Zatoichi at Large (1972) User Reviews

Firmly in the 70s, but still entertaining

[bighouseaz · 7/10 · 21 March 2005]

This is the 23rd entry in the series and was filmed in 1972. The movie soundtrack sounds like something you would here in the American TV series Kojak. A haunting traditional Japanese song balances the mood out (thankfully).

Yes, Katsu's Zatoichi has been around for two decades at this point. Many of the familiar elements are in this entry as well. Zatoichi tries to reunite a child with its parent, but is mistakenly believed to be the child's murderer. There are some funny characters in the form of the festival entertainers. That same idiotic (in a funny way) husband and wife team show up again. Zatoichi does a good job trying to turn himself in to the honorable constable, but doesn't have much better luck here than elsewhere in the film.

The finale also feels new, in ways similar to the Lone Wolf and Cub series which made its debut the same year. There is a menacing bup, bup, bup, bup... bass sound as Zatoichi goes about cleaning up the town in his special way. Dissonant music adds a frightening edge to the bloody resolution of the film. The final dual introduces a twist to the ordinary. It's perhaps Zatoichi's kindest deed in the film.

Zatoichi cult members (myself included) will find enough to enjoy in this film All others should watch on TV or rent before buying!

Misunderstood samaritan

[kluseba · 7/10 · 25 March 2018]

Zatoichi at Large is the twenty-third entry in the Japanese franchise about the blind masseur, skilled swordsman and lowly yakuza with a strong moral compass whose words speak louder than his actions. It tells how Zatoichi meets a dying pregnant woman on the road who got attacked and robbed by an unknown assailant. Zatoichi helps her give birth to a baby boy but the mother dies in the process. With her last dying breath, she tells Zatoichi the name of the father. A child witnesses the woman's death, follows Zatoichi and occasionally throws rocks at him. Zatoichi travels to the father's hometown but only comes across his sister who reluctantly accepts to take care of the child with the help of an old family of eight children. Zatoichi decides to wait for her brother to arrive in town to bring him all the bad and good news. While he stays in town, Zatoichi witnesses how a rude boss suddenly arrives, pitilessly controls local businesses and brutally makes the local population suffer. Things get worse when the baby's father finally arrives and is told by the child who witnessed the mother's death that Zatoichi robbed and killed her. Zatoichi decides to stay to clear his name, find the mother's murderer and rid the town of its new boss.

The twenty-third film is an average movie of the Zatoichi franchise. On the positive side, the film's atmosphere is quite gloomy from start to finish which makes for a entertaining, fluid and intense experience. The idea to show how Zatoichi seems to be doomed to be misunderstood as that his good actions are so often misinterpreted as bad ones adds a tragic note to the movie and makes the protagonist even more interesting. The side characters are intriguing enough to make the viewers care about them, especially the dead mother's family. The final fight sequence is quite impressive as Zatoichi is attacked with burning ladders and needs to use all his skills to survive.

On the other side, the film's story is quite exchangeable. Zatoichi has already taken care of children of dying parents in Fight, Zatoichi, Fight as well as in Zatoichi Challenged. This movie's boss is also quite exchangeable and not a real threat for Zatoichi. The protagonists are overall much more developed than the stereotypical antagonists who remain shallow.

In the end, Zatoichi at Large will please to the franchise's collectors and fans of old date. It's interesting while it lasts but a movie you won't remember for a very long time. On the positive side, the film's gloomy atmosphere, intriguing protagonists and the final fight sequence justify watching this film. On the negative side, the antagonists remain shallow and the plot is predictable. Those who aren't familiar with the franchise yet shouldn't start here but rather watch the two excellent predecessors. Zatoichi at Large is of an average quality but a small step back after the brilliant Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival and Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman.

A classic. Stylish and heartfelt heroic samurai action.

[Beard_Of_Serpico · 7/10 · 20 May 2021]

I love the Takeshi Kitano Zatoichi movie from 2003 so i was interested to see the roots of the series. This movie isn't as cinematic or as graphically violent as the Kitano version but it's surprisingly cool with some really stylish quick cut editing and skilful looking sword fights. I love the way Zatoichi kills his opponents with one slash, it makes him look deadly and his sword sharp as a white hot razor.

