13 Assassins (2010)
"Jûsan-nin no shikaku" (original title)

A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Kaneo Ikegami (based on a screenplay by), Daisuke Tengan (screenplay)

Stars:

Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya

12 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kôji Yakusho	...	Shinzaemon Shimada
Takayuki Yamada	...	Shinrokuro Shimada
Yûsuke Iseya	...	Koyata Kiga
Ikki Sawamura	...	Gunjiro Mitsuhashi
Arata Furuta	...	Heizo Sahara
Sôsuke Takaoka	...	Yasokichi Hioki
Seiji Rokkaku	...	Mosuke Otake
Kazuki Namioka	...	Rihei Ishizuka
Kôen Kondô	...	Yahachi Horii
Yûma Ishigaki	...	Gannai Higuchi
Masataka Kubota	...	Shojiro Ogura
Tsuyoshi Ihara	...	Kujuro Hirayama
Hiroki Matsukata	...	Saheita Kuranaga
Kazue Fukiishi	...	Tsuya / Upashi
Mitsuki Tanimura	...	Chise Makino

Storyline

In 1844, the peace of Feudal Japan is threatened by cruel Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira, who is politically rising and getting closer to his half-brother, the shogun. After the harakiri of the Namiya clan leader, samurai Shinzaemon Shimada is summoned by the shogun's advisor Sir Doi of the Akash Clan to listen to the tragedy of Makino Uneme, whose son and daughter-in-law have been murdered by Naritsugu. Then Sir Doi shows a woman with arms, legs and tongue severed by Naritsugu and she writes with her forearm a request to Shinza to slaughter Naritsugu and his samurais. Shinza promises to kill Naritsugu and he gathers eleven other samurais and plots a plan to attack Naritsugu in his trip back to the Akash land. But the cunning samurai Hanbei Kitou that is responsible for the security of his master foresees Shinza's intent. Shinza decides to go with his samurais through the mountain, where they find the hunter Koyata that guides them off the mountain and joins the group. Now the thirteen men...

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | suicide | shogun | suicide mission | lord | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sequences of bloody violence, some disturbing images and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan UK

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 September 2010 (Japan)

Also Known As:

13 Assassins

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£124,377 (UK) (6 May 2011)

Gross:

$802,524 (USA) (19 August 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sedic International, Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

141 min 126 min (International)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Near the end of the movie, at approximately 2:00:15, a character that is supposedly lying dead briefly moves his left leg (at the lower left of the scene).

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Quotes

Shinzaemon Shimada: I shall accomplish your task... with magnificence.

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Connections

Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.15 (2011)

User Reviews

One of the best I've seen..

This movie has an immense amount of depth for a movie of it's genre. There are many things about this movie that motivated me to rank it as I did. Starting with the acting - from the main characters, their roles, words, facial expressions, movements - done with such sincerity. Honest, real emotions. It gives you a glimpse into a world where honor is defined and mutated by the hearts of men. One Samurai, honors and views his position as a guardian of the people, able to see, comprehend, and act upon injustice. And the other Samurai? His heart is not towards the people, but has, as I've said mutated into an honor, that seemingly cloaked in the traditional honor of serving and protecting his lord, is really mutated into a self-serving, blinded existence that could potentially be his downfall. Who knows? Who triumphs in this movie? Be prepared to be surprised on many levels! The swordplay is bar none in my opinion. The landscape genuine, with fantastic cinematography. As many movies in this genre, there are moments of 'over-the-top' exclamatory remarks that often typify a Shogun/Samurai flick, this just keeps reminding you that an American producer with more eye for gore than plot is NOT at the helm of this ship. This movie has it all for me. It has a plot, a story line that will have you remembering the 7 Samurai, The Magnificent 7, and a little of the A-Team, but done so in a remarkable fashion, executed in a classical, raw, well orchestrated fashion. I will watch this again. I will undoubtedly see more to this movie then, than now. And that will be a treat unto itself. If you are a fan of the Samurai/Shogun genre of film. Watch this. pop the popcorn or whatever, but don't drink too much because you will not want to get up, even for a bathroom break on this one!