Zatoichi: The Festival of Fire

Strong villain, misumi injecting visual flair, a tastefully darkened tone that doesn't lose its humor, a plot that takes a break from defending villages and women, a quite unique totally nude bathhouse showdown, and Ichi announcing "now this is the entertainment" before killing everybody all comine to make this stand as the Zatoichi I'd probably generally recommend over any other.

My favourite Zatoichi movie (of the ones I've seen), The Festival of Fire contains a perfect blend of humour, intrigue and lightning fast swordplay. Features Zatoichi in an unbelievable fight against about 20 other guys in a bath house, did I mention they are all naked?

Not always fond of the humor in it, and found it awkward to see Zatoichi walk like Charlie Chaplin. Still, it has some amazing and elegant swordfights, and some great shots. The bickering couple was however quite funny, love those kicks

My first Zatoichi film and I have to say I really enjoyed it to small pieces. A stylish & exciting mix of suspenseful crime intrigue, kickass chanbara, pulpy life-philosophy, geysers of blood & great comedy. The central character is charming as hell and the story here is pretty well constructed with interesting side-characters & a narrative that romps along with ease. Favourite scene: Zatoichi fights off about two dozen naked yakuza in a bath-house by kicking buckets over their heads!

Thin and tenuous plotting aside, this installment has much going for it. A memorable yakuza boss who, being blind, has a point of identification with Ichi. Tatsuya Nakadai. Some of Kazuo Miyagawa's most extraordinary imagery (which says a lot). A few select moments of rather avant-garde montage. Plenty of laugh-out-loud buffoonery. It's just cool as hell, dripping with style, and makes a strong case for being the best Zatoichi film.

Zatôichi abare-himatsuri estreava há 50 anos no Japão. Estou assistindo a série de cinema do Zatoichi conforme a Versátil vai lançando, mas hoje pulei para o de número 21. Não tem nda que não seja ótimo aqui, mas quero explicitar três coisas: 1- Toda a sequência dos yakuzas pelados na casa de banho é sensacional. 2- Subtexto queer num chambara, o que é bem inusual. 3- Nakadai. Não sabia que ele estaria aqui e eu o amo. Blu-ray rip VXT.

This is a really odd Zatoichi film. It's packed to the gills with plot threads, and a lot of them just don't sit comfortably with each other. It has some really lighthearted moments ... particularly a nude sword fight in a public bath and all the scenes with Pîtâ, and some ferociously dark and grim sequences. It's a collection of really great sequences ... the climactic battle in a burning pool is amazing ... but it doesn't hang together as a coherent film.

I think this might have been my highest PSI among the Zatoichi films. As it turns out, I didn't really find the story convincing, and none of the secondary characters (this installment's Femme Fatale, Nakadai's rival ronin, the campy pimp) were great. However, this one does feature the series' most nefarious villain, a comical manzai-style interlude with a country bumpkin couple, a great naked bathhouse battle, and a fantastic climactic trap for Ichi.