13 Assassins (2010)

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A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord. (imdb)

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Directed By: Takashi Miike

Written By: Kaneo Ikegami, Daisuke Tengan

Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Hiroki Matsukata, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya, Mikijirô Hira, Arata Furuta, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Masataka Kubota, Seiji Rokkaku, Goro Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura, Ikki Sawamura

Genres: Drama, Action, Adventure

Franchise: Samurai Revolution

AKA: Jûsan-nin no shikaku

Country: Japan, UK

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13 Assassins belongs to 38 collections

1. Edgar Wright 1000 Favorite Movies (Aug 2016) (collaborative: moderated by Aron Ericson - 16 stars)

2. Samurai (collaborative: moderated by mpowell - 12 stars)

3. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 12 stars)

4. Remake (collaborative: moderated by td888 - 9 stars)

5. The Gentlemen's Guide To Midnight Cinema Podcast (collaborative: moderated by Coheed - 9 stars)

6. Martial Arts (collaborative: moderated by doganay - 8 stars)

7. Criticker's Incorrect Release Dates (collaborative - 7 stars)

8. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)

9. Capsules, guest reviews, list candidates... (366weirdmovies) (collaborative: moderated by sesito71 - 5 stars)

10. Top 3000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 5 stars)

11. IMDb Top of The 2010s (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 4 stars)

12. Ensemble Cast (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 3 stars)

13. Netflix Watch Instantly (public: dgeiser13 - 2 stars)

14. mwgerb's Netflix Instant Queue (public: mwgerb - 2 stars)

15. Timeout's 100 Best Action Movies (public: horrorjames - 2 stars)

16. Netflix instant LATAM (collaborative: moderated by Roman_Herbom - 1 star)

17. Chanbara (public: PerryStroika - 1 star)

18. A.V. Club's 100 Best Films of the Decade (so far) (public: kevinjoseph - 1 star)

19. 2011 US Theatrical (collaborative: moderated by DrBroel)

20. FThisMovie JB's Top 10 (collaborative)

21. Fantastic Fest 2010 (collaborative)

22. Jidaigeki (collaborative: moderated by tirefeet)

23. DtC Doubling the Canon 2021 Nominees (collaborative: moderated by lineuphere)

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Order by:

TCI | Percentile | Date Rated | # Stars (Reviews)

