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Blade of the Immortal

Blade of the Immortal

2017
Drama, Action
2h 20m
Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. (imdb)
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Blade of the Immortal

2017
Drama, Action
2h 20m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 48.16% from 280 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(280)
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Rated 04 Oct 2018
85
91st
Takashi Miike's latest blood soaked action-fest follows Manji, an immortal swordsman on a mission to help a young girl avenge the death of her family at the hands of a vicious gang of super skilled samurai. The fairly disjointed, almost episodic nature of the story betrays its nature as an adaptation of a manga, but the action more than makes up for this shortcoming. The final 30 minutes is an unapologetic orgy of severed limbs and spraying entrails that sees about 200 dudes sliced to ribbons.
Rated 09 Mar 2018
86
76th
Exciting samurai saga is essentially a series of action scenes hung together with contrived exposition, but Miike's effortless, masterful craftsmanship, both in terms of the balletic fighting sequences and the quieter emotional beats, combined with empathetic, involving performances from Kimura and Sugiaski, makes this something special; the tragic underpinnings of these characters act as perfect ballast to contrast against the over-the-top scenes of violent carnage.
Rated 25 Aug 2018
1
16th
Dull and overlong. Hardly any story and the sword fights were even meh. Skip.
Rated 25 Mar 2019
77
65th
I almost awarded a 100 score for Miike's achievement of 100 movies. The combined creative by-product of that accomplishment shines through in this centennial outing: it has a workmanlike precision, but tries for seasoned risks in just the right places. So, it bathes us in blood and isn't afraid to play up its fantasy. Damn good fun from a master director.
Rated 15 Nov 2017
60
59th
I expected to like this more than I did. There is a lot of action and blood and some gore. It has some poorly written dialog and some strange and confusing plot contrivances that heavily subtract from it. The swordplay against the crowds mostly emphasized quantity over quality but were not bad. The writing was a mixed bag as was the direction. Overall, the performances are good. There is a lot to like, but also a few stupid things that really should have been fixed before its release.
Rated 08 Dec 2017
63
18th
'Logan' but with the structural trappings and dragging feet of anime.
Rated 11 Nov 2017
76
73rd
A noticeably mature and restrained Miike still means buckets and buckets of blood, silly gags and insanely choreographed fight scenes. Tons of fun.
Rated 24 Jan 2018
45
36th
(MANJI: THE PROFESSIONAL)
Rated 24 Jun 2018
76
87th
This is a hard movie to write about. On the one hand the film is well directed and solidly acted and on the other the story felt episodic, condensed, rushed with not enough character development to really sell some of the emotions or decisions that the characters make all this while still seeming to drag at times. The film was very stylistic but I felt that there wasn't enough gore and bloody as this is an extremely gory and bloody story. I really liked this but not as much as I had hoped.
Rated 14 Mar 2021
83
83rd
Any action movie would be proud to have Blade of the Immortal's opening scene as their big climax. The actual climax of this film sees Miike back in 13 Assassins territory with a massive, blood-soaked, multi-way battle that lasts for 40 straight minutes. The film's only real faults are the runtime and pacing, which sees the film going on lengthy tangents and adding in extra characters that do not serve the core story. It almost feels more like a condensed TV show rather than a lengthy film.
Rated 05 Aug 2018
50
20th
Tried too hard to stay true to the original that it pretty much failed.
Rated 11 Nov 2017
85
80th
All I wanted was a violent revenge, and the bloodbath was there... although slightly less so than one might expect if you're familiar with Miike. Sure, there is still plenty of blood and squirting, even some pools of it, but he does show a little restraint with how he cuts away. Doesn't bother me at all because it was satisfying. Some little twists and turns kept it interesting from a plot perspective, adding some depth, and the fight choreography was on point.
Rated 22 Nov 2017
41
9th
Parts of this are so so good, but two and a half hours of the not so good is just way too fucking much.
Rated 08 Oct 2017
80
72nd
This was the samurai bloodbath I was waiting for all my life
Rated 22 Aug 2017
65
45th
I will preface this by saying that I'm a fan of Miike, so I'm a little more than biased here. The story is fairly straightforward and probably not all that original, but it's always with his action that Miike shows his flare. This wasn't his best but certainly wasn't his worst. The action sequences are great, and they are well choreographed, but there are moments of silliness that threaten the film overall.
Rated 12 Dec 2017
9
94th
Very fun. Amazing action.
Rated 18 Mar 2018
85
82nd
Manji the killer.
Rated 28 Apr 2018
60
13th
And the most kills by sword in a single movie Award goes to.... But what else was there really?.. Crappy acting and no real story
Rated 16 Aug 2018
80
77th
