Legend of Eight Samurai
Picture: C-
Sound: C- Extras: D Film: C
Just when you thought a karate film could not get any
wackier, Legend of Eight Samurai (1983) tries to combine the fantasy of Star
Wars films, karate of 1970s such pictures, fake-looking monsters, a
historical costume epic set in Feudal Japan and other inexplicably strange
things in a really bad film that is sometimes watchable.
There is the warrior, the princess, the evil lead
spider-woman, and even supernatural magic mixed in with martial arts. Sonny Chiba is the “wet behind the ears”
samurai, but how many times at this point of his career were we supposed to buy
that? Either way, this film can ever be
thought of as one that will ever make sense, so explaining a plot is impossible. However, it sure throws everything it
believes an early 1980s audience might want to see into it. Chiba reunites with co-star Sue Shihomi.
The film was made in 1.85 X 1, but this print is a pan and
scan copy, a bad one at that. The
opening is letterboxed, but that’s it.
Even from this bad print, color in some of the fantasy sections is
interesting, but it is too bad we cannot see it as clearly as intended. Only big fans will tolerate this
transfer. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
has horribly dubbed English and is the usual wreck you’d expect from such a
soundtrack. There is a bad theme song
that is either trying to be Loverboy or some other 1980s act, but its just
plain lame.
A biography of Chiba is included, but the DVD is of extras
otherwise. Legend of Eight Samurai
proves how dead the martial arts cycle was, but that didn’t stop them from
trying to revive it. The result is a
bizarre film, but only the biggest fans need apply.
- Nicholas Sheffo
