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Masahiro Ando's Sword of the Stranger (2007) is a no-holds-barred samurai action film that happens to be animated. Accompanied by his faithful dog, Tobimaru, Kotaro is forced to flee when the troops of a feudal lord and their Chinese allies attack the temple where he's been living. Taking refuge in an abandoned shrine, Kotaro meets No Name, a sardonic but extremely able ronin. Kotaro needs a friend, as both Japanese and Chinese fighters are hunting him; They're planning to sacrifice the boy in an elaborate ritual and use his blood to prepare "Xian Medicine," an elixir that is supposed to guarantee the Emperor of China eternal life. Although Kotaro fusses and tries to bully No Name, a powerful bond forms between the designated victim and the warrior who bears the physical and psychological scars of his battles. Their bond proves stronger than the ties that bind lord to vassal and ally to ally. Like Kenshin Himura in Rurouni Kenshin, No Name has vowed not to use his sword in penance for the blood he shed as a warrior. But he breaks the knot that binds the blade to its sheath when he rescues Kotaro in a spectacular series of fight scenes. Voice actors Aidan Drummond (Kotaro) and Michael Adamthwaite (No Name) offer winning performances that match their Japanese counterparts, Yuri Chinen and Tomoya Nagase. Ando uses CG to give Sword of the Stranger a sense of epic scale without detracting from the drawn animation of the characters. Dynamically staged and animated, Sword of the Stranger will delight devotees of live-action samurai movies as well as anime fans. (Unrated, suitable for ages 14 and older: considerable violence, alcohol and drug use, minor toilet humor) --Charles Solomon
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 An Explosive Ending |
| Review Date: April 20, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Sniff Code, Somewhere out there |
This movie made a one day appearance at the theaters and thanks to a killer trailer I made a point of not missing it. Despite the movie being relatively new, there's a strange nostalgia I felt while watching it. For one, most or all of the art is hand drawn. On the big screen, the line quality is very noticeable, especially since the past decade most animation has been exempt from any line quality at all en lieu of 3D. So seeing the hand of the artist in motion was a feeling I had missed from the old days of watching Charlie Brown :-) How I manage to put Charlie Brown and a Master Samurai in the same sentence...I don't know.
But anyway...
The other thing that grabbed me was that this movie actually spends time developing both story and its characters, and it does an incredible job at that. Granted, the plot itself is a bit cliche: The bad guys are after an immortality potion that requires a young boy, Kotaro, to be sacrificed in order for the potion to work. But the cliche is padded with a strong historical back drop that gives the story a surprising gritty realism. While so many movies chop away at a good story and evolving character elements, this one slows down just enough to make you actually care about the fate of the Nameless Samurai, Kotaro and even his dog.
The steady pacing was a good way to build up to an ending so loaded with tension that I could actually feel my muscles locked up. As the Nameless character does battle with his enemies, you can't help but to feel that he may be in way over his head. In a lot of way, the movie reminded me of "Ninja Scroll": there are a host of foes that the Nameless Saurai must confront and you'll have your doubts about his skills being matched to each one. Such doubts are the hallmark of a gripping story. |
Superb Anime
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| Review Date: March 3, 2010 |
| Reviewer: T-PAIN, Sacramento, CA USA |
I can't speak for the special features, since I haven't checked them out just yet.
PLOT (no spoilers):
Pretty standard fare. A nameless swordsman must protect an innocent boy against the hostile battlefield of two warring factions. The main antagonist group consists of an elite bunch of highly-skilled Chinese warriors who feel no pain, at the head of which is a mysterious blonde swordsman ailing at his inability to find a worthy adversary. Lacking somewhat in the originality department, the story nonetheless draws you in by the sheer charisma of its characters. The characters themselves convey their archetypes well, without being overly obvious. The cliche factor is evident, but luckily it doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the film.
ANIMATION:
Though at times inconsistent (read: some of the battle clips appear noticably choppy, while others are smooth as silk), this feature is still head and shoulders over many of its contemporary counterparts. The characters' movements are believably natural, and their facial subtext succeeds in making you actually care about what they're thinking. At times, CGI is used for set pieces and background work, but it's so well-integrated that it complements without distracting, and is often unnoticable. Most memorable of all is the climactic battle between the swordsmen No-Name and Luo Lang: this is far and away the single most visually arresting swordfight I have ever seen in an animated feature. Ever. It invokes a tangible feeling of suspense and wonder, the choreography is brilliant, the scope is incredible, the pacing is thrilling, and their movements are positively GORGEOUS. It'll make the hairs on your neck stand up, mark my words.
