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Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
64
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Princess Blade, The

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 6 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Kei Kunii
Shinsuke Sato
Kazuo Kamimura (comic)
Kazuo Koike (comic)
Directed by: Shinsuke Sato
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 8, 2003
Running Time: 92 minutes, Color
Origin: Japan
Summary
RATING: R for strong violence
Starring Hideaki Ito, Yumiko Shaku, ShirĂ´ Sano, Yoichi Numata, Kyusaku Shimada, Yoko Maki, and Takashi Tsukamoto
In this hard-boiled action film, Yumiko Shaku stars as the beautiful princess Yuki of the House of Takemikazuchi, a band of assassins formerly employed as the guard of the Mikado elite. (ADV Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
The Princess Blade opens with one of the most note-perfect action sequences ever committed to film.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
It's all story, character and dazzling martial arts violence, as orchestrated by fight choreographer Donnie Yen at breakneck speed.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Richard James Havis
Original and thrilling martial-arts choreography, a lean, hard-driving story and solemn atmosphere make The Princess Blade -- a futuristic tale -- stand way above the pack.
Read Full Review >Variety Derek Elley
A martial arts fantasy in modern dress, but set in an unidentified country and era, The Princess Blade is a tough toasted sandwich with a soft filling.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dave Kehr
Not quite good enough to jump out of the pack of Asian swordplay movies but is too well crafted to sink into utter anonymity.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
It suffers from a dreary middle section. Great movie, mediocre script.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
With its stylized, near-surreal comic-book look and roots, The Princess Blade has all the makings of a cult film.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Park
Yuki's streamlined revenge story (the furious, elegant choreography is by HK maestro Donnie Yen) has in its modest dimensions a surprising grace.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Bradley Gibson
Yumiko Shaku as Yuki is small, beautiful, and stunningly sexy while she plies her deadly skill like a dancer. Her self-assured poise and large expressive eyes say everything that the minimal dialogue doesnt.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Adventurous viewers will find this unusual genre hybrid an intriguing experience, and Donnie Yen's fight choreography is breathtaking.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
This is a movie about excess. It's excessively long (at least it feels that way), the slo-mo is used in excess (so are the swords), and our heroine, Yuki (Yumiko Shaku), when she does emote, is excessively weepy for a coldblooded assassin.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
Can't decide if it's a martial-arts thriller or a sappy soap opera.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
Despite its origins, nearly every visual and storytelling idea in this green-and-black-tinted martial-arts fantasy seems to derive from "Mad Max," "The Matrix" and/or "The Lord of the Rings."
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Yuki Y. gave it a9:
One of the best films I've seen in a long while. Cold-steel action against a cold, lean plot. Superb fighting sequences, though Ito is a bit wooden. Great film on the whole.
Pinku S. gave it a 10:
The best film ever! ^__^ My gosh, it's so cool! Yuki is my forever-idol from now on.
Chad S. gave it a 5:
The last thing we want to see a Takemikazuchi do is help clean some guy's backyard. "The Princess Blade" doesn't want to be a genre film so Yuki wears a white dress, and suddenly, she's squeamish about eating stir-fried worms. When Takashi criticizes Yuki about being desensitized by mortality, we're counting the seconds before, well, you know. "The Princess Blade" may remind you of "The Hulk". Both filmmakers forgot that their core audience came to see a lot of ass-kicking. There's some. But there's also too many scenes of Yuko staring at a body of water. Still, "The Princess Blade" is worth a look because it's fun to see a waif beat up a bunch of guys.
E. Love gave it a 4:
I want to give it a five, but I just can't. There were parts where I was quite bored, and was starting to fall asleep. Those were in the middle. The action scenes were decent, and they weren't varied enough to make it "compelling" action. Basically, the action scenes were all the same, Yuki with a sword--which is cool, but not enough to give it higher than a 4.
