Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1 - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
I was a bit reticent going into Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1 from the get go. It was supposedly a “one take” film (meaning shot entirely in one continuous take, or cut to SEEM like it was shot in one continuous take) and that alone made me fear the film was a bit of a gimmick. I was definitely right, the gimmick was all in the one single take, but the problem is that the film is also nothing more than a 92 minute video game fight, complete with boss battles and all. The entirety of the film is non speaking except for baddies screaming “Musashi!” before being slashed and hacked to bits, bracketed by 5 minutes of opening exposition, and a 5 minute battle at the end with Musashi as an older man. It’s interesting in some ways, but completely uninvolving as there is only so many ways for a series of minion samurai to get sliced and diced by Musashi.

I will say this, the idea of watching Miyamoto Musashi go to town on 400 samurai is an appealing image mentally. The film was originally titled Crazy Samurai: Musashi, but I guess the American suits thought that adding 400 vs. 1 would appeal to audiences in order to make themselves feel like they were going to get a form of 300, just in Japanese. Sadly the film is going to be VERY simple to en capsulize, and really doesn’t do justice to the legendary philosopher/swordsman/Ronin.

The film shows a group of samurai who have sent out a notification of a duel to Musashi for killing one of their own previously. However, this is going to be no ordinary duel as the clan of Samurai have hidden several hundred men throughout the complex to make sure the man doesn’t make it out alive. However, their plan is spoiled with Musashi guessing their plan, and instead of going through with the duel, chooses to just rush the clan and catch everyone off guard. Outnumbered 400 to 1, the insatiable Ronin hacks and slashes his way through every single one of them.

The gimmick of the one shot hand held camera is kind of cool at first, but after the first 15 minutes or so the movie starts to drag...and drag….and drag. I really love non stop action films like The Raid or Dredd, but this is even less plot than those films. It is quite LITERALLY 92 minutes of Musashi (Tak Sakaguchi) locking blades with other samurai and repeating the same moves over and over again. From a technical standpoint I loved the fact that he was using ACTUAL sword fighting techniques to defeat his opponent instead of flashy stage moves, but from a movie perspective that was probably a bit of a mistake. It makes the film very repetitive and rather bland, as those flashy stage techniques are a good way of keeping the audience engaged with the action (real action is actually rather boring, as are most real fights if you see them).

One thing that kind of frustrated me was that this wasn’t really a good representation of Musashi. His ferocity and skill as a swordsman were on full display, but the legend of Musashi in Japan has always emphasized that one of his main advantages during his duels was his extraordinary height and arm reach, as well as the extra length of his blade. It gave him a statistical advantage that combined with his legendary strategies made him near impossible to beat. This portrayal completely ignores those and just focuses on him being a skilled bladesman. Kind of fun in some ways, but a repetitive gimmick film at the end of the day.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Japanese movies aren’t known for being wildly vivid and sharp, but rather like to use flat grays and a desaturated color hue. I can’t tell you for certain what cameras were used due to the lack of online information about the film’s technical points, but I’m willing to bet a 2K master with some form of digital cameras due to the obvious digital flatness. Colors are just as described, with flat grays and dull greens as the main shades to watch. Even outdoor shots seem kind of flat and monochromatic in nature. Red CGI blood squirts with deep maroon bursts, but overall it’s a rather dull experience. The film also appears to be over sharpened in many scenes, or excessively noisy (such as the opening shot). It’s a decent image, but the visual shooting style just isn’t overly pretty or flashy in nature.






Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA Japanese track is quite a stunner though. The film doesn’t have a lot of dialog, but what dialog there is has been replicated cleanly up front in center of the room. The rest of the mix is sword blades clanging wildly and a massive array of percussion instruments creating the background of the score. Pulsing bass is the name of the game here, with drums and various other percussion instruments pushing the story forward with each and every blow, pounding the listener back in their seats. Surrounds get a cacophony of action to fill out the back of the room, but there are many times where a lot of the action stays up front. Solid track, great use of bass and percussion instruments to act as the score, and all around good mix despite lack of dialog.






Extras:

• International Trailer
• U.S. Trailer
• Other Well Go USA previews

Final Score: ​

I love Japanese gonzo films, and LOVE Asian cinema in general, but I was cautious even going into Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1 due to the gimmicky nature of the one take method. Sadly my fears were confirmed, and while it does have some really cool features (the display of actual sword play techniques was really cool in short doses), the movie fails at really being a MOVIE, but instead plays out as if the audience is watching a side scrolling adventure game from the days of old, complete with boss battles and the like. The Blu-ray itself is solid enough, but lack of extras and lack of a good MOVIE keeps this one at the low end of rental status, to possibly skip it status.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tak Sakaguchi, Kento Yamazaki, Yosuke Saito, Ben Hiura, Arata Yamanaka
Directed by: Yuji Shinomura
Written by: Atsuki Tomori
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: Japanese: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Japanese DD 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 92 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 2nd 2021

Recommendation: Skip It/Odd release

 

[Todd Anderson]

Wow. Looks like a hard pass.

Another bullet taken by Mr. Scott!