Zatoichi

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Zatoichi

R

2004

1h 55m

Action

Adventure

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

121 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople. He is also enlisted to help two sibling geisha, Okinu and Osei, avenge the murder of their parents, who were slaughtered in a massacre. Zatoichi must fight his way through numerous enemies before finally clashing with a heartless crime boss.

Critics Consensus

Colorful, rich with action and wonderfully choreographed, Takeshi Kitano takes on the classic samurai character with his own brand of cinematic flair.

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Antonia Quirke

London Evening Standard

Dec 20, 2017

This film is a shebang, a full-scale show, complete with everything you would happily pay to see: costumes, tattoos, scratchy folk music, gambling in saki dens. You will eat it up.

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Christy Lemire

Associated Press

May 27, 2011

The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi begins life as a straight-up samurai movie, evolves into a slapstick comedy and ends as a rousing, tap-dancing musical.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Dec 28, 2010

3/5

This non-traditional samurai movie isn't for kids.

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Bryant Frazer

Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

Aug 13, 2020

B+

A gorgeous and evocative piece of entertainment that takes a deliberately playful approach to its genre.

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Dorothy Woodend

The Tyee (British Columbia)

Aug 24, 2017

If you're looking for a real hero you could really do no better than Takeshi Kitano's blind masseur, Zatoichi.

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Ryan Cracknell

Movie Views

Sep 27, 2009

Violent and bloody, carefully choreographed and filled with dry humor, Takeshi Kitano's modern take on the classic Japanese character is a unique vision that's told with confidence.

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MariofanAlex445 T

@RT47678067 Sep 24, 2026

My only issue with this film is that the digital special effects are heavily dated. I wish they did the practical blood like in old samurai films. The story of the little boy being groomed into womanhood was very sad. Seeing him look so disappointed and sad when he revealed the money to his sister hurt me a little inside. Nobody should have to go through that, not even a fictional character. Zatoichi is super cool as always, been seeing bits and pieces of all his movies and shows my whole life. Finally seeing one of his films in full was really cool. I’m going to check out more of his stuff. 4.5/5 stars.

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M B

@Timbero Mar 13, 2025

Excellent, well constructed and faithful revival of the character and the genre. Careful build up of the other characters and plot result in a satisfying watch with some ruthless action!

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Joel P

@autumn1015 Mar 17, 2022

A samurai movie should not have CGI, or, in this case, unconvincing CGI. Classic or vintage special effects would have made this movie better. Bad special effects are a distraction.

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justin t

@RT08580778 Feb 15, 2022

There was lots of CGI blood flying around, would have preferred real fake blood. The story was confusing but the bits of it that I understood were really good and interesting. The ending was full of stuff happening. For all of the blood there wasn't much violence like people heads being ripped apart and the like. Worth watching and enjoyable fantasy film full of culture, that needs concentration. I love the musical montage bits and they actually fit into the story and the world. Fantastic film with brilliant characters and wonderful musical interludes... also blood!

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william d

@acsdoug Dec 19, 2021

The story is a typical "samurai comes to town, fights bad guys and saves villagers." The gimmick here is the samurai is blind. That's not enough to salvage the rambling plot or excuse the incredibly bad special effects, particularly the CGI blood splatters.

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s r

@ScottR Mar 29, 2021

A bizarre one to say the least. It was almost good, but then it just couldn't decide what kind of film it was. The whole drum tap dance scene at the end just threw me for a loop. Coming back to the main story, it had a good premise and development, but then it ended hollowly, almost like a TV movie. The CGI swords and gore was comical. It was on paramount and I'm not sure why the rating were so high.

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Takeshi Kitano

Director

Takeshi Kitano

Zatôichi

Tadanobu Asano

Gennosuke Hattori

Michiyo Ohkusu

Aunt Oume

Yui Natsukawa

O-Shino

Yûko Daike

Geisha Okinu Naruto

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Synopsis

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople. He is also enlisted to help two sibling geisha, Okinu and Osei, avenge the murder of their parents, who were slaughtered in a massacre. Zatoichi must fight his way through numerous enemies before finally clashing with a heartless crime boss.

Director: Takeshi Kitano
Producer: Masayuki Mori, Takio Yoshida
Screenwriter: Takeshi Kitano
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Bandai Visual Co. Ltd., Asahi National Broadcasting Company
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Adventure
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 23, 2004, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $853.7K
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Surround

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