The 'Rurouni Kenshin' Trilogy

[Gwai LO]

I've always been to YesAsia, so it's just a natural habit for me. Been dealing with them for over 15 years now and every time I ordered from them, I've had no problems with them. But that's okay. Maybe I'll try DDDHouse sometime this year No worries.

Either way, I'm looking forward to the film.

I understand 100%. I didn't mean anything by it. Just curious if the quality of the blu Rays were different to justify higher price, but I understand taking business to places you feel comfortable. DDDhouse is cool EXCEPT the website drives me madly insane. It's beyond slow lately and they normally take a week after release to ship. But other than that, the guy running the show is legit. Quick email, nice packaging... Enjoy the film, I have mine In the mail with. Estimated delivery of tomorrow! Can't wakt

[AlbertV]

Exactly one week after it shipped, my Blu-Ray of Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends arrived and watched it last night...My thoughts???

I just posted the review on the main site.

[Drunken Monk]

I finished the trilogy last night. The last part doesn't really add much weight to the story line but, all in all, it's a FANTASTIC trilogy.

I honestly think it contains some of the best sword choreography ever filmed and that final four-on-one battle is outstanding.

I imagine I'll watch the three films over and over.

[BaronK]

That is my thinking as well. To me 2 and 3 should have been one 2 hour movie. Neither does anything with the story with the 2+ hours each gets. 4+ hours to showcase the score it felt like. The training in 3 actually meant nothing at all. The "2nd" New" "True" weapon actually meant nothing at all.

The 2 fights against the Sojiro character in 2 and 3 were the best of them all. Incredible work by Kenji Tanigaki bringing a whole new edge to katana swordplay. The movements, footwork, everything. He really went with what he wanted to do rather than base it on traditional japanese style. His parkour infusion was lovely as well, with how he would go from swings to parkour to tumbles in one shot/take. Crazy energy but never lost out of frame or shaken. 2 of the most inventive swordplay fights ever made.

[robbie]

I finished the trilogy last night. The last part doesn't really add much weight to the story line but, all in all, it's a FANTASTIC trilogy.

I honestly think it contains some of the best sword choreography ever filmed and that final four-on-one battle is outstanding.

I imagine I'll watch the three films over and over.

Regarding the 1st movie.The star looks like one of them awful popstars that sunk the hong kong action cinema. He does not look right for the role

Story is lame. a samurai sword fighter who will not use is sword to kill is a stupid idea. If you use a weapon like as sword it comes off as ridiculous. This anti-violence message in an action movie is depressing.

I think the message and star is for a target audience of teenage girls. . I just felt dissapointed as a few tweaks and could have been an excellent samurai film.

Stick with lone wolf and cub if you want samurai action. Also war of arrows is much better.

[Bus]

Have any of you seen any of these films? I've liked them and the charecters. I've purchased all 3 and have watched 2 so far. I like them. They have some good sword fights. 

[ShaOW!linDude]

Got the wife the 1st for Xmas. Haven't watched it yet. Maybe tonight. I've heard nothing but good things about it.

[Drunken Monk]

I picked up all three on Blu-Ray recently after originally picking up the Hong Kong DVD's. The series isn't without flaws but it is incredible. I think it's the best sword work ever committed to film. The fight scenes are damn near flawless.
The characters are great too, even if Kenshin himself is a little thin. The finale is definitely worth waiting for. All in all one of the better trilogies ever made, I'd say.

 

[Bus]

1 hour ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

Got the wife the 1st for Xmas. Haven't watched it yet. Maybe tonight. I've heard nothing but good things about it.

Seriously the two I've seen are awesome 

[whitesnake]

And unlike the Well Go USA theatrical releases (which never get here), I actually got to enjoy this series on the big screen recently - at a local art theater, before getting them on DVD.

[One Armed Boxer]

3 hours ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

Got the wife the 1st for Xmas. Haven't watched it yet. Maybe tonight. I've heard nothing but good things about it.