The story is simple but is well told with some heartfelt moments and none of it is too over the top which gives the movie a down to earth and realistic feel. I'm not really a fan of cheesy old school kung fu flicks and this wasn't like those at all.

Also the opening theme music is great but is ruined by some truly terrible singing over the top of it (What was that about??).

The DVD i watched was a little too dark in places, i don't know if that's due to the age and low budget of the movie or the DVD transfer itself so it would be great to re-watch it remastered on blu ray.

This is a good movie, go see it if you like Japanese movies and samurai.

Zatoichi at Large (1972)

[mevmijaumau · 7 May 2017]

After the previous installment, which was the least formulaic so far, the franchise sadly takes another turn to the generic with Kazuo Mori's Zatoichi at Large. The truth is, this would be a pretty good movie if it was one of the earliest ones, but as #23 of the series, it comes across as a bland pastiche of all too familiar tropes and elements from the other films.

Apparently, the Zatoichi films would rarely get shown again, so directors would get comfortable with re-using themes. This one begins with the same baby plot as Fight, Zatoichi, Fight (#8) but soon turns into another "town terrorized by gangsters" deal. The final boss here is played by Rentaro Mikuni (his second appearance in the series), but doesn't get to do much that others before him didn't already. An interesting thing about this film is that the first half is utterly goofy while the second is dead serious, but aside from that, this is typical Zatoichi stuff. Of course the mystery ronin appears too, but the battle between them is remarkably lazy, like the filmmakers just said: "yeah, let's get this over with already".

The visuals are a bit above average, with a recurring color scheme of black and blue (there's a very pretty scene where Zatoichi converses with a lady in front of a sparkling creek). The intro song just lists off common Zatoichi situations, as if it's making fun of the repetitiveness of several motives of the series. Speaking of that, some ideas here were downright lifted from previous outings, like Zatoichi breastfeeding a baby (from #8), Zatoichi being mistaken for a murderer (from #22), getting trapped in a ring of fire (from #21) and fighting while on fire (from #8 again). I guess the only unique thing here is that he gets tortured by villains.

Highlight of the film: a comic relief scene where an entertainer does a show with his monkey.

Pretty typical of the series

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 5 June 2009]

Like an earlier Zatoichi film, "Zatôichi kesshô-tabi", this one starts with a dying woman and a baby that Zatoichi is to take to its father. Following the death of the mother, the credits roll and a singer who perhaps is well-liked in Japan begins singing--and the high nasal voice was really, really annoying. Perhaps it's just my Western sensibilities, but the song was tough to take. I think the singing is from Japanese Noh (a type of play)--but I am far from knowledgeable about those sort of things.

Once Ichi gets the baby to the proper town, he finds the child's aunt and gives it to her. Oddly, however, all along the route there a little boy has been following Zatoichi pelting him with rocks. When the father eventually comes to town and thanks the blind man for bringing the baby, the welcome is very short-lived. It seems that the brat who has been throwing stones at Zatoichi is the man's son--and he mistakenly thinks that Ichi killed his mother and stole her money (this WAS done but by a thief--not Ichi). However, when the father confronts Ichi, the blind man is not angry but agrees to help the family get the money--otherwise the aunt will be forced by the local boss into prostitution.

This leads to the very, very typical confrontation with the local strongman--a guy who naturally at first has his men attack Ichi, then pretends to be friends and then, ultimately, has an all-out battle with the blind man. In the final battle, the death tally is appropriately high and there are no huge surprises. However, the local constable was an interesting character and did give the film a few surprises. Otherwise, it's all very typical and familiar. Nothing extraordinary but another formulaic Zatoichi film.

