Blade of the Immortal

Name: Blade of the Immortal
Genre: Action, Drama
Released: November 3, 2017
Duration: 140 min
Rating: 72
Cast: Chiaki Kuriyama, Erika Toda, Hana Sugisaki, Hayato Ichihara, Kazuki Kitamura

2017

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Ratings

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6.7

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6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Ratings

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Blade Of The Immortal

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Movie Details & Credits

Magnet Releasing | Release Date: November 3, 2017 | Not Rated

Starring: Chiaki Kuriyama, Erika Toda, Hana Sugisaki, Hayato Ichihara, Kazuki Kitamura, Ken Kaneko, Shin'nosuke Mitsushima, Sôta Fukushi, Takuya Kimura, Yôko Yamamoto

Summary: Samurai Manji has taken a lot of lives, both innocent and guilty, and now lives life in feudal Japan as a criminal. After being cursed with immortality until he kills enough evil men, Manji meets a young girl who enlists him to be her body-guard. Swearing loyalty, protection and vengeance against the group of sword fighters who slaughteredSamurai Manji has taken a lot of lives, both innocent and guilty, and now lives life in feudal Japan as a criminal. After being cursed with immortality until he kills enough evil men, Manji meets a young girl who enlists him to be her body-guard. Swearing loyalty, protection and vengeance against the group of sword fighters who slaughtered her family, the unlikely duo set on a remarkable quest to make right against those who did them wrong.… Expand

Director: Takashi Miike

Genre(s): Action, Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 140 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

James Mottram

Dec 11, 2017

Stunning fights and creepy CG come wrapped inside a blade-sharp story, as the swordsman vows to hunt the killers of a young girl’s parents. Truly epic. Read full review

Simon Abrams

Nov 1, 2017

Come for the gory swordplay, stay for the half-serious melodrama. Read full review

The Telegraph Tim Robey

Dec 11, 2017

Blade is arguably too much of a good thing. But hey, that’s immortality for you. Read full review

Gary Thompson

Nov 2, 2017

The movie also runs 2 hours, 20 minutes, which is a lot of dead samurai. The violence is often numbing, and the translations — the movie is subtitled — are sometimes as deadly as the swordsmanship. On the other hand, Blade of the Immortal is flat-out gorgeous. Widescreen, lush, beautiful. Read full review

Jeannette Catsoulis

Nov 2, 2017

Though not nearly as mindful or meaty as Mr. Miike’s 2011 triumph, 13 Assassins, “Blade” is creatively gory fun. Read full review

Maggie Lee

May 24, 2017

The story’s supernatural elements enable Miike to take huge liberties with chanbara, the oldest genre in Japanese cinema, and break free from rigid traditions of choreographing swordplay sequences. Read full review

G. Allen Johnson

Nov 2, 2017

At 2 hours, 21 minutes, feels like a slow death by a thousand cuts. Read full review

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User Reviews

NerdyFanatic

Jan 19, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is Takashi Miike’s most badass movie yet (even more badass than yakuza apocalypse and 13 assassins) and I hope he makes 100 more :). it even tops afro samurai (series and movie), the wolverine (uncut version), and kill bill part 1 in terms of gore and fight scenes, the sword fights are the most insane i’ve Seen (especially the brawl with habaki’s army at the end) and the gore level is **** bananas but that’s Miike for ya ;) lol… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Meth-dude

Feb 20, 2020

Once again Miike does not disappoint with this adaptation of the popular manga series. Supported by good acting performances, great cinematography, very well made fight sequences and a decent soundtrack, "Blade of the Immortal" is never boring and manages to make you care for the characters.Once again Miike does not disappoint with this adaptation of the popular manga series. Supported by good acting performances, great cinematography, very well made fight sequences and a decent soundtrack, "Blade of the Immortal" is never boring and manages to make you care for the characters. If you're a fan of Miike or the original manga series, you will not be disappointed.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Broyax

Apr 25, 2020

De temps en temps, le cinéma japonais accouche d'un bon petit film très typique du folklore local avec moult sabres et autres coupe-coupes et surtout des montagnes de macabés ! mais d'ailleurs, je viens de me rendre compte que c'est tiré d'un manga que je n'ai point lu, alors si on trouveDe temps en temps, le cinéma japonais accouche d'un bon petit film très typique du folklore local avec moult sabres et autres coupe-coupes et surtout des montagnes de macabés ! mais d'ailleurs, je viens de me rendre compte que c'est tiré d'un manga que je n'ai point lu, alors si on trouve dans ce "Blade" machin quelques excentricités, je suppose qu'il ne faut pas s'en étonner outre-mesure...

