Zatoichi is a 2003 japanese movie about the iconic japanese figure. Guys from bonn to buenos aires who nod off after 10 minutes of yas. Zatoichi at large is the twentythird entry in the japanese franchise about the blind masseur, skilled swordsman and lowly yakuza with a strong moral compass whose words speak louder than his actions. May 31, 2017 zatoichi is a fictional character featured in one of japans longest running series of films and a television series that are both set during the late edo period. Zatoichi is a fictional character featured in one of japans longest running series of films and a television series that are both set during the late edo period. The best martial arts movie series youve never heard of. After daiei was out of commission, toho company took over the films as stated, including 1972s highly popular zatoichi at large, the 23rd film, through to zatoichi at the blood fest in 1973, the 25th film. I would say the consistently excellent first eight, plus zatoichi and the chess expert and zatoichi s cane sword, form the essential core of the series.
Zatoichi may be blind but that physical impairment doesnt stop him from being a master masseur and an even better swordsman. The zatoichi the blind swordsman set ends with zatoichi s conspiracy 1973, but theres no sense of closure like a book as the character moved onto television from 1974 to 1979, and then katsu returned to the role one last time in zatoichi the blind swordsman 1989. On imdb tv, you can catch hollywood hits and popular tv series at no cost. The festival of fire, zatoichi meets the onearmed swordsman 1971, zatoichi at large 1972, zatoichi in desperation 1972, and zatoichi at the blood fest 1973, as zatoichi s conspiracy. Zatoichi, the blind swordsman is one of the longestrunning series in japanese cinema history, spanning 26 movies 196289, 100 tv episodes 197479, and the recent revisionist version by beat takeshi. In trying to help the town, zatoichi kills some gangsters and becomes a. The blind swordsman comes in beautifully designed packaging. He feels honorbound to find the childs family, and discovers they have problems. Oct 27, 2015 zatoichi returns to his home village for the first time in over ten years to find much has changed and that corruption abounds. The blind swordsman 9 bluray deluxe set the colossally popular zatoichi films make up the longestrunning action series in japanese history and created one of the screens great heroes. The 25th film was made in 1973, followed by a hiatus of 16 years until katsus. In the 1960s he starred simultaneously in three longrunning series of films, the akumyo series, the hoodlum soldier series, and the zatoichi series.
Until 1973, no less than twentyfive entries were released. Zatoichi tv series season 3 1978 episode 02 youtube. Zatoichi season 4 episode 22 a spinoff from a popular series of japanese martial arts movies, this television show follows the adventures of zaitochi, a traveling blind masseur who puts his amazing sword skills to good use by fighting organized crime groups and defending the weak and needy. Zatoichi at large is a 1972 japanese film directed by kazuo mori. Jongara bushi song zatoichi darkness is his ally 1989 extrait duration. Zatoichi, zatoichi is a fictional character featured in one of japans. As this iconic figure, the charismatic and earthy shintaro katsu became an instant superstar, lending a largerthanlife presence to the thrilling adventures of a man who. Most films are special orders, so they will take longer to ship than other products. Set during the edo period, zatoichi is a blind masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi comes across a pregnant woman dying from sword wounds and helps deliver her baby. Although you cant go wrong with any of the katsu originals, now i think the earlier ones tend to be the cream of the crop.
This is an episode list for the japanese jidaigeki television series zatoichi. Sep 16, 2015 this list tries to track down not only the greatest, but also the most essential zatoichi films which brought this formula to live, tried to improve it or varied it intelligently. Hopefully, they gave the character a proper sendoff. Zatoichi the blind swordsman was such a hit in japan with 26 movies from 196272 and one more in 1989 that it was eventually turned into a tv series. Along his travels he also met a blind monk who makes zatoichi question his murderous lifestyle. The zatoichi the blind swordsman set ends with zatoichis conspiracy 1973, but theres no sense of closure like a book as the character moved onto television from 1974 to 1979, and then katsu returned to the role one last time in zatoichi the blind swordsman 1989. Shintaro katsu appears on screen as zatoichi for the last time. A variation of the plot had actually been used before in the. If you like the formula, every film will hold its share of great entertainment for you. In this episode zatoichi helps to deliver the baby of a dying mother.
In 1989, one last feature film aired on the big screen. Shintaro katsu, ishimatsu the oneeyed swordsman katsu shintaro 1967 remastered, an osaka story raizo ichikawa 1957 remastered, kojiros turning swallow cut katsu shintaro 1961 remastered, hoodlum priest 1 katsu shintaro 1969 remastered, the whale god shintaro katsu 1962 remastered, yokosuka navy prison shintaro katsu 1973 remastered, 3 young samurai. I would say the consistently excellent first eight, plus zatoichi and the chess expert and zatoichis cane sword, form the essential core of the. May 14, 2010 the zatoichi series has long been an entry point for nonjapanese into japanese films. Zatoichis vengeance season 1, episode 050266 after a bloody mission to deliver a large sum of money to a dying mans son, zatichi questions his violent lifestyle and his future as a. Shintaro katsu, ishimatsu the oneeyed swordsman katsu shintaro 1967 remastered, an osaka story raizo ichikawa 1957 remastered, kojiros turning swallow cut katsu shintaro 1961 remastered, hoodlum priest 1 katsu shintaro 1969 remastered, the whale god shintaro katsu 1962 remastered, yokosuka navy prison shintaro katsu 1973 remastered, 3 young samurai shintaro katsu. Select any poster below to play the movie, totally free. And fight, zatoichi, fight is the best of them all. Zatoichis winning of large amounts at gambling via.
