I thought this was gonna be a long one at 2 hours and 27 minutes. I was off by an hour. But at least they throw in an intermission so you can do a quick beer run to finish it up. Sheesh. I shouldn’t complain though, in the age of the pause button. But I did totally forget this was a 3+ hour movie when starting. I...may have pre-partied a bit without realizing. But! It’s considered a cinematic classic for a reason, so here we go.
Late 1500’s Japan. Shit’s all shitted up, between feudal taxes, war, drought, and to top it all off, some damncockin bandits just decimating the local farming villages as they see fit. One of the local villagers gets wise to know come next barleycrop harvesting, these cockgobblers are gonna come back and rob all their shit. AGAIN! So the village elder is consulted, and yeah! Fuck these guys! So...uhm...who gonna do that now? That’s right! Samurais! Paid in...room and board...maybe a little rice? Yeah, that’s a hard sell. Farmers and Samurai aren’t really the most well-relationed, either. This is an elongated tale of how sometimes playin the odds doesn’t totally screw you. Still a little screwed though. Just, not totally screwed.
Some say this is an epic tale. Well, they don’t exactly erect any pyramids or nothin in it, but a lot of challenges and stereotypes are overcome, even there in 1586. And honestly, it’s a well done story, even if it’s in black & white and old-timey TV aspect ratio. Prime Samurai? He’s a good guy, I’d drink some sake with that guy. Are more added to the crew that may or may not be as accomplished as him? Well, yeah. Drunk Samurai? Not the best samurai, but at least he does inject a little comedic relief and humanity here and there. Otherwise, some pretty serious shit. Village farmers vs. Assho Bandits. It has some moments. A bit long, but overall a good drama that’s shot excellently, and seems at least to me a decent capture of the farming side of feudal Japan on top of everything else. Fkn rice paddies. May the Japanese God love ‘em!
