Six-String Samurai (1998) User Reviews

Mad Max meets Yojimbo

[bobc-5 · 7/10 · 13 February 2000]

This film can best be described as a post-apocalyptic spaghetti western samurai fantasy. Our hero is a taciturn Buddy Holly look-alike traveling with samurai sword and six string guitar as he treks across scenic Death Valley on his way to America's last outpost of civilization, Lost Vegas, where he expects to be coronated as the new King, Elvis having died without naming a successor. Accompanying him is a stereotypical post-apocalyptic bleating child snatched right out of "Fistful of Dollars". Buddy slices and dices his way through an evil bowling team, the Russian army, would-be usurpers to the throne, and anyone else who gets in his way. The music is good and it's wonderfully filmed, so have some fun and enjoy the ride.

Kurosawa meets Rockabilly

[that_keith · 7/10 · 13 October 2006]

First, the bad stuff. The film will not appeal to people who can't deal with camp, with pure Lynch-like strangeness, or people who demand a big budget production.

However, those who are willing to give an oddball film a chance will find this to be a real gem of an indie flick. Imagine if you will Buddy Holly, Mad Max, and Jet Li bundled into one character, fighting across a desolate warped postapocalyptic Nevada. The dynamics in the movie are all about conflict... Rock & Roll against Metal, Communism against Capitalism, bravery versus despair. Mix that in with "Weird West" touches, demented nuclear families, and warriors who duel with both blade and guitar. There is even a hint of the manga, "Lone Wolf and Cub" thrown in. That and some excellent Russian-influenced rockabilly.

Some of the scenes fall flat, sure... but few movies try to reach for such imaginative and demented heights... and few succeed to this extend on a shoestring budget. Despite its shortcomings, the action sequences are exciting and well-done, and one really sees an American Apocalypse which never was -- but in some ways happened, in our heads, at least.

Bizarre but enjoyable

[jake-179 · 7/10 · 25 February 2002]

When I saw this movie at in the rental section, I assumed it would be a rip-off of EL MARIACHI or DESPERADO. I rented it out of curiosity and found that I was mistaken. This film is quite original and a little bizarre, but it is definitely the kind of independent movie that is worth seeing.

The budget is low, the costumes and special effects are sparse, and some of the sound is non-synchronous. But this is all made up for with a story and directorial style that lends itself to "camp." The stylization of this movie is definitely what makes it worth seeing. It is kind of an over-the-top martial-arts, rock and roll, post-apocolyptic odessy-adventure.

I enjoyed the flow of the story, which breaks down like this: The hero is traveling across the desert to the post-apocolyptic city of Lost Vegas, to vai for his right as king. Along the way he is tested by other would-be-kings with the same goal in mind. This allows for constant samurai style action/fight scenes. But the story is compounded by the jugernaught he must inevitably face, which is manifested by his ultimate competition, a "Death Metal Band" lead by Death himself. The story is smart, allowing each fight scene to develop the characters. We see Buddy, the hero, to be a supreme, loan-wolf type fighter. And Death, stalking close behind, is ruthless and hard to beat. This sets the stage for their eventual conflict. The first conflict they have is ended permaturely by outside influence, which furthers the story by creating a score to settle in the final fight scene. I prefer when movies take the time to set up this kind of conflict. Rather than just throwing a good guy up against a bad guy and having one big fight scene, we get learn about the characters and the story. Business is left un-finished, which allows the audience to anticipate the climax. This adds suspense to the story and draws the audience in to the movie. The movie has a very good Second Act, which throws the main characters in to great peril, with the bad guy's having all the advantages. This is then resolved with a great third act, finding clever resolution. Very good story telling.

