lewiskendell
"So, feel like killing some zombies?"Zombies doing karate. Hot girls in bikinis (and cowboy hats) fighting school girls with samurai swords. Copious amounts of blood and gore. Yep, this must be Japanese.Onechanbara is another entry into the quite popular ultra-gory, shock-action genre of Japanese movies. It's over-the-top in a thousand different ways, and more akin to a video game (which it's based on) than most movies. All the violence is stylized and not the least bit realistic, which fits the tone of the movie perfectly. There's lots of random slow-mo and guns that never need to be reloaded, and even the emotional moments and special effects are handled in a thoroughly cheesy way. There's lots of fighting and enough of a plot to string it all together. What more do you need? As for the story, there's an evil scientist with a weird eye, something about a search for a couple of sisters, and (more importantly) loads o' zombies. I have no idea how closely the plot adheres to that of the games, and I'm pretty sure that the people who made the movie probably don't, either. If you're curious about why Aya wears a bikini and has a sword that appears to be magic, or why Reiko's shotgun never runs out of ammo...well, you're watching the wrong movie. This nothing more than absurd action entertainment, and it ended up being better than I thought it would be. If you're a fan of movies like Machine Girl, you'll be right at home, here.
brettyler
This movie can't be taken serious in any way at all, but it dosen't either. so the blood spatters on the screen, and the horrid effects, just make this film More enjoyable. The movie dosn't really follow the game, the sequel does though, but has an interesting plot, and can really be enjoyed. The actors do their job, and has some funny moments. It also had a part where my wife had cried so, this movie has a little bit of evreything. I can't wait for the sequel to be dubbed so i can watch it. So if your a fan, or someone wanting to watch bikini zombie slayer this movie is definitely for you.! 1 2 3 BIKINI ZOMBIE SLAYERS UNITE!
unbrokenmetal
I write this review 5 minutes after watching the movie, because I'm not sure I'll remember much about it in a few hours except there was a chick with a katana. Aya is on the hunt for her sister (who helped killing their father) and Doctor Sugita who created hordes of zombies. Helped by another lady with a gun, they are mowing down the zombies and then face the above mentioned for revenge - nobody could come up with a more simple story line. It wouldn't be much for a manga you could read in 30 minutes, but it is very little to fill 90 minutes of a movie. No surprise it feels a bit stretched, some fights are lasting too long.Fortunately, it looks really good at least. I liked the digitally enhanced flash of the blade which was very comic-strip like, the little (also digitally painted) blood drops on the camera lens, the well placed flashbacks and slow motion shots, such as the moment when the girl in the white dress is shot, you see the cloud of smoke - and then, already the zombies in the background come nearer. Due to its clever style, it's fun to watch once, but regrettably not the kind of cult flick you'd want to see again and again.
ajax_magnetoface
Who doesn't love the vastly successful Japanese video game The Oneechanbara? You got a hot sexy bikini cowgirl killing zombies? Add some extra characters for each iteration of the game series and its gets even better. (Im sure the new Wii version makes slicing zombies heads off all the more physically exertive so as to stay in physical parity with the main character who seems quite fit.Now the plot of the video game is pretty slim to none, so the movie expands on this by adding SOME plot. Some back-story on the characters is good, as well as a motivation to kill zombies and why of course there ARE zombies running amok. But nowhere does anyone ever bother to mention why she is always wearing a bikini and cowboy hat. Perhaps there is a vague "Fistfull of Dollars"/"Galaxy Express 999" reference here, but still, for those of us probing the sartorial functions of Oneechanbara's battle dress, I guess we should just sit back and enjoy it without asking such pointless questions.The film action then is very much like the game action and therefore lots of fun. The fight scenes are the highlights and really shine. The pathos and drama are pretty standard but necessary. The whole picture tho is quite low budget and lacking any sort of quality acting talent. I believe the main actress was either a DVD pinup idol or a soft core porn star, so we'll just say she's got a good future if the movie turns franchise. Maybe they'll explain more in a sequel. In the meantime, hell, she's a hot zombie killing bikini girl! Take that Milla Jovovich!
AD