Stars	User	Rating
6	FrederikA	80 _86th
An uncharacteristically subdued Miike does an updated version of 7 Samurai, and as ... HOLY SHIT!!! AMBUSH! FUCK YEAH!! KILL 'EM ALL!!!
4	Anomaly	83 _81st
Miike's tribute to the samurai genre features subdued drama contrasted with an explosive forty-minute long climax. In order for that climax to work in the time allotted it must sacrifice some characterization, but it makes up for that with the sheer spectacle of the action, incredible visuals, and the rich subtext attacking honor and patriarchal values. My soft spot for samurai flicks probably helped a bit too, but this is some pretty great fun all around.
4	Mentaculus	84 _80th
Those that say Miike is playing it straight are ignoring his sinister, sly smile. Miike's work has always been about exaggeration, and here the stab is at bushido and patriarchy - which is why the sadism and melodrama, respectively, works. There is a lot to love, from the candlelit cinematography to Koji Yakusho, who completely carries the film, as he always does.
3	BillyShears	90 _92nd
"Blah blah blah" *hour long fight scene
3	Barthalen	79 _77th
A mix of movies we've all seen before. That doesn't mean 13 assassins is bad, it was even surprisingly entertaining. At times a bit dark, never too over the top, and then there's a huge final battle where scores of people come to a bloody end. Too bad most characters weren't developed enough for you to care about their fate, and as a whole it just isn't satisfying enough to become truly awesome.
3	Jazzaloha	83 _95th
Where Seven Samurais is more a drama than an action film, 13 Assassins flips that around. Chess game strategy, clever tactics and more action replace the villagers and more nuanced character development--with the slight exception between the leader and his nemesis. The latter recalled the dynamics of De Niro and Pacino in Heat (much better in this film, imo). More than that, though I think of this as a Sam Peckinpah version of Seven Samurai.
3	hellboy76	70 _79th
Don't let the slow start fool you, it's just building up momentum for an insane finale.
3	JSchlansky	93 _94th
It's like 300, but way better, and not that much like 300. The film does a great job of cultivating a hatred for the villain as well as building up the stakes and tremendous odds facing these 13 Assassins before unleashing a record smashing 45 minute battle sequence that leaves you in blood-soaked awe.
2	MartinTeller	68 _32nd
A few of the 13 have distinct personalities, but for the most part they're kind of a bloody blur. It doesn't help that the first act is a whirlwind of names, locations and second-hand stories. Once the action kicks in, it's fairly enjoyable. Miike's talent for creative gore is put to good use and he crafts some inventive battles. But despite a few interesting moments, there's an emptiness to it. I don't mind Miike getting more conventional, but something more original would have been nice.
2	TheDenizen	85 _91st
A group of samurai are tasked with assassinating the mad half-brother of the Shogun before he can rise to any kind of political office and disrupt the peace. A surprisingly serious samurai drama from Takashi Miike, capped by an incredible massive battle sequence as the 13 ambush the evil Lord and his 200 men in a tiny village. The set up is pretty leisurely paced but the explosive finale is worth it...there's some great sword fighting and a stellar one on one duel at the end.
2	Ytadel	6 _70th
Rather entertaining samurai flick with a crazy, lengthy finale, a cool hero and an enjoyable evil villain. Moves like crazy and felt shorter than its runtime. Only about four or five of the titular assassins receive any depth beyond a name, though, which holds it back from greatness (oh, and CGI flaming bulls).
2	LennyNero	95 _96th
This was jaw-droppingly awesome. Despite being one of Miike's most "conventional" movies in terms of plot and crazyiness its also its best looking and best directed movie. Obviously one could go on and on about how amazing those 40 minute action scene at the end is without ever getting boring but that would be an insult to the great tensionbuilding 80 minutes that come before it.
2	NathanDarko	98 _98th
Halleluja! After 40 years of non present Samurai Flicks Miike created this wonderful genre gem. This movie is simply amazing from the beginning til the end. Setting, costumes, battles, characters, this one has it all. I guess Kurosawa would be proud.Furthermore I had never expected such a great and epic movie.
2	begoniabol	79 _77th
Pretty entertaining. One quite creepy moment at the beginning of the movie, and the final fight was pretty cool. Lost some points with one of the last sentences: "I'm going on a ship to America and screw many women". That totally lost the '19th century Japan' feel' for me
2	CRAYON	90 _86th
Wow, what a good movie. I really loved the cinematography, it was downright beautiful. The characters were really fun to watch and they carried the plot forward at a great pace. Quite the serious work by Miike, but it still includes his typical dark humor and violence. The ending is amazing.
