood of the Samurai is a 2001 American action film directed by Aaron Yamasato. It stars Bryan Yamasaki and Michael Ng as two friends who, after discovering a pair of ancient katanas, become possessed by the swords. A mysterious man, played by Shawn Forsythe, hunts them down to recover the katanas. It premiered at the Hawaii International Film Festival in November 2001.

Contents

Plot

Trent and Rob have ordinary lives, but when they find a bundle of stolen ancient samurai swords, they are plunged into a world of darkness and chaos. Suddenly Trent knows how to deftly wield a katana, Rob is writing death threats in Japanese, and a villain named The Hunter, who is armed with two crossbows, is stalking their now-extraordinary lives. It’s no secret: The city is a dangerous place to live in. There are gang murders, skinheads, and drunken stragglers with whom to contend, and the desensitivity of the city’s denizens is rising. Still, best friends Rob and Trent find a comfortable degree of normalcy in their everyday lives. One night, however, the two return home and find that someone has stashed a mysterious parcel in the back of Trent's car. When they find out the parcel contains samurai swords, the first thing they do is get into a play fight. But in the middle of the night, Trent wakes up to find that Rob does not want to just play anymore; he wants a real 1400-Edo-style brawl. After Rob disappears, a dark villain known as The Hunter appears in his wake, asking for the swords. When he does not get what he wants, he takes Trent's girlfriend Brooke as collateral. In one heated moment Trent realizes that life will never be the same. Armed with a righteous vengeance and an adeptness with the newfound katana that contains a story of its own, Trent stalks the night in search of Rob and Brooke.

Cast

Production

Yamasato was inspired by the Japanese tokusatsu franchise Kikaider and subconsciously included homage to it that he only recognized later after others had pointed it out. [2] Screaming Mad George did special effects for the film. [3]

Release

Blood of the Samurai premiered at the Hawaii International Film Festival on November 3, 2001. [4] Cinema Epoch released it on DVD in the US on June 4, 2013. [5]

Reception

Reviewing a rough cut of the film, Gary C. W. Chun of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote that although the film start off well, the acting and writing are sub-par. [3] Chun later labeled his review as an attempt to humorously critique the film. [6] Albert Lanier of Ain't It Cool News called it "a cheesy, low budgeted, over-the-top b-movie that works like a charm". [1] Stina Chyn of Film Threat rated it 4/5 stars and wrote that the film's action sequences make up for the occasional technical errors. [7] Jeremy Blitz of DVD Talk rated it 2/5 stars and wrote, "While there are elements that are impressive in isolation, the whole doesn't work." [5]

It received the Hawaii Film & Videomaker Award at the HIFF and a Telly Award. [6]

Television series

A six-episode TV series for Oc 16 aired in October 2003. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Blood: The Last Vampire</i> 2000 film by Hiroyuki Kitakubo

Blood: The Last Vampire is a 2000 Japanese animated action horror film directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo, written by Kenji Kamiyama and produced by Production I.G. The film premiered in theaters in Japan on November 18, 2000.

Samurai Jack is an American animated action-adventure television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network. Tartakovsky conceived Samurai Jack after finishing his work on his first Cartoon Network original series, Dexter's Laboratory, which premiered in 1996. Samurai Jack was inspired by Kung Fu, the 1972 televised drama starring David Carradine, and Tartakovsky's fascination with samurai culture.

Zatoichi Fictional Japanese blind masseur, gambler and blademaster

Zatoichi is a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest-running series of films, as well as a television series. Both are set during the late Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and blademaster, was created by novelist Kan Shimozawa.

Katana (DC Comics) DC Comics character

Katana is a fictional superheroine that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in 1983, Katana is a samurai warrior whose skill with a sword allows her to fight for justice as a superheroine. Her tragic backstory includes the death of her husband, Maseo, whose soul becomes trapped in her blade, the Soultaker. Katana has been featured in various DC Comics superhero teams, including the Justice League and the Birds of Prey, but is most commonly associated with the team known as the Outsiders, a team of heroes hand-picked by Batman to act as his personal black ops team, handling riskier missions.

Kam Fong Chun American actor

Kam Fong Chun was an American police officer and actor, best known for his role as Chin Ho Kelly, a police detective on the CBS television network series Hawaii Five-O.

<i>Six-String Samurai</i> Film by Lance Mungia

Six-String Samurai is a 1998 American post-apocalyptic action comedy film directed by Lance Mungia and starring Jeffrey Falcon and Justin McGuire. Brian Tyler composed the score for this film along with the Red Elvises, the latter providing the majority of the soundtrack.

Jake Shimabukuro Musical artist

Jake Shimabukuro is an American ukulele virtuoso and composer known for his fast and complex finger work. His music combines elements of jazz, blues, funk, rock, bluegrass, classical, folk, and flamenco. Shimabukuro has written numerous original compositions, including the entire soundtracks to two Japanese films, Hula Girls (2007) and Saidoweizu (2009), the Japanese remake of Sideways.

<i>The Twilight Samurai</i> 2002 film

The Twilight Samurai(たそがれ清兵衛, literally "Twilight Seibei") is a 2002 Japanese historical drama film co-written and directed by Yoji Yamada and starring Hiroyuki Sanada and Rie Miyazawa. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the life of Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai employed as a bureaucrat. Poor, but not destitute, he still manages to lead a content and happy life with his daughters and his mother, who has dementia. Through an unfortunate turn of events, the turbulent times conspire against him.

