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13 Assassins
13 Assassins Image
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Metascore
87 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 23 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 59 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: A brave samurai must assembles an elite team of thirteen killers to assassinate the brother of the Shogun, a sadistic and well protected young lord who's above the law, raping and killing innocents with impunity. The film culminates in a mind-blowing, forty-five minute battle sequence that rivals anything seen before in the genre. (Magnet Releasing) … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    May 12, 2011
    100
    13 Assassins is, at turns, thrilling and funny, visually exquisite and emotionally charged.
  2. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    Apr 29, 2011
    100
    Visually spectacular, with wide-screen cinematography from Nobuyasu Kita, impressive, full-scale sets and special effects and exhausting, immersive action scenes, 13 Assassins is pretty nearly the samurai classic it sets out to become.
  3. Empire
    Reviewed by: Kim Newman
    May 2, 2011
    60
    A decent historical drama, with one of the best extended battle scenes (a full half of the movie is the face-off in the 'village of death') in recent memory.

See all 23 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 22
  3. Negative: 2 out of 22
  1. mrich
    10
    The story is so simple, but it offers so much depth as well as plenty of room fever dreamt carnage. This was such an amazing movie. If you are a fan of samurai movies this is a perfect movie to watch. The last thirty minutes is one of the best battle scenes I've seen since Lord of The Rings.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. MarcDoyle
    9
    The first three or four minutes had me slightly worried about how accessible this movie might be, but shortly after the introduction, it grabbed me by the throat, and I was wide-eyed and enthralled throughout. What was most welcomed, for me, was the steady strand of humor running through it. The extreme violence and cruelty at the outset, and the resultant revenge plot and execution would have been too heavy without some lighter moments, and Miike draws an excellent balance. Koji Yakusho's performance is stellar, and the "13th" Assassin is hilarious. Really solid film.… Expand
    • 2 of 2 users said yes
  3. JP_
    1
    Terrible. The same crap that I've seen in every samurai movie, repeated step by step and image by image. If you want to see yet another Samurai movie that starts with a monster-leader doing atrocities on innocent people, so that you feel no torture or death is good enough for him, then progress to the little guys defeating the big guys by each of them hacking 10 people to death with simple strokes, this is the movie for you. Why not just watch Seven Samurai again? The high critical reviews for this movie astonish me.… Expand
    • 2 of 6 users said yes

See all 22 User Reviews

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