Blade of the Immortal is a great film that can be approached in a number of ways. It’s a modern action movie. It’s a look at loneliness. It’s a film-lovers tribute to samurai movies (this is where it might be the most fun, with more references than I could catch. Miike pulls nature in like Kurosawa, filling his soundtrack with birds and his scenes with breezes. And why bring Kurosawa if you’re not going to have Takuya Kimura grimace and mug like Mifune in his playful moments?)
Rated 04 Nov 2018
45
21st
Bit of a mess and the story isn't remotely as good or interesting as manga. Mainly because it was both rushed and edited in ways that made it sketchy and therefore not as engaging. Some of the script decisions are straight ridiculous and some of the more interesting arcs were left unexplored. I watched it becuse I enjoyed the manga, but I'd rather I've spent those 2+ hours doing something else.
Rated 21 Dec 2018
80
0th
Bloody samurai movie from Takashi Miike--directing his 100th movie! The first 20 minutes, which establishes how Manji became immortal, is excellent, but then the movie falls into its episodic format, condensing too many episodes into one two hour movie. Still, it's got some impressive fight scenes, undeniable style, and genuine mirthfulness. It reminded me of Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django in its stylish ridiculousness. The movie also has a stunning androgynous villain in Sôta Fukushi.
Rated 05 May 2019
55
16th
Tradition/status quo vs innovation/revolution. In the end love wins. Throughout enjoyable but sticks too much on the template of a japanese sword-fight action movie.
Rated 08 Jun 2022
65
42nd
Thirteen Assassins is probably a bit better, but Blade of the Immortal is still a fun, carnage-packed ride. The story is thin, but there's a reasonable attempt at giving the characters some depth. At the end of the day, both films are indulgent bloodbaths; but damn if they aren't entertaining. Or maybe it's just me. I like swords.
Rated 12 Jul 2020
5
33rd
Cool looking but insanely long and rambling.
Rated 29 Nov 2019
80
74th
What if? The whole movie was black and white. What if? Miike changed a few dozen minutes of the middle part of the movie to something more interesting. Then it would be one of the best films about samurai. Spectacular opening (with one of the best shot I've seen).
Rated 12 Dec 2019
80
68th
Takashi Miike's adaptation of the anime series (itself adapted from a manga series) is the rare live action anime adaptation that mostly works. It helps that it's quite long and lends itself well to an episodic structure, with our hero encountering one minion of the main villain, defeating them, and moving on to the next. All the surviving characters congregate in one place for a massive bloody battle that ties up the film.
Rated 30 Jul 2020
60
35th
Somewhat like a long video game, this starts with a big-boss-fight to finish off one level (life), and then continues from character-fight to character-fight until another big-boss-fight at the end. Thankfully, the fights are well-choreographed and, if you like that sort of thing, filled with spurting blood. The plot is basic enough to hold the story together, but the young girl character is terribly annoying.
Rated 06 Aug 2021
45
15th
I haven't read the manga, I haven't seen the anime, but this movie is as exciting as using the same dodge+attack on a boss with 100000 HP. If they cannot die, then where is the tension?
Rated 28 Oct 2021
52
6th
Whirlwinds of chaos & carnage, battle scenes aren't traditionally "beautiful", rather masterpieces of brutality. Performances are good but for Rin's being rather over-the-top. Found it too long, the climax comes late, likely from an attempt to smoosh in so many of the manga elements. Feels like an oddball slog of chambara seen before with extra blood on the side. I'd watch it again though.
Rated 31 Dec 2021
70
69th
Sick action scenes, all good
Rated 14 Feb 2022
63
15th
The film is technically well-made and has enough cool action scenes to keep the viewers' interest, but that's about all I could recommend. In plot terms it is trying to stuff way too many fights into its runtime, so that there is barely any room to explore the characters, their backgrounds or motivations. Less would definitely have been more in this one.
Rated 11 Mar 2022
77
77th
If you don't know anything about the manga, this movie isn't for you. Miike doesn't even bother for a second to get into anything that isn't a fight scene. But if you enjoy sword fights, boy, this is the movie for you.
Rated 05 Jun 2022
62
63rd
Unfortunately 30-45 minutes too long and not enough plot, just enough to start the and end carnage. Everything else is absolutely fine, wouldn't you get absolutely bored between fights as nothing happens between them!
Rated 03 Nov 2022
56
59th
okay movie
Rated 19 Feb 2024
35
15th
Tentative to rate this, as I entered the screening 45 minutes late.It wasn't too hard to catch on to what was happening. While apparently I missed some good bits, the rest of the film overwhelmingly came across like something that wasn't quite a 'proper' movie, but was too slick to be a solid exploitation gorefest. The problems of many contemporary action films are rampant, with Miike compromising his sadistic streak with quick cuts away from gore.

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