Zatôichi rôyaburi (1967)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Satsuo Yamamoto

Writers:

Koji Matsumoto (writer)
Takehiro Nakajima (writer)

Release Date:

12 August 1967 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Zatoichi | Samurai | Martial Arts | Jail | Character Name In Title

Cast

Shintarô Katsu	...	Zatoichi
Rentaro Mikuni	...	Asagoro
Kô Nishimura	...	Uneshiro Suga (as Akira Nishimura)
Yuko Hamada	...	Shino
Toshiyuki Hosokawa	...	Nisaburo
Takuya Fujioka	...	Zato Sanji
Kenjiro Ishiyama	...	Tatsugoro
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Saburo Date
Tatsuo Endo	...	Boss Tomizo
Jun Fujikawa
Ryuuji Fukui
Rokumaru Furukawa
Yuzo Hayakawa
Sumao Ishihara
Yoko Kajima
Tadashi Kato
Jun Katsumura	...	Mankichi
Gen Kimura	...	Fusajiro
Takuya Kitano
Kanae Kobayashi	...	Matsushichi's mother
Keiko Koyanagi
Utako Kyo	...	Large mouth lady
Tatsuo Matsushita
Kayo Mikimoto	...	Yuki
Tômi Mitsuboshi
Koichi Mizuhara	...	Farmer
Ikuko Môri	...	Tomizo's wife
Manabu Morita	...	Tetsu
Hiroyoshi Nishioka
Tokio Oki
Keisuke Ootori
Osamu Sakai
Mizuho Suzuki	...	Yamagen
Noboru Taki
Ryoichi Tamagawa
Kazuko Taniguchi
Shizuko Tsuga
Takeshi Yabuchi

Also Known As:

Zatoichi the Outlaw (UK) (video title) (USA) (video title)
The Blind Swordsman's Rescue
Zatôichi 16 (Japan) (informal title)
Zatoichi Breaks Jail (USA)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:MA

Company:

Daiei Studios

Trivia:

The first Zatôichi film produced by Katsu Productions (Shintarô Katsu's own company).

Movie Connections:

Followed by Shin Zatôichi monogatari: Kasama no chimatsuri (1973)

If your appetite for samurai movies has been whetted by Takeshi's 'Zatoichi' or Tarantino's 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' and 'Vol. 2', don't just stick with the Kurosawa classics, try the original Zatoichi movies.

'Zatoichi The Outlaw' was I think the sixteenth(!) entry in this long running action series, regarded by many as the most entertaining and consistent one of its type. The films generally shared a similar plot device - the wandering blind masseuse Zatoichi (played by Shintaro Katsu, incidentally the brother of Tomisaburo Wakayama star of the cult Lone Wolf And Cub series) enters a village being tormented by local baddies and kicks their asses, but the series managed to explore many variations of this basic theme (which is also pretty similar to Kurosawa's classic 'Yojimbo', and yes, Zatoichi did eventually "meet" Yojimbo in case you're wondering!). Katsu is perfect in the role which he really made his own. Beat Takeshi I admit was very cool as Zatoichi in his recent reworking of the character, but I'm sure even he would concede that Katsu IS Zatoichi. 'Zatoichi The Outlaw' has an interesting Leftist sub-text, and includes an intriguing character who attempts to organize the local peasants into a co-operative. If your appetite for samurai movies has been whetted by Takeshi's 'Zatoichi' or Tarantino's 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' and 'Vol. 2', don't just stick with the Kurosawa classics, try the original Zatoichi movies. They are well made, well acted and filled with excitement and interest. I haven't seen enough of them to rate 'Zatoichi The Outlaw' overall, but it's a very entertaining film and I recommend it.