SOUND:
I usually prefer subtitled anime over dubbed, as English voice-overs can be spotty, and often omit certain important nuances. However, Sword of the Stranger's English voice actors are all very talented, and they mesh perfectly with the setting and their respective characters. The sound effects are particularly well-done; at the moment when No-Name strikes the killing blow against his first Chinese opponent, the explosive crack of wood beams shattering and the brutal gnashing of bone pound straight through to your core. It gives every action scene a very visceral and immersive feel.
BOTTOM LINE:
Sword of the Stranger simply must not be missed. It's certainly not the most original thing out there, but its tried-and-true story formula can be appreciated by most anyone, and the action is definitely top-tier material. This isn't a film you can watch only once.
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Great action scenes
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| Review Date: April 11, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Megatron, |
| This is a fantastic anime feature film. Beautiful, smooth, animation and excellent fight scenes. It has a compelling story and the english dubs are great. Highly recommend to people that like historically themed anime and everyone else. |
Why i liked this movie
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| Review Date: October 31, 2009 |
| Reviewer: steve, qatar |
Well, as was enevitable some users have given this movie a poor rateing, it was at 5 starts for the longest time. One user said it was boring and he was too old for anime, and another gave an inpresively long review of the movie and why he didn't like it. Well for the guy who is too old for anime because he's 23, perhaps you should not watch anime? The other user said he found the movie to gory and action was too predictable, the story one giant cliche and the charcters were under developed and I can respect his opinion.
First lets get to the gory action. I love it. One thing that really impressed me was unlike other animes like samurai X, and the movie highlander search for vengance and countless others, instead of just seeing a downward sword slash, follwed by a charcter splitting in too or dying after a few seconds delay you actually get to SEE the sword play and a a few lenghty fights. The choreogrophy was amazing and the best i've seen in an anime and you can tell they put alot of work and thought into it, and yes its very bloody. But hey if u dont like blood you arent going to appreaciate this aspect of the movie.
The story, yes its is very cliche but you could say the same for ninja scroll(an evil villain wants to take over the world and one man can stop him), and vampire hunter D(girl gets catptured by evil vampire, half vampire hero saves her and falls in love with her). What really makes a story interesting is not so much the story itself but the CHARACTERS in the story. For me thats what makes movies like ninja scroll,vampire hunter D and Sword of the stranger really enjoyable. Not many people will enjoy a movie if they dont like the characters regardless of the plot. Which brings me to the next section
Characters. Well if you havent allready guessed it, I really liked the characters. Nameless, that kid(forgot his name) and tobby maru the dog. For me theyve all been developed, though subtley. Nameless is a skilled warrior with a haunted past, but he's genuinly a pretty nice guy, that kid (i should probably have gooegled his name) is sarcastic and acts tough but you can tell its just a mask, that really he is pretty damned scared. And lets not forget tobby maru, who has allot of personallity for a non person. Generous loyal and brave, he gives his fish to nameless upon meeting him.
"Ok yeah we get it, you love this movie and are obviously a fanboy who cant take people critizing his favorite movies". Oh contrair mon ami, there were a few things i didnt like about the movie. For one the colors seemed pretty bland, mostly browns(eww the color of doo doo) and yes i admit it wasnt the most original story ever told(why do all these animes villains have to aquire a child as the key to fulfilling thier evil plan? ex: metropolis, Sin the movie nad lots more).
Any way the thing that really did it for me besides the jaw dropping animation and truely loveabe(IMO)characters? The Ending, an epic sword battle follwed by what i thought was an extremly happy ending. Man i'm a sucker for happy endings. Well thats give it a shot, unless youre too old for anime that is ;) |
A good all around anime
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| Review Date: June 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Maritas, PA, USA |
I was given this movie to watch and I must say, I was quite pleased with everything about this movie. The hand drawn art work was beautifully done as well as the fleshed out characters.
It's some times hard to find good anime with a good story line that isn't just a bunch of random fight scenes thrown in to try and keep it interesting - this one had a story. The development between the two main characters follows along perfectly with the story. You can see each character come into their own.
The movie it self, very well done. I watched the Japanese version and the being I'm a animae snob and only watch them with subtitles, this one was done just right. The text didn't fly from the screen as soon as it was said and gave the viewer enough to read what was happening and watch what else was happening.
I'll purchase the one coming out this month and hope that it's the same style editing and subtitle style. |
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