Azumi on DVD (2003)

David Levy from Totteridge, London , 05/11/2004

Japanese pop star Aya Ueto is the Azumi in question in this enjoyable romp from the director of 'Versus'.

Azumi is a very interesting and varied movie, and is certainly a lot more pallatable than some of Korean cinema I have seen recently, which tends to fall somewhere inbetween incoherant and jumbled.

Azumi starts as the story of a group of young people, trained for one particular mission - to assasinate the various war-mongering leaders of Japan. It does change course halfway through though, and the jumps in story keep it interesting and fresh. The characters are pure comic book, and there is enough gore to satisfy even the most blood-thirsty viewer.

Azumi is well worth checking out. It's fast paced, impeccably shot, and, in its female lead, it has someone more beautiful and more deadly than Kill Bill's The Bride ever could be.

  19 out of 21 people found this review helpful

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jorseyblair from WEST MIDLANDS , 05/12/2004

This is one of the best Japanese swordplay epics I've ever seen.

Right from the start the scenery and fight scenes are stunning and a good story line to boot.

Any fans of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' will love this film.

10 out of 10. Perfect.

  16 out of 16 people found this review helpful

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andylondon from London , 09/01/2007

Azumi could potentially have been a very good film but doesn't quite hit the mark. Contributing factors the terrible soundtrack, poorly translated subtitles, average acting and clunky story (though this last one may be, at least in part, down to those subtitles). I wouldn't say the two hours I spent watching this weren't enjoyable but it wasn't a particularly engaging film and it would seem to suffer from not really having the budget the makers wanted (or needed) in order to do it properly. There is some good sword play though and it's worth renting just for the last 20 minutes, when you'll find out where most of the budget was spent.

  12 out of 12 people found this review helpful

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sadboy69 from tyne & wear , 10/02/2005

Along with Princess Blade and Lady Snowblood, Azumi is one of only a handful of girl swordplay movies.

Stunning action, good story, well worth 2 hours of your time.

  11 out of 11 people found this review helpful

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Devilman from cornwall , 07/03/2005

Wow! I am a big fan of eastern films but I find most have great fight scenes but no real soul to them i.e Princess Blade.

In this film I found I cared for all the characters and was moved throughout. Ironic that the weakest character was Azumi herself, who clearly has no martial arts experience. Still a fantastic film that all who watch will enjoy and any who loves eastern films will fall in love with, a masterpiece!!

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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shingo from Beverley , 08/11/2006

Crack team of asassins to bring justice to civil war torn Japan in the Tokugawa period. Having seen a few Kurosawa epics, I thought I knew what was coming. Basically this is an old subject jazzed up for the youth market. Be warned - this film has a HIGH body count - lots of splurting blood - but not too many twitching limbs or corpses.

The JPop sound track and casting add to the effect that this is a lavish pop video set in the 1600's. A bit like the central character - looks good - doesn't say much.

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful

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