The first, the tale of zatoichi known as zatoichi monogatari in japan, appeared in 1974 and ran for 26 episodes. On a related note, artsmagic released a film called zatoichis pilgrimage on vhs and dvd in the u. This is a list of all the zatoichi movies starring shintaro katsu. Zatoichi s vengeance season 1, episode 050266 after a bloody mission to deliver a large sum of money to a dying mans son, zatichi questions his violent lifestyle and his future as a. The final 1989 film, zatoichi the blind swordsman is missing, possibly due to rights issues, as is the television series. He made 24 installments between 1962 and 1973, and made the last one 16 years later in 1989.
It tells the story of an old blind man named zatoichi shintaro katsu who. All payments on movie orders will be processed at the time of shipment. This deluxe set features the string of twentyfive zatoichi films made between 1962 and 1973. Shintaro katsu who played zatoichi produced the show through his katsu productions. Shochiku did katsus last zatoichi film in 1989, which was produced by katsu productions. The colossally popular zatoichi films make up the longestrunning action.
Ross lynch fires pucks all over the place as he teaches jay how to be a hockey goalie in the special skills season finale. Zatoichi s conspiracy has our hero returning to his hometown and making the acquaintance of his sister, a young orphan raised by the same old woman who raised zatoichi. On a related note, artsmagic released a film called zatoichi s pilgrimage on vhs and dvd in the u. The zatoichi series has long been an entry point for nonjapanese into japanese films. Sadly, the videos in this list appear to have been deleted. The colossally popular zatoichi films make up the longestrunning action series in japanese history and created one of the screens great heroes. This is probably the greatest wandering peasant hero serial of all time, and spans numerous tv episodes and theatrical movies in both noir and color. Being the kindhearted man zatoichi is, he sets our to find the babys next of kin.
It tells how zatoichi meets a dying pregnant woman on the road who got attacked and robbed by an unknown assailant. He helps her deliver her baby before she passes away. Shintaro katsu began his career in entertainment as a shamisen player. This is probably the greatest wandering peasant hero serial of all time, and spans numerous tv epi. Samurai tv series, sakamoto ryoma rebel with a case 1989 remastered, ryoma forever 1997 remastered, yagyu jubei abaretabi tv series sonny chiba star remastered, abarenbo shogun ll new years special 1985 remastered, onihei crime files unibrow 2007 remastered, burning flower 2015 nhk tiaga drama box 2, burning flower 2015 nhk tiaga drama box 3, the two strategists of the. Honor bound, he sets out to find the nextofkin who he discovers have their own problems. Things start off with zatoichi coming across a pregnant woman whod just been attacked. One of criterions bestever home video releases, zatoichi. The film has been released under alternate titles, including the blind swordsman on a mission. Jump to navigation jump to search this article does not cite any.
Zatoichi meets the onearmed swordsman 1971 connects with the shaw brothers series of hong kong produced movies directed by prolific director chang cheh. Welcome to our foreign films page, featuring foreign movies in video and. It was released in the united states by toho international with english subtitles in september 1973. This was followed by a second tv series in 1976, new zatoichi or shin zatoichi, that ran for three more seasons 29 episodes in 1976, 19 episodes in 1978 and 26 episodes in 1979.
Zatoichi comes across a pregnant woman dying from sword wounds and helps. It is his good heart that guides him to have such skills in the face. This is an episode list for the japanese jidaigeki television series zatoichi season 1 1974 no. He switched to acting because he noticed it was better paid. In japanese w english subtitles the blind swordsman continues on his journey and encounters a dying pregnant woman. As this iconic figure, the charismatic and earthy shintaro katsu became. He played the role of blind masseur zatoichi in a series of films in 25 movies between 1962 and 1973, starred and directed a 26th in 1989 and played the role in four seasons of a spinoff television series. New tale of zatoichi masseur ichi enters again 1963. Instead, i will simply say that as long as you are willing to sit through the first few minutes, zatoichi at large is arguably one of the best films of the series.
Shintaro katsu was born on november 29, 1931 in fukagawa, tokyo, japan as toshio okumura. Zatoichi at large was one of the very last movies released in the franchise. The first three sequels the tale of zatoichi continues 1962, a new tale of. Zatoichi at large was released in japan on 15 january 1972 where it was distributed by toho. Although a fictional character, zatoichi is one of japans longest running series of films and a television series. This collection has six discs and the last thirteen episodes of season 1. The festival of fire, zatoichi meets the onearmed swordsman 1971, zatoichi at large 1972, zatoichi in desperation 1972, and zatoichi at the blood fest 1973, as zatoichis conspiracy.
From here, the film evolves into one of the wilder rides in the zatochi series, including such quirky touches as a mysterious child who follows ichi and pelts him with rocks, monkey performances, and an unexpectedly hilarious take on the ronin. Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 3 days to finish once started. The bad guy is an official who also grew up in the same village and was a childhood friend of zatoichi. Zatoichi returns to his home village for the first time in over ten years to find much has changed and that corruption abounds. On the road, zatoichi meets a dying pregnant woman and delivers the child moments before she passes. All of the films are presented in their original aspect ratios of about 2. The character zatoichi is a 19th century blind nomad who makes his living as a gambler and as a masseur. Zatoichis conspiracy msmichel the final film of the original series is a solid entry that broke no new ground but did provide one of the best fight sequences in the entire saga. Her last words were to take the baby to her father. Frequently asked questions how many zatoichi films were made. Artsmagic would do well to fix their mistake, and correctly label the film.
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