Ninja Scroll

This is one of those "three-watchers": watch once to get acquainted, twice to fully understand, and three times to get the full effect. You could very well leave impressed after your first viewing, but numerous viewings reveal more and more each time.

Wandering ninja Jubei Kibagami (based on a popular swordsman of Japanese lore) is drawn into a battle with the Eight Devils of Kimon, with the beautiful and lethal Kagero on his side, as well as a government agent. Jubei must survive battles with each of the Devils--a rock-skinned hulk, a blind swordsman, a portable wasp hive, a snake-controller, a re-animator/shadow manipulator, a wire-toting electrecutor, an explosives expert and a resurrectable boss--all the while attempting to solve a mystery revolving around gold, murdered villagers and a mysterious plague.

The animation is top-notch. It isn't thin and computer-like, as in Ghost in the Shell, but it's as close as you can get to a moving Marvel or Image Comic. Everything is lightning fast and no sounds are wasted: you'll notice every chirping bird or falling leaf with the tension that this film builds. The shots are masterfully beautiful--a charging Jubei is shown via reflection on the blind swordsman's sword held close to his face--and the animation is consistent throughout.

Not to confuse what you might have heard--the violence is extremely graphic, not the sex scenes. The sex scenes are nothing worse than what an R-rated flick might produce, but the violence is up there in the level of "Gladiator" or "Saving Private Ryan," but it's not something that goes throughout the movie so much so that it becomes disgusting.

The English dub is passable, capturing both Jubei's calm confidence as well as Kagero's fire, but like most anime, the Japanese version is the superior. The storyline remains generally the same in either version, although there are some significant, but not plot-disturbing, differences between the English and Japanese versions.

Each "Devil" is unique and cleverly thought-out, each a challenging fighter. Jubei is an anti-hero, reluctant to join the fight, and scraps his way through battles, using his smarts as well as his steel.

Definitely recommended for older fans, anime fan or not. It has anime's cliche graphic violence and nudity, but its plot, vocal performance and direction are excellent, among the best ever for the genre. Five stars doesn't do it justice.

In terms of action, this movie has an over the top feel. It's over indulgent. I personally feel it's done extremely well.

I get the feeling the same people who were offended by this movie might be the same type who would call Starship Troopers a facsist movie. They miss the point of the movie completely - an entirely shallow perception.

Now for the reason why I gave this DVD 1 star.

IT'S NOT WIDESCREEN AS IT SAYS ON THE BOX! THEY JUST CUT THE TOP AND THE BOTTOM OFF THE IMAGE, THUS MAKING THE IMAGE EVEN SMALLER THAN 4:3 TV FORMAT. THOSE PEOPLE YOU USED TO HEAR IN THE VIDEO RENTAL STORE COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW THE MOVIE THEY RENTED HAD THE TOP AND BOTTOM CUT OFF... WELL THIS DVD MAKES THEM RIGHT!

The good points about this DVD are 5.1 and 6.1 Japanese and English dialogue, and stereo French and Spanish. The older version only has Stereo Japanese and English.

If you already have Ninja Scroll you might consider spending your money elsewhere unless you have a 5.1 or 6.1 system and need to have this sound format. If you don't already have Ninja Scroll, then you might just consider buying this version for the sake of future proofing...

The drawings are as always superb and the story line is as well. This story is about Ninjas in 16th century Japan, but with supernatural powers. REally interesting.

It is very graphic and the language is sometimes very coarse, does make it more 'real' in some strange way or another.

Really good movie, watch it twice, once in Japanese, once in English and be surprised