Terrell-4 Take a piece of Akira Kurosawa, blend in a big portion of Sergio Leone, then add a little of Mel Brooks on Xanax and you'll have an idea of one of the oddest and most amusing examples of chanbara satire. The "sword-fighting movies" from Japan nearly collapsed under the weight of clichés, just as American "gun-fighting" westerns nearly bit the dust in the U.S. Kihachi Okamoto piles on the clichés in this tale taken from the same source material as Sanjuro. While elements of the plot are described, it's not the plot that's too important, but what Okamoto does with it. You might have a hard time afterwards watching some of those popular Italian westerns with a straight face (or even some of Kurosawa's eastern westerns). Two ragged men, one a former samurai, Genta (Tatsuya Nakadai), who is disillusioned and has become a wandering yakuza, and the other, Hanji (Etsushi Takahashi), a farmer who wants to become a samurai, meet by chance in a dusty, decaying village. The two suddenly find themselves in the midst of corruption, betrayal and assassination. They wind up fighting rival gangs and, sometimes, each other. Along the way we encounter the loving clichés of samurai flicks as well as the loving clichés from Italian westerns...all that running back and forth, noble love, beatings, the really evil villain...as well as pratfalls, a monk who seems to be channeling William Hickey, a flying finger that lands on the ground right in front of the camera and probably the scrawniest chicken ever to have a major role in the movies. The year is 1833 when Japan's rigid class system was decaying. Tatsuya Nakadai as Genta is marvelous as the quizzical and disillusioned ex-samurai who long ago had enough of the posturing and false honor of his class. He has no intention of being a hero, yet he finds himself against his better judgment being drawn into a clan battle between corruption on one side and naivety on the other. He also is a realist. "Kill or be killed," he says at one point, "either would leave an unpleasant aftertaste." Almost as good is Etsushi Takahashi as Hanji. He may only be a farmer, but Hanji is tired of that back-breaking work. He sold his land and bought a samurai's outfit with the two swords. If he can become a samurai, he knows honor will be close behind. Hanji is energetic and impressed with titles. When the two meet, they make an odd-couple team, even if at a various times Hanji is determined to stick a sword through Genta's chest. Two-thirds of the way through the movie, however, Okamoto lets the clichés regain their rightful power. The laughs are few and far between as battles are fought between muskets and swords (the swords lose), a good man dies and a fight to the death takes place between Genta and an evil usurper. We're left with the carnage of dead samurai, caused by betrayal and suspicion..and with Genta's comment to Hanji, "Now do you understand what samurai are like?" Wait, there's more. This is a satire, after all. Our last view is of the two men, one a realist and the other now also a realist, leaving the village. They're followed by the admiring young women of the town's one pleasure house, all determined to journey with them. That leaves the scrawny chicken, strutting around and pecking in the dust, unimpressed with all that has just occurred.

Simon Booth Kill! is an economically titled film that provides some great characters, a strong story, lots of well shot fights and some clever humour. I have to confess that most of the samurai films I've seen have put me to sleep - Kurosawa's work or the Zatoichi films being a happy exception. KILL! never once had me in danger of nodding off, keeping me entertained from start to finish.I was reminded of Kurosawa's SANJURO quite a bit, and read afterwards that both films were based on the same novel. I'm not sure if there were multiple stories within that novel, or if one or both of the films are just very loosely based on it. Tatsuya Nakadai's ronin is certainly a similar character to Mifune's Sanjuro, perhaps a little more world-weary and sly, not so majestic. Nakadai is Mifune's only serious competition for the "God of Samurai Films" crown, having made a bunch over the course of his career. His performance in KILL! is the best I've seen from him.The film is well lensed, written, directed and performed. The pacing rarely if ever lags, and the story focuses on the characters rather than getting bogged down in trying to accurately describe historical detail or tedious political intrigues. Action is exciting and the comedy is subtle, smart and dark... all making for a pleasing 114 minutes of cinema :) Recommended!

MartinHafer This is an excellent Japanese action picture just chock full for fighting, killing and samurai stuff. That's fine with me, as I like that sort of film a lot. However, I don't particularly remember the film being THAT funny and it is certainly not a comedy. I am writing this because based on some of the other reviews, I person might assume that to be the case. Action--YES. Comedy--NOPE.However, I could see the parallel between this movie and the Zatoichi series. Our hero, Ichi, is always looking to help the little guy in trouble and he, too, did bad early in life and is always striving to undo this through good works (like the lead in KILL).

goleson This is possibly the funniest comedy samurai movie, with a more subtle humor than the hilarious Zatoichi series. Stars the brilliant Tatsuya Nakadai.