The movie is totally over the top and wierd, but the story is fairly concise and exciting. The circumstances are totally bizarre, but the director creates a world that is enigmatic and yet consistent. I would say this movie is kind of a "Mad Max in Wonderland." It is not your standard Hollywood tale, which, of course, made me like it even more. Not to mention, the entire movie is action packed.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone seeking an original action movie, but on a critical level, just to be fair, I will list the few problems that I found: I think the fight scenes could have used a little more choreographing. It looked like budget constraints were limiting the number of takes they could do, and they were making up for actual precision work with simple slow motion and tricky camera angles. Falcon appears to be fairly well trained in Wu Shu, the standardized style of Chinese Kung Fu, but he is no Jet Li...nor Zhuang Hui, for that matter. It looked like he could use just a little more practice (I don't think he nailed that Butterfly Flat Spin in the sand dunes fight scene with the Death Archers). However, he is good enough to be quite convincing, and he was genuinely a lot of fun to watch. The fight scenes still managed to be quite exciting, and again, I highly recomend this movie. Especially, to anyone looking for a good independent movie. In my opinion, there really are not that many independent action movies that are worth seeing. The TROMA team tries to make action movies, and they pretty much all stink. Don't think that SIX-STRING SAMURAI is another MR. KABUKI MAN NYPD. Buddy would kick the crap out of Mr. Kabukki Man!

I rated this film a 7 out of 10 on the IMDB. Go rent it and let your mind get a little bent. Its really pretty clever.

Two-fisted, end of the world, rock'n'roll high camp

[Baroque · 14 November 1999]

Yes, this film does have it's faults. Most low budget films do. But the overall theme of this work is a multi-layered spoof of many genres. The Hong Kong fantasy samurai film, end-of-the-world pictures, rock and roll musicals, and the obsession with Las Vegas.

I had the fortune to see this film at a multiplex in Las Vegas, and was not disappointed. Buddy is a bad-ass rock'n'roller with a katana hidden in his guitar with his sights set on being the next king of Las Vegas. "The Kid" is annoying and has a ear-splitting shriek (Why wouldn't he? No playmates, no cartoons, just empty land and not a Gymboree or video arcade in sight!), and the various bad guys (loved the evil bald bowlers) come in just about every shape and size.

Elements of "Wizard of Oz", "El Topo", "Mad Max", Sam Peckenpah, and God knows how many Kung Fu/Samurai films are in this, seasoned with a handful of self-conscious humor.

Living in the Las Vegas area, I'm familiar with most of the scenes featured (The bombed out gas station is the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada), so it was a kick seeing some of those places in a film.

It isn't for everyone, and some will dislike it, mostly for it's campiness, but this is a film that doesn't take itself too seriously...and neither should you.

Very peculiar and odd, but funny and well done

[Enchorde · 7/10 · 16 July 2005]

** HERE BE SPOILERS **

Recap: There has been a nuclear war. America is reduced to a wasteland with mutants, freaks and cavemen roaming free. There is just one place were civilization thrives, Lost Vegas. And the king of Lost Vegas, Elvis, has just died. Now, every guitar playing weapon wielding musician with any self respect is making a journey to Vegas to claim the throne. Buddy is one, Death is another. Buddy is a legendary musician that has somewhat of a drinking problem, and his journey becomes so much harder when he rescues a little boy from gum throwing cavemen. The kid tags along and a odd bond develops between the two. Death and his arrow shooting band members is out to kill every opponent, and soon Buddy is the only one left...

Comment: This is a very odd and peculiar movie, that at a first glance has a really poor story and acting. Costumes and scenery are not that great either, except for Death's and Buddy's. But as the movie goes along I discovered that the quality of camera movement and editing was high and that the story actually was full of references not present in a poor written story. So there is one conclusion to draw, this is a low budget b-movie that tries to be just that and nothing else. And it succeeds brilliantly. The story and acting, still peculiar, is actually entertaining and Buddy is a great character. The kid is annoying sometimes, unfortunately, but I thought that it got better as the movie went along. In the end I was very happy I had rented and seen this movie...

7/10

...if you like rock-a-billie and love a campy adventure in which the theme is set around who will be the next king after Elvis, you'll love this bizarre piece of comic book fiction brought to life.

