Shinobi – Heart Under Blade (Special Edition) [Blu-ray] Review

In the 80’s I grew up hooked on the ninja fad. I watched every cheesy ninja movie that I could find in the video store and Sho Kosugi was my idol. That being said I still enjoy watching martial arts/ninja films now just as much as when I was a kid. Shinobi Heart Under Blade fits right in with your typical ninja film. Basic premise, two main ninja clans in 17th Century Japan must each pick their 5 best warriors to compete against each other in a race to appease the Emperor. In order to appreciate this film you need to understand that the Japanese code of honor is very strict. If that means killing your lover to appease the Emperor, so be it. Of course at the heart of the story (no pun intended) is a typical Romeo and Juliet relationship but honestly that’s not really why people watch ninja movies! You want to see cool martial arts moves and lots of killing. Shinobi Heart Under Blade delivers most of what you want, just not enough of it. My thoughts;

Pros

+ Plenty of unique ninjas all with their own special skills/powers to differentiate them.

+ Story adheres to traditional Japanese beliefs in the code of honor and that the Emperor is near divine.

+ Beautiful cinematography.

+ Great fight scenes (albiet way too short).

Cons

- Nearly all of the 5 chosen ninjas from each clan die way to quickly, many having very cheap and unsatisfying deaths. A huge loss in the story honestly.

- Absolutely no back story on any of the ninjas skills, training or upbringing. Just slight mentions.

- Action sequences are extremely slim. They spend way too much time focusing on the love story than they do the fight sequences, which in my opinion is what the majority of people watching this movie want to see.

- Master’s of both clans must fight to the death yet there’s absolutely no scene in the film of it. Very disappointing!

While I did really enjoy the movie it could have been so much better had more content been included. It felt more like a drama than an action movie. Whether or not that’s what the director wanted I’m not sure, but the movie loses a star because of it. If they had simply put more action and backstory on the main characters I would have easily given the film 5 stars. If you’re into martial arts/ninja films it’s definitely worth a watch.

Shinobi – Heart Under Blade (Special Edition) [Blu-ray] Overview

For centuries, there lived warriors of darkness and shadow with strange powers and arcane skills, living only for battle. They were the SHINOBI

he year is 1614. Japan has been united under the Tokugawa Shoguns and the land is begining to feel at peace. Two remote ninja clans, the Koga and the Iga, are ancient enemies but have long been bound by a peace agreement forbidding them to fight. The heirs to the leadership of both clans have fallen in love but a tragic fate awaits them. A cruel plot is set by the Shogun to wipe these two clans from existence by breaking the peace agreement and forcing the two clans to battle. Five Ninjas of each the Koga and Iga clans will battle against each other to the death. As a great war begins it brings the two young heirs together again. But this time as enemies.

Shinobi – Heart Under Blade (Special Edition) [Blu-ray] Specifications

Equal parts Romeo and Juliet and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Shinobi offers breathtaking cinematography, appealing actors, and ninjas. What more could a movie fan ask for? Released in 2005, Shinobi is set in 17th century Japan, which is dominated by two powerful clans. Oboro is a member of the Iga clan, while her lover Gennosuke is the son of the leader of the Koga clan. Both groups are comprised of expert ninjas who have developed skills unknown to most mortals. When Oboro and Gennosuke meet, they are unaware that by their birthrights, they are meant to hate–not love–each other. When the nefarious Shogun–eager to increase his own power by doing away with both clans–announces that each faction will send in five ninjas to fight to the death, Oboro and Gennosuke are sent in to battle against each other for the honor of their clans. Filled with action (including some computer-generated images to enhance the actors’ warrior-like qualities) and romance, Shinobi has the makings of a sweeping epic. Though based on an anime series, the film succeeds as a stand-alone piece of work. Beautifully filmed and well-acted, the film is exciting and heartbreaking, and the viewer senses both hope and doom all the way through the finale. –Jae-Ha Kim

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Customer Reviews

until they have ninja scroll live, this will have to do – M. Yu – USA
I dont know what came first Basilisk the anime or Shinobi this movie but they are essentially the same. One is just live and the other is anime. Don’t let this cover fool you of what’s inside. It is feudal sword play action packed anime come to life. Fantastic and creative fight scenes where face off characters are so strong in their respective arts it makes for good suspense of not knowing who will win. If you know what ninja scroll is and needed to fill that void since that classic, this is a good fix.

Wonderful Movie – Dolon – San Diego, CA
One of the finer Asian movies I have seen and [still] one of my favorites. I will not go into plot details or story line but I highly recommend it for anyone; beginning to end. This movie was my “virgin purchase” in what has been a long long line of Asian movies I now own and the one which fueled my interest in the hunt to futher my collection of asian cinema; I had no idea at the time this style of movie could be so captivating and I am fortunate “Shinobi” was my first delve into this genre for who knows where my interests might have turned if this hadn’t been the case.

However, I do not recommend the series, I found no similiarites between the two; quality or style-wise. This is typical when taking a movie and translating it to a series but they could have done a far better job.

I love Martial Arts lol – Cappachino – A Lil’spot all of My own….
Absolutly loved it!
I grew up on Sunday Kung-fu Theatre couldn’t get enough of the special effects and the warrior spirit the charecters would take on.
It was a awsome performance given by all those who played in this spectacular movie,you wont be disapointed trust me if you like martial arts your gonna fall in love with this movie trust.

X-Men meets Romeo & Juliet in Japan – D. J. Nardi – Washington, DC
The synopsis I saw for this movie was X-Men meets Romeo & Juliet in Japan. That pretty much sums it up. It essentially focuses on two Japanese clans with warriors who possess superpowers. Two of those “mutants” had fallen in love and are reluctant to fight.

The cinematography is great. There is some very interesting use of filter effects. By the way, it has very creative sound effects.

However, I felt that there was probably a bit too much fighting and not enough love story. I like action movies, but the plot basically seemed like a poor excuse to get Japanese warriors to start killing each other. There was barely any lead or background into the battle scenes – just a brief exchange between the two lovers and then off to war. During the battle scenes, I found myself often confused as to what was going on as there were so many references to ancient feuds and warriors seem to come from nowhere to start another battle.

Overall, this seems like this movie requires you to have a lot of background knowledge on Shinobi and the mythology around it to really appreciate this movie. It’s too bad – if the plot had been a bit more accessible, it would have had a lot more potential.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 23, 2010 04:51:06

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