Chushingura

Too long, but even so it's worth to watch it.

Epic and glamorous - but did not grip in the way that say seven samurai did

Brutally long story about a young lord who gets disrespected by an old corrupt official when he doesn't get bribed. Goaded into an attack while still inside the Shoguns palace gets him the death sentence, and his clan disbanded. After a year, they get revenge, which get them the death sentence. This movie is full of old Japanese honor hooey and doesn't have near enough fighting. Could be edited down to about 45 minutes. The ridiculous subtitle timing was painful also.

The first 30 minutes or so when Lord Asano and Lord Kira are front and centre are great. However, in most of the rest of the movie there are just too many characters. This story probably needs a mini-series in order to be told right.

Based on a famous and frequently adapted legend, Inagaki's Chushingura is a three-and-a-half hour epic political drama taking place in 18th century Japan. It is really well directed, beautiful cinematography and good acting. It has fairly little violence for the most part, all of which is about honor and completely senseless. It frequently plods, but does have plenty of interesting scenes if you're patient with it.

The copy I saw was rough, but a restored version wouldn't make much of a difference. My expectations were also soiled by the promise of a large Mifune role only to find him in maybe 15 minutes of this very long film. To make matters even worse, I also thought this was the Ichikawa version originally (really don't care for Inagaki in the least). The early section is enjoyable until the big plot point comes, characters get scattered, every scene ends with weeping, and I stopped caring.

A good job telling this classic tale. It is a beautiful film, with excellent cinematography and artful composition within the frame.

Excellent film and a great story.

Yet another telling of the "47 Ronin" story. Very compelling and fun to watch.