Like YOJIMBO and SANJURO, INCIDENT AT BLOOD PASS stars Toshiro Mifune as a ronin out to do good (though that's not really made clear until late in the going, which is okay). While the two aforementioned Kurosawa classics offer enough character and situational twists and turns to keep one guessing, INCIDENT AT BLOOD PASS is more linear and, therefore, much less engaging. It DOES boast a decent cast and some minor turns of its own, but it never quite achieves greatness. Of interest to fans of the genre is Shintaro Katsu as a villain. "Zatoichi," makes an excellent villain (he looks like a bearded Sammo Hung and, like Sammo, displays some surprising versatility). Not a bad entry, but not a world-beater, either.
Review of Incident at Blood Pass