[spazette · 10/10 · 12 February 2002]

...if you like rock-a-billie and love a campy adventure in a post-apocalyptic world were Elvis, the KING, has just died and there's a guitar-strumming race across the desert to Las Vegas to see who will be the next King crowned - you'll love this bizarre piece of comic book fiction brought to life. Our hero & his sidekick are chased across the desert by Death(a cross between Tom Petty & Slash) and his archer henchmen. Our Hero slashes his way through one unbelievable fight scene after another. Falcon is truly amazing. The fight choreography alone is reason enough to watch this peculiar piece of cinema. The climax is a duel between our Hero(Rock-n-Roll) and Death(Heavy Metal). Who becomes the King? Watch it & love it.

Falls short, but still fun.

[wiredarp · 7/10 · 22 April 2020]

Rating this one a 7 simply because its different and I can't give a 6.5 (and am feeling generous).

It feels sort of like a high budget high school movie. Plot seems like they got high one night and thought 'lets make a whacky movie about a super cool guitar playing guy *with a samurai sword* who has to get to post apocalyptic Las Vegas'. And then did it.

The people he meets are interesting characters. In this respect, its sort of like 'The Warriors', but where he roams towards Vegas and meets different tribes.

There is virtually no acting involved unless its overacting (its one or the other), but I'm hoping that is because they are trying not to deliberately. And the kid is extremely annoying at parts. But it has some cool music and enjoyable fight scenes. Who can't enjoy a super cool guy cutting up bunches of people to music, in a post apocalyptic world?

It's a shame this wasn't given a bit more time and attention to plot, and to the musical score. I really liked the rock soundtrack, but I felt (especially in a scene or two towards the end) where having the antagonists music show would have made more sense.

A bit of improvement and polish and they could have had a new classic.

It's definitely cool, but doesn't make much sense

[Vartiainen · 4/10 · 13 March 2019]

Six-String Samurai is an indie western wuxia musical satire. And if that collection of random genre tags makes you cringe, this definitely isn't for you. The story, if you even care, goes that USA was bombed by the Soviet Union in the late 50s and is now a nuclear wasteland. Except for Las Vegas, known now as Lost Vegas, where Elvis declared himself king. But now the king is dead and we end up following Buddy (Jeffrey Falcon), a wannabe heir to the throne, as he makes his way towards Vegas.

The film is very nonsensical. There is a scene, for example, where Buddy and a kid that ends up following him on his journey are attacked by a group of cavemen driving a rusty pickup truck. And they attack our protagonists with a truck bed mounted catapult. Flinging colourful gobstoppers. And nothing else.

And yes, that is absolutely cray cray. It's bonkers. I dare even say that it is kind of imaginative. But does it add anything to the story, beyond making it seem like it isn't firing on all cylinders? The answer is no.

The film has the style down. It looks good. Falcon is a talented martial artist, who can sell all the nonsensical sword fighting scenes, but when the story itself is simply hot air, there's not much he can do. Not helping the matters is the kid, played by Justin McGuire. At least he had the dignity of starting to talk during the latter half of the film. Before that his only contribution to the film was bleating like a wounded animal.

Six-String Samurai is worth a watch if you're looking for something unique, something you won't get from mainstream films. It's not a good film, but it has an identity. That's more than some films can say, but I still would not recommend it.

Swell, baby.

[Kastore · 10/10 · 5 September 2001]

This movie is the best post-apocalyptic rock 'n roll samurai movie ever made! There are so many subtle references and spoofs to so-called 'new classics' - 'E.T.', 'Road Warrior', 'Baron Munchausen' - and manages to flow smoothly as well.

The story is too clever. America is over-run and then largely abandoned by Russia 40 years ago. The last outpost of the American dream is Lost Vegas, where Elvis rules as king. Upon his death, a lone modern-day samurai warrior with a guitar (Falcon) heads for Vegas to beat out other wannabes to the vacant throne. He hacks, slices, punches, and kicks his way through every insane nuclear holocaust survivor who stands in his way, all the while with a feral orphan boy in tow.

