Sukiyaki Western Django (2008)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Welcome to the twisted mind of one of Japan's greatest ever directors. Try not to notice Quentin Tarantino's chin invading everything that has his name on it recently, this man is responsible for everything Tarantino wishes he'd thought of while he wastes his time recreating WWII history or labelling films, that have no slashing or horrifying, slasher horrors! Sukiyaki Western Django is a tribute of sorts to original spaghetti western, Django, but also an original in its own right. When a mysterious young gunman walks into a small town in the desert, he is faced with the factions of two opposing houses; the Reds and the Whites. They are at war with each other and have been since immediately after they split from the same bunch.The Whites are ruled by a zen but cold-hearted sword brandishing leader and the Reds by a crass gun-slinging pirate-like slob leader. Standing between the bitter rivals are an aging ex-outlaw woman named Bloody Benton and a helpless Sheriff who's so extremely schizophrenic that he frequently has physical fights with himself.By choosing to stay in town and causing rumours to spread the gunman triggers the war they've all been waiting for, unleashing all the rage and uncovering their true agendas as he reveals his own; vengeance! The film goes much deeper than I can explain without spoiling it but what makes this film such a gem is that it was aimed at English speaking audiences, making its Japanese cast speak solely English; a language which they were clearly not familiar with. It makes the frequent comedy scenes between the tragedy and bitterness so much more enjoyable and gives the film that exploitation cinema feel that people have been raging about the past five years without even trying. Basically because it is exploiting itself.Quentin Tarantino has a role in the film as Bloody Benton's decrepit ex-love interest, which is both amusing yet also irritating. Tarantino's gift to film, as we've known a long time.Apart from this, the film manages to seem quite genuine despite it's efforts to be the complete opposite, sometimes switching between real locations and purposely cheap and tacky theatrical sets. What we have here is a feature length parody western that mixes up as much as it can to remain fresh and hard to second-guess as possible as it veers from methodical storytelling into eccentric, surreal and absurd comic book lunacy.If you could watch Machete, Hobo with a Shotgun and Old Boy, this is next on your list!

This film is everything that it promises to be, and in most cases it does a very good job. There is something familiar for all viewers, whether it be the "Fist Full of Dollars" references, or the "Django" references, or the Kurosawa inspired story. The script is weak at points, but it's a western, and writing a script for a crew that has one native English speaker (Quentin Tarantino) and having them pull it off as well as they did is a feat. I came out of the movie thinking that I could watch it again and like it. If you watched it and were disappointed, you probably watched it in the wrong mindset, it was a great ode to all men without names.

This Japanese-Italian crossover is a homage to the great spaghetti westerns of the 1960's and 70's. The oh-so familiar plot is reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece Yojimbo, later remade by Sergio Leone as a western with A Fistful Of Dollars. A brooding gunslinger arrives in a small town that has been torn apart and occupied by two warring clans - the reds and the whites. After advertising his expert gun skills up his arrival, he at first offers up his services to the highest bidder, but after realising the peril faced by the town's innocent natives, he decides that he can put his skills to better use and wage a war against the clans. All of this is seemingly told by a mysterious stranger played by Quentin Tarantino, who introduces the film at the beginning.After the truly cringe-worthy opening scene, in which the aforementioned Tarantino shows off his acting 'skills' and mows down a few faceless bad guys and talks tough, the film seems to pick up some pace. The opening is deliberately designed to look cartoonish, with plastic looking sets and over-the-top blood spraying. It just doesn't work and thankfully moves away from this style and takes on a more traditional method. For all it's trying, the film never leaves second gear. The familiar storyline doesn't offer anything I've not seen before, and the decision to have the Japanese actors speak in broken English with subtitles is an interesting idea I suppose, but just becomes slightly annoying and confusing. I would expect better from a director such as Takashi Miike, who made the excellent Audition and Ichi The Killer. I just pray he doesn't become another homage-loving filmmaker like Tarantino.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

A strange movie, I must say. But before I go into the movie itself, I feel the need to talk about the case.That's why I actually bought this movie, originally. Because the case was so...pretty. And Quentin Tarantino's name on it sealed the deal for me. The cover design is so well done and beautiful and artistic and many other synonyms of those, which provides the perfect segue into the movie itself.It starts out with, of all people, Quentin Tarantino. The background is noticeably fake, a setting sun over the horizon painted onto a backdrop. I was a bit taken aback, at first, and I never really understood why, but I rolled with it. With the first words spoken, however, it became painfully apparent what this movies main problem would be.You see, despite the fact that almost all of the cast uses Japanese as their primary language (I haven't verified this, but it's pretty obvious), the filmmaker, Takashi Miike, shot the whole thing in English. Thankfully, there are subtitles, but the lack of understandable speech presents a great barrier. It's basically the story of two clans, the Heike, led by Kiyomori/Henry (Kōichi Satō), and the Genji, led by Yoshitsune (Yūsuke Iseya), that are battling over a town for a fabled treasure. A mysterious stranger (Hideaki Ito) rolls into town, much like Clint Eastwood in those old movies that we love oh-so-much. This is a beautifully done movie, with many breathtaking scenes, exciting, lovable characters (for the most part), and plenty of blood and gore. Oh, and a rape, so keep the kiddies away from this one.