Blade of the Immortal (2017)

Cursed with a life of immortality, a samurai is tasked by a young girl to help avenge the death of her father. Based on the manga series by Hiroaki Samura.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Hiroaki Samura (manga), Tetsuya Oishi (screenplay)

Stars:

Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki, Sôta Fukushi

10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Takuya Kimura	...	Manji
Hana Sugisaki	...	Rin Asano / Machi, Manji's sister
Sôta Fukushi	...	Anotsu Kagehisa
Hayato Ichihara	...	Shira
Erika Toda	...	Makie Otono-Tachibana
Kazuki Kitamura	...	Sabato Kuroi
Chiaki Kuriyama	...	Hyakurin
Shinnosuke Mitsushima	...	Taito Magatsu
Ken Kaneko
Yôko Yamamoto	...	Yaobikuni
Ebizô Ichikawa	...	Eiku Shizuma
Seizô Fukumoto
Min Tanaka	...	Kagimura Habaki
Masayuki Deai
Tsutomu Yamazaki	...	Kensui Ibane

Storyline

Cursed with a life of immortality, a samurai is tasked by a young girl to help avenge the death of her father. Based on the manga series by Hiroaki Samura.

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | based on manga | one against many | katana | revenge | 

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Taglines:

His path is paved in blood.

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence and carnage throughout

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was promoted as being director Takashi Miike's 100th film, but it isn't. Although it was at one time his 100th directing credit on IMDb, that list also includes several TV series, TV episodes, and segments of other films. According to some calculations, Miike has directed over 100 works, including music videos and short films, but (at the time of Blade of the Immortal's release) less than 90 were feature films.

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Quotes

Rin Asano: Forgive me, brother.
Manji: That's "Big Brother," stupid!

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Connections

Version of Blade of the Immortal (2019)

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Soundtracks

Live to Die Another Day - Sonzai Shomei
Written by Miyavi, Lenny Skolnik, Tom Leonard and Amon Hayashi
Performed by Miyavi

User Reviews

Remarkable effort. Compressing 30 volumes into film.

Having read the manga for close to 20 years. The live adaptation of the film is a fulfillment to witness. As a fan of the original, I have preconceived notions as to how the characters behaved and voiced in between panels.

Therefore the performances for bringing Manji, Rin, Anotsu and all the other casts to life were satisfactory. Compressing 30 volumes into film, means that there were major trimmings made in order to fit this medium. Most notably are the back stories and developments for all characters depicted. Some characters in film are relegated to cameos, while others lack the motivational complexity of their respective arc that were spanned across the years. And yet, I still found myself intrigued by the story presented to me here on film.

The actions are brutal. Not as gory as how I would like it to be though. The original format was way more gorier in certain aspects. But I can understand why it was needed to be toned down for live adaptation.

If one is into cinematography, feudal Edo era, a story of revenge, filled with action sequences of samurai swordplay - this is a film that I would recommend. It fulfills on all those aspects. It had heartfelt moments and dashes of fun sprinkled perfectly into its pacing.

However if one is into enriching character developments, motivations for all their arcs and more; I would suggest to visit the original manga instead.

Overall, it is still a very remarkable effort from everyone involved.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan UK South Korea

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

3 November 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blade of the Immortal

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$49,569, 5 November 2017

Gross USA:

$150,532

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,162,617

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Oriental Light and Magic (OLM), Recorded Picture Company (RPC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (Prologue is in black and white)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1