Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Leofwine_draca At two hours and ten minutes LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI could do with some serious pruning, especially in the romantic scenes which seem to last forever. Yes, some producer or another saw this action-adventure romp and decided to appeal to the teenage girl audience by throwing in plenty of love scenes which only serve to slow down the pace for us red-blooded males. The worst scene in the film is undoubtedly the love-making in the cave which seems to go on and on and on forever. To make matters worse, in the English dubbed version, a cheesy pop song plays out over the "action", which has scant regard for the subject matter of the film. If you think a similar moment in LUST FOR A VAMPIRE is bad, just wait until you see this.Anyway, I digress. LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI is a lengthy, epic-feeling STAR WARS rip-off with a popular fantasy theme. Influences about from George Lucas' aforementioned space opera to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and even CONAN THE BARBARIAN. Director Kinji Fukasaku is the man responsible for MESSAGE FROM SPACE, another STAR WARS rip-off, and here he is dedicated to delivering a straightforward historical romp complete with a colourful palette and some distinguished actors. And unfortunately it's one of those deeply flawed movies which alternates between crashing boredom and ultimate entertainment, a movie where the budget is saved for the finale and the first ninety minutes is really a time waste. In a film where eight "samurais" team up to save a kidnapped princess, it really isn't a good idea to wait until the LAST FIFTH of your movie until the scene where they actually attack. There isn't even any characterisation in the long hours beforehand: the characters just wander around and interact occasionally.The film wins points by being imaginative when it comes to the fantasy aspects. There's an undead witch; dissolutions; an evil statue; magic glowing crystals; a huge, giant, rubbery snake – a cool effect inspired by the aforementioned Schwarzenegger flick – and the cheesiest, fakest-looking giant centipede that you'll ever bear witness to. Throw in some gorgeous girls who have poisoned blood and breath and a surprising display of nudity and gore (watch out for the witch bathing naked in blood like Ingrid Pitt in COUNTESS Dracula); numerous decapitations, skin grafts and gory impalements) and you have one heck of a kid's movie that would never get made in the west! As mentioned, the cast is a quality one. Yakushimaru and Sanada are emotive leads even if such emoting is out of place in a movie like this. Sonny Chiba is of course the best thing in the movie, and the scenes where he gets to kick backside are dynamic. The supporting cast are all pretty good, even if the characters are wooden and prove to be little more than attractive scenery waiting to get bumped off at the end of the film. And what an end this film has. The last thirty minutes alone contain some of the most exciting action and destruction I've seen in a long time. It had me cheering on the lead characters. Rated on its own, this ending would deserve the highest score, but sadly the long mind-numbing build-up drags the overall quality down. Still, if you want to see dozens upon dozens of Darth Vader-lookalike bad guy henchmen getting chopped up with swords and picks, a massive set getting destroyed via some nifty SFX and tons of bloodshed and heroics, then the last thirty minutes are for you. This is a colourful and crazy enough film to warrant a look!

BA_Harrison Although based on a classic Japanese novel, Legend of Eight Samurai owes an awful lot to the work of George Lucas, with plenty of moments inspired by (ie., borrowed from) Hollywood blockbusters Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, with even the occasional nod to Raiders of the Lost Ark; but hey, that's OK, because George owes a lot of his success to Japanese cinema. What goes around comes around, as they say.An epic fantasy tale of good versus evil, complete with gorgeous princess, handsome heroes, and a wicked villain in a heavily guarded fortress, this is unashamed popcorn action aimed at an international market. A great cast (including Japanese action legend Sonny Chiba, international star Hiroyuki Sanada, and the extremely cute Hiroko Yakushimaru), spectacular stunts from Chiba's Japan Action Club, flashy special effects, and brisk direction from Kinji Fukusaku ensure that the film is consistently fun throughout, despite the somewhat random nature of the plot and a running time that clocks in at well over two hours. Fukusaku also manages to lend the whole thing a touch of class with his stylish visuals, giving those of an artistic bent something to appreciate amidst the film's many crowd-pleasing battles.NB. For what sounds like ideal family fare, there is a touch of surprisingly gruesome imagery and some brief nudity which may deter those looking for something non-offensive to entertain the kiddies. For me, though, a witch tearing her face off, the occasional decapitation, and the sight of a naked woman bathing in blood only added to my overall enjoyment.

lost-in-limbo I love samurai films. Especially crazy ones. Cheesy ones. And "Legend of 8 Samurai" (even though the script used ninjas instead of Samurais) doesn't disappoint on both accounts. However for its long-winded running time this gaudy Japanese 80s (even though it looks older than that) period ninja fantasy hokum just doesn't deliver enough of it. Sometimes fairly ponderous (especially the journey part gathering all the 8 ninjas), but many distractions finds its way in. Like the god-awful, out-of-sync dubbing. The tasty dialogues are outrageously daft, but the dubbing only tops it off. It's funny… especially the out-the-place tones in the voices. One character goes about discussing his regrets, where he killed women and children and for some reason the dubbed voice seems so gleeful despite the sorrow-filled actions. Although there's a wry smile evident. Then we get these retro guitar riffs, electronic beeps and power ballads finding its way in. Talk about painful, namely the corny American induced power ballads. You know, it accompanies the love-making sequences or scenes of utter happiness. To balance out the cheese. We get colourful costumes, plastic armour, hokey sets, important historical picture stories, curses aplenty, blood bathing, hysterical screaming, evil cackling, puffed-up sulking, delicious snake eating, heart-felt flute playing, magical crystals, an demon rock with flickering lights, voices from beyond the grave, a gigantic flying snake and centipede (yep it's a sight to behold), glowing bow and arrow set and excitingly kinetic action set-pieces of martial arts combat. It's very well staged with some atmospheric encounters early on and plenty of scope within its framing, but it doesn't really fire in to full gear until it reaches its unsparingly climatic battle of good vs. evil. The stilted plot is dramatic, but at the same time a complete mess involving tragedy, witchcraft, romance and one's fate in almost capturing a surreal daytime serial vibe to it all. Must have been the music soundtrack. Hey was that a car horn I just heard too? The villains are sinister, exaggeratedly zany and pure comic quality. You know, they just build themselves up (being so evil) for one great fall. The 8 samurais (ah I mean ninjas) had some interesting drawings (albeit stereotypical), but their character arches are never truly expanded on. Disappointing. Instead more time is spent on the two young leads (which starred Hiroyuki Sanada). The performances are okay with Sonny Chiba making an appearance. Directed by Kinji Fukasaku (who would be known for "Battle Royale"), there are some interesting visuals and charming special F/X despite the scratchy low-budget look. Daftly out of sorts, but fun junky nonsense."There's no power on this earth that can destroy us". Wrong!

aggie80 Some wonderful pagentry and costumes, but limited actions. This movie has a lot of really great possibilities for some intense character development, but the majority of these threads are cut before the actors have the opportunity to bring out the full potential. The Eight Samurai are closer to being ninja than warriors, some of them not using typical weapons, the young hero fighting with a pair of kama.Some intense magic being used. Instead of using the two hours plus to develop characters and help explain some of the magic happenings, things are really dragged out. The last half hour of the film is by far the best, with some good action scenes and a relatively happy ending. Typical of most Japanese films, the majority of the good guys sacrifice themselves for the good of the whole, with some rather surprising aspects.The sound dubbing is below average on this one, with some drawn out, semi-romantic scenes with 80's pop music thrown in behind them. Most of the special effects, with the exception of the giant 'millipede' are surprisingly good for the era.