Yoshimitsu Set of fictional characters in Soulcalibur and Tekken video game series

Yoshimitsu (吉光) is a name used by three different characters who appear in the Soulcalibur and Tekken series of fighting games by Namco.

Goemon Ishikawa XIII Fictional character from manga series Lupin III

Goemon Ishikawa XIII is a fictional character created by Monkey Punch for his manga series Lupin III, which debuted in Weekly Manga Action on August 10, 1967. Goemon is a thirteenth generation descendant of the renegade samurai Ishikawa Goemon. He is famous for a reticent personality coupled by apparent unlimited skill in martial arts and swordsmanship with his sword Ryusei (流星), known in the anime as Zantetsuken (斬鉄剣). A partner with Arsène Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen, he tends to join their exploits only on a when-interested basis.

<i>Hellboy: Sword of Storms</i> 2006 television film directed by Tad Stones

Hellboy: Sword of Storms is the first of the Hellboy Animated series based on Mike Mignola's popular comic book series Hellboy and the live-action film of the same name. It was released in 2006 on DVD and premiered later that same year on Cartoon Network. The second animated straight-to-DVD film, Hellboy: Blood and Iron, was released on 17 March 2007.

Shunsuke Ikeda Japanese actor and model

Shunsuke Ikeda was a Japanese actor and model.

<i>Legend of the Millennium Dragon</i> 2011 film

Legend of the Millennium Dragon is a 2011 Japanese anime film.

<i>A Brokedown Melody</i> 2004 film

A Brokedown Melody is a 2004 documentary surf film from Woodshed Films directed by singer/songwriter Jack Johnson and his film school friend Chris Malloy. Presented as a special screening to benefit the Kōkua Hawai'i Foundation at the Hawaii Theatre in Honolulu on August 11, 2004, the film had premieres during the fall of 2004 at the Malibu International Film Festival (MIFF) on September 16, 2004, at the Laguna Beach Festival of Arts during the 2nd annual Moonshine Festival on October 9, 2004, at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara in October, 2004, and at the Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) in Honolulu in October, 2004. It is the fourth of The Moonshine Conspiracy films.

<i>Yoroi Samurai Zombie</i> 2008 Japanese film

Yoroi Samurai Zombie AKA Samurai Zombie is a 2008 Japanese comic horror film directed by Tak Sakaguchi and written by Ryuhei Kitamura, who had previously collaborated on Versus. A family taken hostage and their kidnappers become prey to an undead samurai in a haunted cemetery.

Izo Hashimoto is a Japanese screenwriter and film director.

Deadland is a 2009 American science fiction film directed by Damon O'Steen, written by Gary Weeks, and starring Weeks, Brian Tee, and William Katt as survivors in a post-apocalyptic society five years after the United States is destroyed in a nuclear holocaust.

<i>G-Men from Hell</i> 2000 American film

G-Men from Hell is a 2000 American comedy film directed by Christopher Coppola and written by Robert Cooper, Richard L. Albert, and Nicholas Johnson. It is based on Michael Allred's comic book series Grafik Muzik published by Caliber Press. It stars William Forsythe and Tate Donovan as two violent FBI agents who die, go to hell, and escape back to Earth, where they become embroiled in a mystery.

<i>Samurai Cop</i> 1991 film by Amir Shervan

Samurai Cop is a 1991 American direct-to-video action film written, coproduced and directed by Amir Shervan and starring Robert Z'Dar, Matt Hannon and Mark Frazer. It has attained a cult following.

Diane Paragas

Diane Paragas is a Filipino-American documentary and narrative film and commercial director. She is best known for writing, directing and producing the 2020 film Yellow Rose. Yellow Rose was Paragas' debut narrative feature The film was selected as the Opening Night Film of the 2019 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Yellow Rose won Grand Jury Prizes at LAAPFF, Bentonville Film Festival, CAAMFEST37, and Urbanworld where it also took the Audience Award. The film also won the Audience Award at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

References

  1. 1 2 Lanier, Albert (2003-01-23). "Asia-AICN: Khushi; Our Hearts Were Touched With Fire; Flesh; Blood of the Samurai; Bhoot; Swades; Mughal-E-Azam". Ain't It Cool News . Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  2. ↑ Choo, Dave (2012-07-12). "Kikaida: Hawaii's Favorite Superhero". Honolulu . Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  3. 1 2 Chun, Gary C. W. (2001-11-02). "'Blood of the Samurai' has sweet action, sour script". Honolulu Star-Bulletin . Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  4. ↑ "'Blood of the Samurai' Premieres at HIFF". Film Threat . 2001-11-01. Archived from the original on 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  5. 1 2 Blitz, Jeremy (2013-10-17). "Blood of the Samurai". DVD Talk . Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  6. 1 2 Chun, Gary C. W. (2002-11-08). "Bombastic!". Honolulu Star-Bulletin . Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  7. ↑ Chyn, Stina (2004-05-26). "Blood of the Samurai (DVD)". Film Threat . Archived from the original on 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  8. ↑ Harada, Wayne (2003-08-21). "Optimism runs high for locally produced TV series". Honolulu Advertiser . Retrieved 2016-03-09.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.