Zatoichi gets another baby and another excellent film

[ChungMo · 9/10 · 24 December 2006]

Only two more films before the end of a 25 entry series. You would think that after 11 years the final films would be tired and derivative but this film belies that assumption. While reusing some elements from previous films, the baby for example, this film is an excellent combination of humor, drama and action with the usual Zatoichi world view. It should be remembered that at the time these films would rarely get shown again so the film makers felt comfortable reusing themes. Soon after this Zatoichi moved to television where they really reused the stories and themes from the movies.

Zatoichi chances upon a pregnant woman who unknown to him has just been attacked and had her gold stolen. She goes into labor and Zatoichi helps deliver the child but the woman dies from her wound. Zatoichi goes to bring the child to his father and of course finds himself in the middle of a town being invaded by yakuza. Zatoichi is compelled to help the child's family and control the ruthless yakuza.

There's nothing unusual about the plot, it's the details that make this film so wonderful. The characters are all colorful and interesting. There an elderly constable and his good-for- nothing son, a group of wacky festival performers, a mysterious child who pelts Zatoichi with rocks, the required master swordsman to challenge Zatoichi and the sleazy yakuza. The film is well paced, but the first action is not until 30 minutes into the film. However it's well worth waiting for. Unlike the previous film that had Zatoichi caring for an infant (which is a very good film), he doesn't get attached to this one and it's pretty much out of the plot half way thru.

Recommended for all Zatoichi fans, newcomers might want to try an earlier film first.

Shintaro Katsu has no rival in swordplay, plus he's funny as hell

[leesigmon · 9/10 · 24 April 2006]

Katsu's quick-draw swordsmanship is in olympic form as per usual in Zatoichi films. But I found an exceptional amount of humor in this installment, namely from the stalking orphan who continually nails Ichi in the gourd with rocks because he mistakenly believes Ichi murdered his mother. Ichi's tender-hearted nature is in full display as he suckles a newborn and refuses to duel the orphan's father knowing what the inevitable conclusion would be. Also, the preview of comedy acts that are performed for the magistrate to qualify for entry into the festival are hilarious, most notably the monkey routine. One of my faves in my favorite samurai flick series...

Among the best of the series.

[KingM21 · 9/10 · 2 September 2005]

Bloody good Zatoichi fun…this may very well be the best of the original 25 that I've seen! Zatoichi delivers a baby from a dying mother (and breastfeeds it too!), seeks out the father, and comes upon a town that is about to have a festival. When a gang moves in to collect their due from the performers (and force the baby's aunt into prostitution), Ichi springs into action to set things straight. The scene with Zatoichi slowly approaching the leader while on fire is just great. If you're a fan of Chambara Cinema, this one's definitely worth checking out.

Hired Killer: "You're the best swordsman I've ever met."

Zatoichi: "Nah…all I do is go apesh*t."

Horrible directing.

[DarlingLlama · 3/10 · 25 July 2020]

This was my least favorite Zatoichi film.

I adore Zaotichi, the character, the actor, the storyline, the swordplay, but the cinematography and directing in this film were the worst. While it's a must see because it is Zatoichi, expect horrible footage, terrible camera angles, and an overall lack of directorial maturity.

None Better.

[LivingDog · 10/10 · 12 December 2008]

Anyone giving Shintaru Katsu's Zatoichi (the original) anything less than 10 stars is ... well, let's just say you have to be a very special person to not like this: 1) incredible amount, 2) of consistent, 3) high-quality, 4) fast paced, 5) action packed, 6) character filled, 7) solid plot line entertainment.

You will not get better than this ever again. I own no DVDs but this one (the Collector's edition) I may buy.

I was a scifi fan, but since Hollywood doesn't make good scifi's anymore {a real scifi is the original The Thing, and Forbidden Planet, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. Today they make them all horror pictures (Alien) or feely-touchy soap operas (any Star Trek other than TOS)} that I had to look for something else. Japanese, note Japanese, samurai movies are just so solidly based. Korisawa is the top of the Japanese directors, but Zatoichi is the best of the best. BTW, I use to think that Korisawa's The Seven Samurai was the best samurai movie ever, but I have to finally admit, Zatoichi is better.

10+/10.