There is not a dull moment in 'Six-String Samurai', thanks to the off-the-wall script and Jeffrey Falcon's acting and fighting. I was very surprised to find out that he hasn't done anything else since. This movie was incredible for an otherwise unknown martial arts bit actor who also wrote the script and coordinated all the fighting.

It would be cool if there was a sequel, or better yet, a prequel to 'Six-String'. I for one would love to see a movie about King Elvis in Lost Vegas.

9/10. Very highly recommended.

a cult classic in itself while praising others

[kasuo · 7/10 · 30 January 2000]

"six-string samurai" seems very reminiscent of many of the bruce lee, post-apocalyptic movies that i have grown to know and love. although it follows many of the formulaic styles used in said films (i.e. repeated scenes of kicking enemies down, dubbed & cheesy japanese anime-like dialogue, survivors mocking utopian models of "perfect" families, etc), it followed its own swinging tune with bad guy slashing and flowing sword fighting.

although many might not like this movie, i recommend it only if you are having an "independent/anime movie fest".

Harry Knowles has over-hyped this picture

[dillrod · 2/10 · 7 December 1998]

I saw this at SXSW in 1998 and thought, wow. Fun movie. Then Harry Knowles completely poured praise over this thing and I went and saw it again when it came to the Dobie Theater later the same year. You know what? It didn't live up to my memory or his hype. I had brought three friends to see it and felt like apologizing as soon as it was over. It's not a good movie.. The thing barely got made, and it shows.

An Epic

[valdyr · 10/10 · 8 February 1999]

This movie is a wonderful experience - the cinematography is stunning, the fights exquisite and the music perfect. One of the most enjoyable theatrical experiences of all time; I'd recommend it to anyone with an open mind about movies.

Five of the strings are in tune

[seventyblue · 7/10 · 7 September 2003]

Six String Samurai was a fine piece of filmmaking. People have complained about the most inane things in regards to it, i.e. the whining of the Kid, or the poorly written dialogue, but neither are any worse than what you'll encounter in another action movie with ten times the budget of this film.

Locations were well chosen and well filmed, the colors were vivid and the lighting (almost) always appropriate. The camera stayed on Buddy and kept enough of him in frame to follow the action clearly, so we could see him kicking ass. Costumes also added a lot to the characters and the aesthetic of the film, especially those of Death, Buddy and the Kid. The editing kept the pace of the film in a good place, suitable for it's tone. Having the radio show in the background served as a good way to introduce scenes, the soundtrack itself added atmosphere but didn't detract from the images, and the music by the Red Elvises provided good stuff for fight scenes and otherwise.

Really my only problems with the film were little things, like when there are a number of lines of dialogue which were post-dubbed (most noticably when Buddy meets the Kid), or during a fight scene when the time of day suddenly changes for one shot...small flaws in the film. The dialogue is bad? So what! It mostly consists of cheesy one-liners but in their repetition those lines gain some legitimacy. If there had been serious dialogue for Six String Samurai it would have ruined the tone of the movie.

Six String Samurai is, when all is said and done, a film which was pretty well put together with an interesting premise. If the dialogue is bad, so is the dialogue to every other action movie that came out this summer.

Hilariously awful

[Virginia5252 · 3/10 · 23 June 2003]

The key to enjoying this movie is to rent it expecting nothing more than a B-movie. The concept is simple enough: Wizard of Oz meets Don McLean's "American Pie" meets Interplay's "Fallout" series. The fight scenes are repetitive and unintentionally hilarious, the low production values (such things as obviously rubber guns, etc) provide more laughs, and the end sequence is a complete gutbuster. This movie is a testament to how bad an indie film can be. Rent it for cheap laughs and you're set.

Way Cool, Must See

[okibeav · 15 July 2004]

I have read a lot of comments regarding this film. All I have to say is, this movie is great. I never heard of it, but saw it in West Coast Video, and thought the cover was way cool. I was not disappointed. It seems that those who do not like this film consider Steven Segal a master of martial art films.

