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IMDbPro

Six-String Samurai

  • 19981998
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
7.5K
YOUR RATING
Six-String Samurai (1998)
In the post-apocalyptic world of 1990s Nevada, a rock 'n' roll samurai on his way to Lost Vegas takes a young orphan boy under his protection as Death and his metalhead Horsemen chase after them.
Play trailer1:41
1 Video
49 Photos
  • Action
  • Adventure
  • Comedy
In the post-apocalyptic world of 1990s Nevada, a rock 'n' roll samurai on his way to Lost Vegas takes a young orphan boy under his protection as Death and his metalhead Horsemen chase after ... Read allIn the post-apocalyptic world of 1990s Nevada, a rock 'n' roll samurai on his way to Lost Vegas takes a young orphan boy under his protection as Death and his metalhead Horsemen chase after them.In the post-apocalyptic world of 1990s Nevada, a rock 'n' roll samurai on his way to Lost Vegas takes a young orphan boy under his protection as Death and his metalhead Horsemen chase after them.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
7.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Lance Mungia
  • Writers
    • Jeffrey Falcon
    • Lance Mungia
  • Stars
    • Jeffrey Falcon
    • Justin McGuire
    • Kim De Angelo
Top credits
  • Director
    • Lance Mungia
  • Writers
    • Jeffrey Falcon
    • Lance Mungia
  • Stars
    • Jeffrey Falcon
    • Justin McGuire
    • Kim De Angelo
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 115User reviews
    • 50Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 2 nominations

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:41
    Trailer

    Photos49

    Jeffrey Falcon in Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Jeffrey Falcon and Justin McGuire in Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Justin McGuire in Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Jeffrey Falcon in Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Six-String Samurai (1998)
    Six-String Samurai (1998)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jeffrey Falcon
    Jeffrey Falcon
    • Buddy
    Justin McGuire
    Justin McGuire
    • The Kid
    Kim De Angelo
    • Mother
    Stephane Gauger
    • Death
    Clifford Hugo
    • Psycho
    Oleg Bernov
    • Red Elvis
    Igor Yuzov
    • Red Elvis
    Zhenya Kolykhanov
    • Red Elvis
    George L. Casillas
    • Mariachi…
    Avi Sills
    • Red Elvis
    Monti Ellison
    • Head Pin Pal
    Kareem
    • Bowler #2…
    Richard McGuire
    • Cantina owner
    Paul Szopa
    • Bowler #3…
    Jefferson Zuma Jay Wagner
    • Car Guy
    • (as Zuma Jay)
    Lex Lang
    Lex Lang
    • Death
    • (voice)
    Dan Barton
    Dan Barton
    • Ward Cleaver
    Paula Tillapaugh
    • Owner's Wife
    • Director
      • Lance Mungia
    • Writers
      • Jeffrey Falcon
      • Lance Mungia
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      "Six-String Samurai" had been intended to be the first installment of a trilogy which had been discussed, but not yet realized, just like the predicted launching of the career of the film's star Jeffrey Falcon.
    • Goofs
      When the Ritchie Valens character charges Buddy his shoes fall off very obviously, but they are suddenly back on his feet in the very next shot.
    • Quotes

      Mesh-Head: If I were you, I would run.

      Buddy: If you were me, you'd be good-lookin'.

    • Crazy credits
      One of the "Red Elvises", Zhenya Kolykhanov, is miscredited as Zhenga Kolykhanov
    • Connections
      Featured in Hagan Reviews: Six-String Samurai (2017)

    User reviews115

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Bizarre but enjoyable
    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.
    helpful•12
    3
    • jake-179
    • Feb 25, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 18, 1998 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Palm Pictures
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Blade
    • Filming locations
      • Loyola Marymount University - 1 LMU Drive, Westchester, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • HSX Films
      • Overseas FilmGroup
      • Palm Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $2,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $146,125
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $36,896
      • Sep 20, 1998
    • Gross worldwide
      • $146,125
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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