2	Rocketlucco	35 _19th
Overall Enjoyment: 15/40, Plot/Themes: 5/20, Cinematography/Direction: 10/20, Acting/Writing: 5/20 This psuedo-remake of seven samurai suffers from a serious identity crisis . The first half of the movie has a slow build up with very dark overtones, while the second half forgoes the serious atmosphere in lieu of slapstick sterotypical B-grade action movie gags and fight scenes. If that wasn't jarring enough the film then attempts to switch back to the more austere atmosphere for the finale.
2	Okkervil	72 _71st
Never develops into the something deeper that the first 30 minutes hint at. Not that I'm complaining, I still enjoyed this alot, but the excellent performances are much better than the simplistic writing & woefully underdeveloped plot & characters deserve. The last third is pretty epic however, with the village ambush nothing short of balistically entertaining & the final sword fight supurb. Miike's photography is as crisp as ever & Kōji Yakusho & Gorô Inagaki are the pick of the cast.
2	Bunken	80 _88th
If you like Samurai flicks... Do not miss out on 13 Assassins! It has it all. A vicious Lord, an old samurai who gathers a team only to be wastly outnumbered, harakiri's and of course lots of talk about honor and the way of the sword! An almost hour long battle sequence is alone worth it, but Miike's build up is also great. Especially the evil lords wrongdoings to his people leaves you with nothing but hatred and a wish for him to be head-chopped!
2	homosuperior	80 _49th
Essentially a populist critique of the Japanese Shogunate past, this samurai revenge tale presents stately, sometimes creepy widescreen compositions in its first half and delivers furiously choreographed fight scenes in its second, bursting with appropriately nihilist energy. I was reminded both of Cimino's unfairly maligned Heaven's Gate and Eisentein's October!. It held my attention throughout and seems like the sort of film that gets better on a second viewing.
2	natebarrios	80 _86th
Pretty badass. It's like an old school jidaigeki film tinged with chaotic and wonderful action of this generation. Don't expect an ultra-violent Miike movie--this is pure homage to the classic samurai film.
2	Paxton	79 _85th
Ode to "Seven Samurai" is a strong entry in the genre. Not as nuanced as "Twilight Samurai," but a lot of fun. If the end seems over the top, then pretend you're watching a fictional movie.
1	cagedwisdom	50 _38th
A good film, but I felt the beginning left a lot to be desired. The nearly hour-long action sequence makes it more than worth sitting through though. Definitely Miike's most "normal" film that I've seen, and I can't really decide whether that's in its favor or not. It's similar in many ways to Sukyiaki Western Django (at least as far as the (never-ending and awesome) battle sequences are concerned) and I must admit I prefer that one, but this is definitely a worthwhile samurai flick.
1	Alex Watkins	3 _38th
Like most, I can't compare this to the original, but I can compare it to its most obvious and widely-seen influence: Seven Samurai. And while this lacks the complex characterization, epic sweep, and emotional resonance of that film, what it does have is a hell of a lot of brutal, bloody action. It's like Hard Boiled with swords. Take that as you will.
1	PeaceAnarchy	83 _72nd
A little uneven, with too much political intrigue in the first half and somewhat repetitive fighting scenes in the second half, but on the whole it's pretty enjoyable.
1	KasperL	70 _65th
Well-produced samurai flick which moves slowly up until the battle bonanza that is the last third.
1	whatismyname	65 _63rd
It's been some time since I've seen a film with long, interesting battle scenes, and for about an hour at that. It's a simple story, evil guy is evil, a few people take on a lot, and battles galore.
1	Detox	83 _70th
Definetly more conventional than the other films of Miike that I saw, but not worse. The problems first: 120 minutes are just not enough time to introduce 13 charakters. At the end, when the action really starts, it's hard to say who is who. The Plot isn't that good either (this guy in the woods reminded me a little bit too much of Toshiro Mifune in "The Seven Samurai), but I had the feeling that Miike really brings this "Samurai honor" thing into question and the film was very entertaining too.
1	janus	60 _32nd
The craft is there in the excellent photography, costumes, and exciting fights, but there's little art to speak of and as a whole the film feels oddly empty and confusing.
1	moraesfelipe	80 _85th
Can I really say something relevant about this movie? Total Massacre.
1	QVT	85 _88th
It knows exactly what it wants to do and it does it very well. Other reviewers should stop being so dickish about the director, dude wanted to get paid i respect that. TOTAL MASSACRE
1	astrakhan	80 _74th
