Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

poe426 The paring- uh, sorry: pairing- of Japanese swordsman Zatoichi and Chinese swordsman Wang seems like a good idea on the face of it (like having King Kong slugging it out with Gojira, say). Unfortunately, a few things get lost in the translation, so to speak. Like YOJIMBO, Zatoichi (or "Ichi," as he's referred to here) is a scruffy but capable swordsman; not as hard-edged as, say, HANZO, but quick on the draw and with a sense of moral righteousness- not unlike Wang, who is obliged to wipe out a samurai procession when the samurai (yakuza) start whacking innocents right and left. Wang then becomes, by default, the guardian of a (now) parentless boy, Shaolong. When Zatoichi and Wang meet, their languages prove a barrier they can't overcome. They seem to more or less get along until an unlikely third party throws a monkey wrench into their relationship. The climactic confrontation between the two is less than satisfying: Wang Yu, still using the VERY short blade he used in the two previous ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN movies, is at a great disadvantage against a character armed with a traditional Japanese sword. Wang gets the short end of the stick in the end (which seems appropriate, since he brings a knife to a sword fight), and the fight itself is very brief... but also kind of disappointing. Although the movie is beautifully crafted, Wang Yu seems to be little more than an afterthought throughout (remove him from the film altogether and it's another standard Zatoichi movie- which means it's pretty good, anyway).

JFrawley032759 Many people I otherwise respect believe this is among the best Zatoichi movies: I have yet to see one I didn't like, but somehow this one is just not as pleasing to me as many of the others. (Possibly my DVD is not the very best.) In any case, the behavior of Zatoichi is quite a bit more foolish and bloodthirsty than usual, and the skill level and intelligence of the one armed swordsman (Jimmy Wang Yu) are reduced from that in his own films, so that his fate is perhaps other than what it would be in a film made by and for the Chinese. To my taste, Jimmy Wang Yu's charisma is invisible.All this being said, this is a reasonably good film, and should not disappoint greatly.

Tom (bighouseaz) Katsu's sword work is very good in this film. This is especially true in the scene where he rescues one of the characters on the road and also in the fights he has against the boss's minions. Katsu's sword work is especially tight, direct, and brutal.But most viewers will be more interested in the meeting of two cinema worlds, Chinese kung fu meets Japanese chambara. The story can be seen as being very symbolic if you think of the complex and tragic recent history between Japan and China. Zatoichi and Yasuda (the director) could be making a political and/or cultural statement here. In this story a Chinese man is good, a Japanese priest is very bad, and the Shogun's laws are shown to be absolutely absurd. In the end, the confrontation between Zatoichi and Wang comes about because of a series of misunderstandings caused by their inability to communicate with one another. The real tragedy in this tale is that Zatoichi and Wang have very similar characters. They are both honorable men who defend the weak and the poor against the strong and the wealthy. It's a tragedy that they end up confronting one another.I have heard that there is an alternative version of the film with a different ending. I can imagine how it would end, but would very much like to see it. Hopefully someday it will become available.There is some good action in this entry in the series by both Katsu Shintaro and Jimmy Wang. Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman is good entertainment for the fan of martial arts films.

chico-26 The 1- armed swordsman series is very good . Zatoishi series is also very good.This film however is the best of both the 1_armed swordman films and Zatoishi series. There is a duel between Zatoishi and the 1-armed swordsman in the end.They cant understand each other because of the language barrier.The duel is splendid but the result... Too bad this film is not avalaible as VHS