47 Ronin (2013)

A band of samurai set out to avenge the death and dishonor of their master at the hands of a ruthless shogun.

Director:

Carl Rinsch

Writers:

Chris Morgan (screenplay), Hossein Amini (screenplay)

Stars:

Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ko Shibasaki

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keanu Reeves	...	Kai
Hiroyuki Sanada	...	Ôishi
Ko Shibasaki	...	Mika (as Kô Shibasaki)
Tadanobu Asano	...	Lord Kira
Min Tanaka	...	Lord Asano
Jin Akanishi	...	Chikara
Masayoshi Haneda	...	Yasuno
Hiroshi Sogabe	...	Hazama
Takato Yonemoto	...	Basho
Hiroshi Yamada	...	Hara
Shû Nakajima	...	Horibe
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Shogun Tsunayoshi
Neil Fingleton	...	Lovecraftian Samurai
Rinko Kikuchi	...	Witch
Natsuki Kunimoto	...	Riku

Storyline

While hunting in the forest, Lord Asano of Ako and his samurai find a young half-breed and take him with them to live in the castle. Several years later, Lord Asano holds a tournament to welcome the Shogun to Ako. The night after the tournament, Lord Asano is bewitched into hurting Lord Kira of Nagato, and is punished into committing seppuku by the Shogun. Realizing that it was a Lord Kira's evil plot, the samurais and the half-breed sets out for revenge against the Shogun's order.

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Plot Keywords:

shogun | samurai | ronin | half breed | revenge | 

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Taglines:

This Christmas, seize eternity.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, and thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA UK Japan Hungary

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

25 December 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

47 Ronin: La Leyenda del Samurai

Filming Locations:

Raleigh Studios Budapest- Felsokert utca 9, Budapest, Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

$175,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,869,000, 27 December 2013, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$38,362,475

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$151,783,839

Company Credits

Production Co:

H2F Entertainment, Mid Atlantic Films, Moving Picture Company (MPC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min (International Cut) 128 min (Extended Edition)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The arrows for the film were made by Michael Reape, a famous European arrow maker. A small amount of arrows were made in "museum" quality for close-ups.

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Goofs

When Oishi and Kai are escaping the Dutch Island. Right after the battle Oishi's sword vanishes and only reappears in his hand after he and Kai fall from the higher pier to the lower one.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Ancient feudal Japan, a land shrouded in mystery, forbidden to foreigners. A group of magical islands home to witches and demons. A nation of rival provinces whose lords were ruled by a shogun whose will is absolute. Peace in the realm is kept by the samurai, master swordsmen tasked with protecting their lord and their province at all costs. Should a samurai ever lose of fail his master, he suffers the greatest shame in all Japanese society. He becomes a ronin. And yet, to know ...

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Crazy Credits

The Universal spinning Earth begins normally, but after the camera backs away to show the full globe and logo it then slowly zooms back in with the Earth still spinning to Japan and the movies title is drawn over the Pacific Ocean. Clouds then obscure everything then clear as the view zooms in to Japan and the narration begins.

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Connections

Referenced in Chelsea Lately: Episode #7.178 (2013)

User Reviews

Honor is the central theme

As this is a fantasy retelling of a historic event it takes liberties. However, for me it was about Honor above all else. I left the theater not only entertained and with a sense of pride in the story telling. As a veteran it resonates what I felt when we finished what we had to accomplish. I did not read the reviews going into today's viewing, however after I seen it I read the reviews and I think they got it wrong. This movie is very good with a lot of understatement and sometimes it gets fanciful but does not takeaway from the story telling. I believe if you go a see it you will be surprised how good it is.