Yep, I got my wife a bunch of Hong Kong Triad flicks for Xmas as well, I'm sure she's going to love them.  Of course, I strongly suggested that we watch them together.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Me and the wife watched this last and we both loved it. It's essentially faithful to the characters, and the action is great. Really the only issue I had was some of the editing at times got a little choppy during a few of the melee fights, and Kenshin's fight in the study with one of the villains was a tad too undercranked. Could've slowed that one down just a touch. But it is an awesome film with great action and drama and the right touch of comedy, nothing over the top. I cannot wait to get a hold of 2 & 3.

[Bus]

Told you it was good brother 

[ShaOW!linDude]

Scooped up 2 & 3 today!!!

[One Armed Boxer]

Nobuhiro Watsuki, the creator of 'Rurouni Kenshin', is currently under investigation due to his possession of several child porn materials.  He confessed that “I liked girls between the ages of upper elementary school students to about the second year of junior high.”

https://en.rocketnews24.com/2017/11/22/creator-of-rurouni-kenshin-anime-manga-admits-to-possession-of-child-pornography/

[sirtylee]

11 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Nobuhiro Watsuki, the creator of 'Rurouni Kenshin', is currently under investigation due to his possession of several child porn materials.  He confessed that “I liked girls between the ages of upper elementary school students to about the second year of junior high.”

https://en.rocketnews24.com/2017/11/22/creator-of-rurouni-kenshin-anime-manga-admits-to-possession-of-child-pornography/

It's upsetting for someone who has read the manga and watched the anime and movie. 

[robbie]

On 16/02/2018 at 11:17 PM, Drunken Monk said:

I’ve just got done with this one and, to be honest, I was expecting a lot more. I would say it’s distinctly average. I couldn’t help but feel that the action was horribly monotonous. Every single fight felt the same and seriously lacked style. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled by “Rurouni Kenshin”.

 

Rurouni kenshin is one of worst films i have seen.. How can you be an assassin with a sword and not kill people. You would be defeated straight away.For me that idea is beyond daft. The dude starring in it looks like a feeble popstars who can barely lift a sword. It is trying to give you a moral lesson. violence and killing is wrong. A sword fighting film  is wrong  for that type of  message . I will stick with lone wolf and cub.  Only time i have ever seen that idea work were you have weapon and do not kill  is in a-team  series as the characters were memorable. Hopefully blade of immortal is better.

[Drunken Monk]

1 hour ago, robbie said:

Rurouni kenshin is one of worst films i have seen.. How can you be an assassin with a sword and not kill people. You would be defeated straight away.For me that idea is beyond daft. The dude starring in it looks like a feeble popstars who can barely lift a sword. It is trying to give you a moral lesson. violence and killing is wrong. A sword fighting film  is wrong  for that type of  message . I will stick with lone wolf and cub.  Only time i have ever seen that idea work were you have weapon and do not kill  is in a-team  series as the characters were memorable. Hopefully blade of immortal is better.

Suspension of disbelief, mate. It's something you really need to learn.

[robbie]

7 hours ago, Drunken Monk said:

Suspension of disbelief, mate. It's something you really need to learn.

If u want to dismiss  major flaws in rurouni kenshin upto u . Every mistake u can not  let them off hook with because fantasy film. I'd have preferred a normal samurai film with a good story and lots of violence.   Rurouni kenshin is a samurai film  whose target audience  is probably teenage girls.  Hero is some pop star type. And having him  kill would upset them .  In a Kung full film u can get away with that but not really in sword fighting.

 

Edited February 21, 2018 by robbie

[Drunken Monk]

1 hour ago, robbie said:

If u want to dismiss  major flaws in rurouni kenshin upto u . Every mistake u can not  let them off hook with because fantasy film. I'd have preferred a normal samurai film with a good story and lots of violence.   Rurouni kenshin is a samurai film  whose target audience  is probably teenage girls.  Hero is some pop star type. And having him  kill would upset them .  In a Kung full film u can get away with that but not really in sword fighting.