Bref, ça coupe beaucoup ici et même que ça tache pas mal mais ça n'éclabousse pas autant qu'on aurait pu s'y attendre ou l'espérer... un peu étonnant de la part de Takashi Miike ! Cela étant, ce dernier délivre une réalisation inégale et souvent perfectible : beaucoup de plans mal cadrés, de zooms idiots et de filmage à l'épaule et de secouage de caméra...

Heureusement, ce n'est pas la majorité du temps, malgré une quantité de combats un peu... exagérée sans doute (!)... durant les 2h20 du film (ah quand même !). Il aurait fallu couper un peu, enfin je veux dire élaguer sensiblement, avec responsabilité bien sûr, car on trouve le temps un peu long quand même, l'air de rien.

L'acteur Kimura incarne en tout cas le samouraï le plus cool qui puisse être, volontiers aigri et désabusé mais qui a toujours gardé ce fameux esprit, ce code de la probité, de la justice et de la droiture : l'esprit samouraï en somme. La gamine donne en outre à cet "Immortal" un côté évidemment très "Léon", ce qui n'est pas pour déplaire et par ailleurs l'humour est bel et bien présent, que ce soit dans les excès excessifs ou de nombreux clins d'oeil...

Pari plutôt gagné donc pour ce film de Miike, lequel on le sait est totalement imprévisible et très inconstant dans sa longue filmographie... on ne sait jamais sur quoi on va tomber avec lui. Mais là, ça tombe plutôt bien... finalement !… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Nov 11, 2017

More action and violence than real substance but its development has enough quality and more dynamism than many movies of the genre, the truth is that it turns out to be more satisfying, more entertaining and much more fun.

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

raporgi

Nov 11, 2017

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Not a fan of the manga. the movie feels like a direct to dvd release productionwise. Story is simple and not much going on like in the manga which just seems to be slowly paced and jogs in place because the author while having a not so terribly original concept has no clue what to do with it aside from the usual revenge plot. nothing new or inventive with the fight choreography none of the kills stand-out. you dont really get a sense of how dangerous the itto-ryu is. they come off as kinda lame here(they were also lame in the manga). Its a rental.… Expand

2 of 9 users found this helpful27

BloodAndWine

Jun 22, 2018

The movie has the occasional cool moment but it's bogged down by awkward performances, poor fight scene camera work and editing, and some god awful dialogue. I suppose you'll like it if you're a fan of the source material but without fandom to cloud judgment it's just an overlong movieThe movie has the occasional cool moment but it's bogged down by awkward performances, poor fight scene camera work and editing, and some god awful dialogue. I suppose you'll like it if you're a fan of the source material but without fandom to cloud judgment it's just an overlong movie filled with new baby faced bad guys with questionable hair every 15 minutes.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

imthenoob

Nov 14, 2017

Honestly can't think of a single redeemable thing about this movie. The action scenes were far too close up so you couldn't see any real gore or violence. The one on one fight scenes were almost exactly the same each time with no real choreography going on. They just sort of cut each other aHonestly can't think of a single redeemable thing about this movie. The action scenes were far too close up so you couldn't see any real gore or violence. The one on one fight scenes were almost exactly the same each time with no real choreography going on. They just sort of cut each other a couple times and that's it. The quality of the movie very much screams "straight to video" release and not something you'd pay to go see in theaters. And don't even get me started on the story.

I really wanted to like this one as it screamed 13 Assassins to me. In the end, It was just a massive disappointment. Painfully unoriginal and fails to live up to the big expectations behind it.… Expand

3 of 9 users found this helpful36

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