Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Namfoodle I don't get why half of the reviews here say that this is their favorite Zatoichi film, one even goes as far as to say it's Shintaro Katsu's best film. Sure, his acting is very good here also, like earlier in the series as well, but other than that this feels like a filler episode in the series. It's mostly focusing on antics between Zatoichi and the baby and showing how good of a father figure he is, but there's not much anything else going on and it gets boring really quick.This time the villains are just regular nameless bounty hunters, with no back story or other motivation, they are very uninteresting and there isn't much fighting at all despite the name of the film. The fight scene in the end where they use torches against Zatoichi is the highlight, but it doesn't make up for most of the films uninteresting drama, even if it overall slightly deepens the character of Zatoichi.

MartinHafer Wow, talk about divergent reviews. One says this is "Shintaro at his best" and another says "Too many baby antics". Your opinion of FIGHT ZATOICHI FIGHT ("Zatôichi Kesshô-tabi") will most likely depend on whether you like the idea of morphing the typical Zatôichi film with a film like THREE MEN AND A BABY. For the purist, this will be a definite turn off. For someone looking for a change of pace, a bit of comedy or some pathos, then this will be a welcome relief. As for me, I did enjoy the film (especially the ending) but certainly consider it one of the lesser efforts in the series because the film perhaps tries too hard to be heart-warming and cute.At the beginning of the film, Zatôichi gives up his seat in a palanquin (a covered box-like mode of transportation--carried by a man at each end) to a sick woman with a baby. Some evil no-goodnicks think it's Zatôichi inside and kill the lady with their swords--narrowly missing the baby. Zatôichi, as usual, has an over-developed sense of personal responsibility and decides he's at fault for her death and must escort the baby to his father in a far off town. So, most of the film consists of his adventures getting the child back to its daddy. Along the way, he meets a variety of people, though the most important to the film and Zatôichi is a female pickpocket. Through the persuasive power of this blind man, the lady is transformed to goodness and both like the idea of finally settling down and perhaps making a family. But, what about the child? They can't just keep him--no matter how cute he is.What happens next takes the film in an excellent direction. While the middle of the film was very schmaltzy, who the father is and his reaction to this child being brought to him is a shock. The ending was amazingly interesting and made the stickier moments in the film a bit easier to take.Overall, a film that is one of the most different in the series but certainly not among the best. Very watchable and it sure ends well, but otherwise not a great Zatôichi film.

mistymountain I usually don't watch martial arts films too often, but when I heard the premise for this movie, I figured I should give it a chance. Boy, was I glad I saw this film. This had an excellent plot all through the film. Shintaro Katsu was excellent as Zatoichi in the original series. I only saw a few of the movies in the series, but this had a very emotional element. He was very good acting with an infant on screen. I admit I did shed a tear towards the end, but the whole movie just moved me. The way he changed the baby's diapers, holding the baby, singing to the baby, playing with the baby. This film broke the mold when back in the early 60's, most films would never use a real baby in the movies. Even the scenery was lovely. It's a shame that Shintaro's no longer with us. But during his 5-decade film career, out of all his 105 films that he's done, Fight, Zatoichi, Fight is definitely his best film ever.

John Seal Fight Zatoichi Fight benefits from a particularly strong and emotional Shintaro Katsu performance. In this film he takes charge of an infant whose mother is killed by yakuza meaning to kill Zatoichi. He also joins up with a fallen woman, and this dysfunctional family attempts to return the child to its father--who doesn't want his offspring back. The relationship that Zatoichi develops with the unwanted child is quite moving, and the final battle scene takes on added poignance after the blind masseur is forced to leave the baby in the care of a monk.