This is not a mainstream movie. How can you accurately describe this? You just can't! I just tell people that if the like post apocalyptic/samurai/rock & roll movies, this is the one to see. From the moment that first sword fight broke out, I knew that I was going to enjoy this flick. And when the prostitute approaches him in the cantina, I laughed until it hurt.

Bottom line, if you like movies that are a little (or possibly a lot) off-beat, you have to watch this one. I give it 8.5 out of 10 stars.

Irresistibly twisted

[victorboston · 6/10 · 5 October 2006]

While neither the script nor the acting gain sufficient momentum to truly involve the viewer, the film's premise - a sword-wielding Buddy Holly on the road to a post-Appocaliptic Las Vegas is irresistibly twisted.

The film feels ad-hoc and empty at times, coming up far short of a masterpiece. But never-mind - the deficiencies of the story and the lack of depth don't quite manage to sink Six String Samurai. They are balanced, at least in part, by the film's on screen presence and undeniable visual appeal.

Six String Samurai is, above all, a film school kind of film (it is, in fact, a film school thesis project). Careful cinematography, surprising attention to detail and a love for the art make this movie memorable and surprisingly enjoyable.

one of my favorites

[fezzik-5 · 10/10 · 12 October 2007]

i'm actually typing this as i watch this movie for about the tenth time. does it have flaws? certainly. the editing can be rough, the pacing is a bit slow, and the ending is very good but a bit unsatisfying (it makes you want SSS Part II). But this is the sort of movie I wish there were more of: a sincere, stylistically consistent romp through one man's vision. Well-acted, action-packed, but most importantly a convincing construction of a fantastical universe that sucks you in for 90 minutes. I've seen this movie 10-15 times and every time it gets better. Plus, it has the best quotable one-liners. "Follow the yellow back road, homie. It'll always be the same, wherever you go."

*snap*

[boxtwat · 7/10 · 4 September 2005]

I really can not believe that no one has drawn the "Wizard of Oz" reference here. "Follow the yellow brick road, homey." ??? A journey from what some might refer to as "Kansas" to Lost Vegas? Did anyone actually see this film? Or, should i ask, has anyone watched an American movie in the last century? The last scene alone was a reference to anyone who couldn't catch it- the kid (as an wannabe adult Buddy) carrying his guitar down a path reminiscent of the yellow brick road, to a look-a-like emerald city. I would also like to add that the "city" was also an obvious back drop, such as used by the big Hollywood studios of that era. One of the more blatant movie rip-offs since Quentin Tarentino appeared in the cinema scene, it is still plagiarized in a fresh and enthusiastically new perspective. Isn't that what cinema is, nowadays? Overall, if you like kung-fu flicks, surfabilly, and a wistfully innocent by-gotten era, do it up! This movie just might be what you haven't been waiting for.

A Big Pile of Awful

[tastymeatbag · 2/10 · 30 July 2006]

...or should that be offal? The movie is so bad, it's hard to tell where to start. The premise is interesting, and there are parts that look good...or would, if the sound wasn't horrible.

I realize that the movie is trying to be lighthearted, but the sound is so awful that it totally detracts from the movie. From poorly dubbed voices to a soundtrack that NEVER seems to stop, I felt several times that I would enjoy the movie more if I just muted the movie.

The direction is bad as well. Camp is fine, Evil Dead shows how great it can be. However, there is no humor in the movie, unless you enjoy stupid "fast forward" type gags of people running around.

The film could have been promising, but the director seemed to undermine the premise at every turn. It's unfortunate that it can't be accurately described here, but I'll once again try an analogy: Live action GI Joe, crossed with really really bad kung fu movies, attempting coolness, but comes off as a high school level effort. Avoid at all costs.

One of 2 films in this genre

[xnoybis · 8/10 · 28 November 2001]

I can think of only one other film to compare this to: The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension. Six String Samurai throws you head-first into a world with little to no explanation as to what's going on and demands that you allow yourself to believe its physics. This explains the love/hate relationship viewers seem to have with it.

