Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

foodi Disregard kobushi's review. His years of experience practicing karate have apparently clouded his judgment considerably. No one save perhaps himself and a handful of others cares a hoot about the true to life mechanics of real-world karate. Suffice to say his approach to the film is laughable in its narrow-mindedness.The film presents a deceptively simple and elegantly told martial arts fable, set against a backdrop of an increasingly militarized japan. The fight scenes , tho admirably staged and completely credible (and shocking in their immediacy), are merely the seasoning on a powerful tale of good vs. evil. The stylistic flourishes and acrobatic excesses which plague most other martial arts movies are completely absent, and that is a welcome and long overdue development. The script seamlessly fuses the protagonists' journeys of self-discovery with the setting in which the story unfolds. The director's calm, measured approach is refreshing in its economy, a rare thing in a martial arts film. There is a charming honesty about the whole project that makes it difficult to resist.. As the two protagonists wrestle with their own diametrically opposed natures and strive to discover the secret of their training, the inevitable standoff between them is subdued but satisfying, like the film itself. The supporting characters (and I'm thinking mainly of the evil army general), though two-dimensional, are well-written and performed. The acting is uniformly excellent, a laudable accomplishment since apparently many of the martial artists are non-actors..More than likely the film will be derided by the ADD generation, but i thought it was a welcome return to the style of old Japanese classic films (Reminiscent also of early Bruce Lee movies, in content as well as in spirit). It isn't pretentious or abstruse enough to be labelled an art film, and it shuns the spectacle of mainstream schlock. Kuro-Obi is a humble, poetic film both funny and moving.. and is adorned with a beautiful musical score. a resounding 8/10

kobushi Not sure what the other guy is talking about, but the movie is awful, and I speak from the perspective of one who has almost 10 years experience in the art presented in this movie.Plot (minor spoiler alert): The chasing of a piece of cloth has so little to do with karate that it's silly to even make a movie where this is one of the central plot items. The two characters, Taikan and Giryu compete for their teacher's black belt, which is one of the silliest things that karate people work for. Karate training, actual hard work, body development, and realistic self-defense take a back seat to the competition for something to keep your uniform closed.Acting: For some reason, people seem to think that posing and sulking is acting. It's not. Yes, I suppose the two main characters' acting is better than, say, that of the Military Police in the film or what you see in previous karate movies like Black Belt Jones, but I wouldn't be proud of it. At the best of times it's wooden, and at the worst formulaic. Granted, the script didn't give them much room for much acting, but it didn't sell me. The military police were absolutely terrible - they might as well have walked on and said nothing but "I'm eeeevil, mwahahaha..." Not even a wooden performance, a melodramatic cartoon that would have been better acted by Muppets. (Actually, that might have made the movie more watchable.) This may be what people are calling the Asian style, but so many other Japanese films over the years manage much greater subtlety of character and motivation, and can convey wrongness of character without resorting to overstatements. It's like saying fried Mars Bars are cultural cuisine - they're not, and there are many better things you can do with the ingredients.Direction: Much more emphasis on poetic scenes of people doing karate in tall grass or meditating in windy areas or looking tense and conflicted. The scenes are beautifully and clearly directed, which is the only reason that this gets two stars rather than one. However, the red balloon scene after the beating of Giryu is unrelated to anything and doesn't actually have anything to do with the plot, showing that the director is just trying to play up the "beautiful poetry of Asian cinema" aspect of the film rather than actually trying to make a good movie. More like "Look! Look! This is pretty! Ooh, this too! Look! Imagery..." Basically worthless to the story, but then, they couldn't make a decent movie, so they might as well make it look nice.Fight scenes: JKA Point Kumite is not a fight scene, and techniques from said kumite do not make for good fight scenes. I've never seen anyone in any real fight ever jump in, punch, and jump out again. Not going to happen. Likewise, the "block only" circular patterns that are supposed to cover the Goju-ryu part of the movie does not make for interesting fighting, or any sort of powerful set of techniques that we can believe. Finally, the lack of grappling, tegumi, locks, and throws show just how bad karate is being misrepresented in the film. It's simply a bad sport karate demonstration with no relation to the real art.Overall, this movie is not worthy of the title of karate movie, and I feel should be struck from the record.

orochiklan It was a pleasure to see on screen the true soul of one of the more traditional martial art. The story is great and the masters who play the lead characters do a great job, but for me, what the film was all about is simple as one word: Karate, the soul of the art, the realism of the fights, the Kata, just everything in the movie looks so real and pure. I think in some ways this film reminds me the works of Yoyi Yamada (the hidden blade - the twilight samurai) who also show the realism of the samurai warrior in his last days. For all of you who has practice some kind of martial art, this is a must! but like another comment said, don't expect tony jaa kind of fights, but the simplicity an power of the karate art. great film

teodora_hu The movie tagline: "Real Fight, Real Karate, Real Japan" just says it all. I waited much to see this on DVD.. The movie lived up to my expectations, which were based on the trailer and the fact that the main "actors" are real karate masters of 1st, 5th and 6th dan.The story takes place in the 30's, the country is about to go to war. A military troop arrives at a dojo where 3 guys practice karate with an old master and they soon engage in a fight. The soldiers want to take the building but finally they take the karate pupils, after they demonstrated their strength. The old master soon dies and leaves the black belt - representing their dojo - behind so that the most worthy of them can get it. But they have a lot to learn before.. Giryu (Akihito Yagi) is very naive, while Taikan (Tatsuya Naka) is the opposite of him, so they take different routes. The story, the acting, the movie itself could stand on it's own without any fights. The scenery is nice, the drama, the characters are well built, the directing is very simple, yet powerful, honest. The music is also worth mentioning, it was composed by Naoki Sato.So, what's so special about this movie? That it's real, and it has it all. Great fighters and actors, a meaningful story, a nice movie with a respectful message and representation of karate. The style which - compared to hundreds of movies about flying swordsmen or vengeful kung fu masters - is just not so popular on screen. Maybe that's because it's not about showing off, so it doesn't look that cool at first. Don't expect any wire-work, stuntmen falling ten meters or special effects to exaggerate anything. There is nothing to exaggerate here, because even the simplest, shortest moves look so perfect and powerful that it needs no explanation. This movie makes a lot of things more clear about karate, and gives meaning to it. Reading about the movie on the net I found several karate forums where people praised the actors for being great masters and also nice, humble persons after knowing them. The fact that the movie was also advertised in these circles made it clear that it's not an average action flick. Naka Sensei, who plays Taikan in the movie is an instructor (ranked 6th dan) of the Japan Karate Association and Akihito Yagi (5th dan) is also an instructor and the president of IMGKA (International Meibukan Gojyu-Ryu Karate Association). I hope it wasn't the last movie they appeared in, their charm and talent would be a great addition to Japanese cinema and could further exhibit the true power and meaning of karate traditions.