Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

mevmijaumau Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (Zatoichi #12), known under the more obscure title Showdown for Zatoichi (while the original title translates to something like Zatoichi's Infernal Journey) is director Kenji Misumi's third Zatoichi film and is often brought up by fans when discussing the best entries of the series. While I certainly understand why some people would think this was one of the better ones, I don't really hold it in much of a high regard, especially when compared to previous Misumi films.#12 doesn't throw a lot of its budget on action sequences, focusing instead on character-driven drama and suspense. The few action scenes we get sadly can't hold a candle to sword-fight choreography of previous installments, although the violence in #12 is a bit more brutal at some points. The characters are nothing new, really. There's the love interest, the endangered kid and the obligatory up-to-no-good ronin dressed all in black (the titular chess master). However, we do get an ass-kicking lady taking vengeance on the said ronin, and this isn't really the shiniest spot in Zatoichi's career either. His gambling streak oscillates and he is really clumsy in this movie.It is kinda refreshing that there is no criminal organization in cahoots with the officials this time, but the major problem of the film that it spends too much of its running time on numerous run-on-the-mill gambling scenes instead of developing the female samurai sub-plot. Also, the ending is rushed. So, so rushed. The only thing I got out of this movie is that chess figures had a very unimaginative design in feudal Japan.Highlight of the film would probably have to be Zatoichi's mini-speech on dirt: "The man you're looking at is dirt. And everyone who comes close to him or touches him, in one way or another gets muddied by that dirt. There's nothing I can do about being dirt myself, but I don't what you to get mired in my dirt."

Tom (bighouseaz) The year is now 1965 and this is the twelfth entry in the Zatoichi series. Far from being stale, Zatoichi and the Chess Master heralds the start of a three film run of some of the best the series has to offer. Katsu Shintaro is now fully adept in his role as Zatoichi and director Misumi Kenji does an excellent job with the material. The story is full of surprises and little twists and turns. Some people compare Zatoichi to Columbo, and it's easy to see why here.There is not a great deal of fighting in the film, but there is suspense and great character development. Two scenes are especially moving. First, when the little girl (Miki) is cured thanks to the medicine that Zatoichi procures at great danger to himself. Miki thanks Zatoichi, and Zatoichi is all choked up. All he can do is run out of the room, full of emotion, and truly blind. He runs head first into a wooden pole, stops, and pounds his head into the pole a few more times. The second memorable scene is the scene where the Chess Master (Jumonji) begins to believe that Zatoichi has the crime figured out. Zatoichi leaves the room, the two are only separated by a thin shoji screen. Jumonji slowly grabs for the hilt of his sword. On the other side of the screen, Zatoichi stands completely still, his hand moves towards the hilt of his sword. A tense moment ensues before Jumonji relaxes and so do we all! Zatoichi feels the Force. Now he probably passes his time practicing with Yoda somewhere far, far away.

Gary-The King-Tooze Zatoichi films are all pretty similar. There are gambling (dice) scenes, Zatoichi vs. large gang fighting scenes, massaging scenes (usually of beautiful women), Zatoichi eating and drinking scenes, bath scenes, travel sequences, often a scenes with a child (or children) - and they all wonderful. One other consistent element is that they all are shot in glorious widescreen and contain some exquisite cinematography. I always find at least a couple of scenes in each film of this series to be quite breathtaking - certainly worthy of pondering over. I find these films so appealing regardless that I know exactly what is to come.In this chapter Zatoichi meets a rather confident and intelligent foe in the guise of a chess expert. This is, of course, after he has easily defeated all his lesser foes who seek vengeance on his gambling prowess (sound familiar?). We have a female love interest and Zatoichi spurning her because of his opinion of his own "lowlife" status. All in all I was more enthralled with the first 3/4's of this particular film, but felt it failed slightly at the end. Still I think the world of Zatoichi so I give this 4.5 /5

zetes There's little to recommend about this cheaply made samurai film. The films of this genre boast great patience, but within that patience there ought to be at least a few good samurai battles. There are only two real battles in this one. The first one has a neat setting, but it takes place during the night and it is so dark that it is difficult to see anything. The climactic battle, which is actually two consecutive battles, is very good but nothing compared to those in much more well known samurai flicks. The editing of the film is consistently poor and reduces the effectiveness of many of its scenes. This movie is only 90 minutes long, but it feels as long as The Seven Samurai. 5/10.