One of the few "X badasses" movies I actually liked. It's impossible to keep track of who's who, but this simply does not matter once the film gets into its insane non-stop action sequences, some of the best epic-scale sword battle scenes ever committed to film. Action, action, action are the 3 top reasons to watch this film. Maybe there is some semblance of history, characterisation, meaning as well, maybe that is under-developed, but honestly who cares with such awesome fight choreography?
1	JacoIII	40 _54th
13 Assassins suffers from it's length. Characters are introduced and plot is explained but it all feels shallow. The last 45 minutes is an awesome, bombastic fight sequence that suffers because the viewer knows so little about the heroes. Not much is felt, when one is struck down. The best non-fight scenes all involve the insane (and very well acted) Lord Naritsugu, who is now one of my favourite bad guys. In summary, this movie taught me that there was a reason 7 Samurai was 3 1/2 hours long.
1	Piglet	75 _79th
It takes a wild to get the momentum going, not helped by overstating how bad the bad guy is, and lacks a fair bit of characterdevelopment, but once the old man gets it up the rear, it's gung-ho all the way through to the end.
1	Judge Holden	4 _51st
It's like watching a violent but imaginative child smash action figures together for two hours. Govern yourself accordingly.
1	filmfreak88	85 _89th
I rarely see such beauty and brutality juxtaposed so well.
1	Cinema_Asia	70 _56th
Some shades of seven samurai here with characters that seem inspired by that film and an OK plot but the payoff isn't all that good. We don't get to know the characters well enough to care about them. At times the action scenes use too many close ups and not enough wide shots as in the classics to show dramatic set pieces. The gore was somewhat subdued for a Miike film but there was still lots of sadism on screen. Overall a nice current interpretation of the jidaigeki genre but nothing special.
1	misterlizard	75 _79th
Great historical romp full of stern-faced samurai and honour and all that nonsense. Takes a while to get going and we never really get to know the assassins well enough to care about their fate, but the lavish visuals and epic final battle make up for it.
1	thegreyfox	60 _31st
This film was like a kids painting ... you have no idea what it is supposed to be but it looks like they had fun making it ! ... the plot is simple enough, but the film doesnt know whether to ram the samurai message of honour down your thoat, to be a comedy ( 13th samurai for eg ) or to be gorily and brutally realistic, which it most definitely wasnt. I was left wondering what the aim of the film was. As we did not get to really know the assassins, I for one didnt care about their fate one bit
1	maakal	46 _8th
As much as I tried to concentrate, I could not bring myself to care the slightest bit about this film, its characters or their story. Lots of death death death death and nothing else.
1	NothingsGood	70 _74th
13 Assassins moves Miike's visual and sardonic flare into the realm of the Samurai complete with a 40 minute third-act battle, two instances of harakiri, a limbless and tongueless farmer's daughter, a batshit crazy feudal lord, and bulls on fire.
1	damil	80 _90th
I thought this movie was awesome. The samurai always make interesting subjects, with their high sense of honour and duty. It had a lot more humour than I was expecting, and I liked that. Also, I was expecting more blood and gore, but there wasn't too much. Overall, it was a really enjoyable movie with fantastic action, great dialogue and beautifully shot by Miike.
1	CMonster	89 _90th
Like Ocean's Eleven with murder and samurai instead of money and thieves.
1	ribcage	94 _96th
Beautiful tribute to classic samurai. Expertly paced as it builds to its main event...which for its scale and runtime the word "climax" doesn't do it justice. Great cinematography, a must for any good samurai film. Nearly every character gets one badass moment of both drama and violence. Not normally a fan of miike but this is an incontestable classic
1	KramYessev	72 _62nd
Leave it up to Miike to breathe life back into Samurai films in such a spectacular, if not flawed, fashion. Probably his most visually astounding film to date, everything looks perfect for the time period and the locations are breathtaking. Whilst not as impressive as scenes from "Warrior King/Ong Bak 1&2", the almost hour long battle is a true spectacle to behold. This probably would have worked better as a miniseries, to focus more on character development so we actually care when people die.
1	backwardsuit	77 _72nd
Dark intrigue within dying power-structures, dualistic frame of character setup & explosive action, a hardened master in search of redemption, unyielding loyalty to the bitter end, graphic deconstruction of the bushido ideal. Any of this sound familiar? It's kinda like, well... EVERY SAMURAI FILM EVER MADE. Strong themes, strong drama, strong violence & ageless classical style (surprising from Miike). Plus it works hard to present the well worn ideas in proper historical/cultural context.

Average Percentile 61.5% from 1561 Ratings