If you enjoy an oddity, feel good, rock and roll-action-cannibalism film (don't let anything by Troma come into your mind; that it most certainly is not anything of the like) then rent this little jewel.

*Bonus points for having a katana-toting elvis presley waging guitar-war with death in a *death*-metal band.

8/10

Excellent and campy post-apocalyptic movie

[ipswich-2 · 6/10 · 10 June 2000]

Campy post-apocalyptic movie with great cinematography and excellent martial arts stunts. Buddy (Jeffrey Falcon), a rock musician cum samurai, must battle gangs across the Nevada desert to reach Lost Vegas, the only city that provides a safe haven from the Soviet invasion of the USA. The dialogue is atrocious and the acting passable, but the journey Falcon takes to reach his final destination is filled with the most engaging sword battles and colorful of villians I've ever come across. Falcon revels in his martial arts hero role, twisting and gyrating with Bruce Lee reflexes and hurling his guitar around with great panache. This is a cult classic for all surf movie fans.

Had potential, fell short

[Snootz · 5/10 · 17 March 2019]

While this film could have been campy good fun, about halfway through it turned into a repetitious yawner. The characters were interesting, the sets creative, the acting well-done on all aspects. It was zany, over-the-top, and schlocky, which is exactly what would be expected of a title such as this.

But after a bit it became repetitive, losing its initial thrust and winding up making not much real sense at all. I'm sure some folks got the "inner meaning" of the film, but in truth there was no inner meaning. It was just a bunch of stuff thrown together and anything anyone takes away from this is a purely personal interpretation of experience.

Which is fine, except I found myself less-than-impressed when it came time for the closing credits... which means that for me the film failed. I'm not a big fan of fight scene after fight scene... which is what this film devolved into. So I give it a mediocre rating of 5. Neither good nor bad. Not enough schlock, camp and humor to be great.

Funny, action-packed, film with a lot of spirit

[TLarabee · 10/10 · 10 February 2001]

This is a good movie. With the title and description, I expected an all out camp movie that would be fun and humorous, but this film has a lot of spirit. It's unique it's assimilation of several genres, for one. It also manages to create what has been destroyed in recent history of the martial arts film genre, where the protagonist is tragically heroic, and flawed. This is not typical hollywood fare, nor does it cross that line into a pure comic camp romp. The action scenes are excellent. The main characters are multidimensional, despite what little dialogue (and what great dialouge it has) they have. The film is well photographed, going far beyond what currently is offered in theatres. The film also has a lot of heart. It never compromises its integrity for trying to make a popcorn movie. It's so fun fillled and free spirited, which is rare in movies today. Plus, any movie with buddy holly moving with the grace of bruce lee is nothing short of unique. This one's a winner.

Interesting Mix of Music & Martial Arts

[steveatwal · 7/10 · 27 June 2021]

Interesting mix of music & martial arts, with some fantasy and sci-fi thrown into the pot. Dialog is kept to a minimum. This movie is more about symbolism, and you should be able to tell who Death signifies in the music world 😂 Check it out...if you want to see something different!

One of the most intolerable movie-going experiences of my life.

[robhuck · 1/10 · 24 September 1998]

I cannot say enough bad things about this film. It was the most unpleasant theatrical experience of my life, never before have I so badly wanted to get up and leave the theater. It was even worse than Kazaam. The script was about 15 pages long, most of which consisted of "Buddy (the main character) meets bad guys, they fight. Buddy meets more bad guys, they fight", and the fight scenes are amateurish at best. The acting is horrible, there is no plot or character development, and there isn't a single laugh in the film. I could accept all of these problems if the main character had been cool, like Ash in "Evil Dead 2", but I spent the whole movie hoping Buddy would die. I have read on certain internet movie news pages that this film is the next "Evil Dead" or "Escape from New York". Don't believe a word of it. This film is not funny. This film is not exciting. This film is not fun. Avoid it at all costs.