 

Rurouni Kenshin is based on a manga, originally published in 1994. I assure you the sword gimmick had nothing to do with a female teenage demographic.

Edited February 21, 2018 by Drunken Monk

[robbie]

On 21/02/2018 at 8:53 PM, Drunken Monk said:

Rurouni Kenshin is based on a manga, originally published in 1994. I assure you the sword gimmick had nothing to do with a female teenage demographic.

They should have choosen a different  story maybe.  The main audience for cinema is teenagers.  So cinema pick story's and actors  that appeal to teenage girls. 

 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2018 by robbie

[ShaOW!linDude]

On 2/21/2018 at 4:51 AM, robbie said:

How can you be an assassin with a sword and not kill people. You would be defeated straight away.For me that idea is beyond daft.

For one thing, he's a samurai, not a straight out assassin. Second of all, the fact that he uses a reverse blade sword and now prefers not to kill denotes that he is sick of bloodshed and has ventured into a special mastery of his weapon so that he can defeat his enemies without resorting to killing them. And yeah, the guy playing him is a Japanese popstar, so in that regard, I'm sure some of the films' target audience was teenage girls. And yet due his training, the choreography, and the director, pulled off a fine performance epitomizing a beloved character. Plus, the trilogy is relatively faithful in many aspects to the source material as far as the anime series goes. 

[JackieRome]

In these days of isolation i recovered this wonderful trilogy. in just one day i saw all three of them. it's amazing how they reminded me of all the events of a manga read at least twenty years ago. the days when the japanese made ridiculous films dedicated to their comic book characters are long gone. the three films are very well cared for and i approached them because i read that they had some of the best sword fighting scenes ever. i confirm, there are some sublime fights and i can't wait to see the two new films they will release. great.

[Bus]

They're coming out with prequels 

[DiP]

All five installment are on Netflix so I've decided to do a first-timer with the franchise. I just got done finishing the first movie.

The first act was slow and tested my patience in most of the dialogue scenes. Luckily things pick up the pace, and once the last two acts kick in does the story get more intriguing fleshing Kenshin and Takeda and introducing more interesting villains. All that culminates into the a great third and last act where Kenshin takes on an army of crownies and one fascinating nemesis (with twin guns and a knife), before facing the best of the last villains (the true antagonist of the movie unlike Takeda).

I like the mythology surrounding Kenshin as a reputed and feared swordsman known as "The Sword-Drawing Manslayer" ("Hitokiri Battousai"), and that his rep was being used by his opposers. We got the cops knowing the style of Battousai suspecting that an unknown party is involved, and a swordsman imposing as Battousai to draw Kenshin out for a fight. All this gives the movie a detective/mystery-escued vibe, and that's something I wanted more of. But much of the movie (until the last act) covers Kenshin trying to fit in and not kill. This is pretty much a "the past is the past-changes in the present" approach going on.

But it's all worth it because once the action rolls, we get a damn show!!! The weaponry choreography is arguably among the best stuff if its' kind I've ever seen (both past and present). Kenji Tanigaki has truly come a long way, from being Donnie Yen's protege to being among the premier action directors of Japan today. Watching his action choreography here, I can see some details that is shown in some of Donnie's movies. That shows you the influence and the mutual respect between the two. That being said, the way Tanigaki captures action and puts everything together is totally different from Donnie. In terms of camerawork, editing, movements. They possess their own choreographic esthetics. If I had to compare, Donnie goes for crisp, sharp, precise, and powerful execution of his action choreography whereas Tanigaki's style is based on swift, eerie, and inventive mix-ups of traditional and modern movements and use of weapons. The mansion fight scene with the guy armed with the guns and knife, and the final fight scene. Incredibly well-thought, staged, and pulled off. Those moments are true testaments to Tanigaki's overall skills and knowledge as an action director as he went all-in.