Zatoichi & the chest of gold
Zatoichi heads to a village to pray at the grave of a man he killed in error. While this is going on a gang rob a money train carrying the gold that represents the yearly taxes of the village. A robin-hood like gang of Yakuza are framed and killed off for the crime however it emerges its actually the work of a corrupt magistrate. Enraged Zatoichi heads off for justice. We also get the star of Lone wolf & cub appear as another master swordsman Z must defeat.
Its a frentic and fast paced Samurai flick and another great entry in the series.
Zatoichis flashing sword
After getting shot in the back, Zatoichi is rescued by the daughter of a kind hearted Yakuza boss. Z heads to his house to say thanks and ends up helping him against the machinations of a black hearted rival boss. Infuriated by the advantage Zatoichi provides his rival he manages to persuade the knd hearted boss to send Z packing. Once out of the way he moves in with his gang and exterminates his rivals in one fell swoop. Unfortunately for him Zatoichi figures things out and heads over to exterminate the villain and all his henchmen!
The final showdown in this is actually one of the most thrilling, visually exciting piece of cinema i've seen in a while. It moves from Zatoichi extinguishing the lights as he kills off various henchmen and then proceeds to an extended, above view single take of Z murdering his way down a corridor as fireworks explode overhead illuminating the frame. This is possibly one of the best Zatoichi films so far for me.
Fight zatoichi, fight!
Zatoichi gets to show a more sensitive side as he must escort a baby to its father. All the while pursued by assassins constantly attempting (and failing) to kill the blind masseur. On the way he picks up a female sneak thief and they form a sort of surrogate family. Somewhat more sleight and certainly not as viscerally thrilling Zatoichi's flashing sword, this one is probably more character driven and emotional and richer in human drama. It's great, but lacks the buzz of the previous films climax.
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