Strap in for a strange one here, kids. You'd expect from looking at that poster that The Sword of Alexander (Taitei No Ken) to be a sort of Power Rangers on acid, a very goofy, lo fi sort of martial arts fantasy cranked out on the cheap. And it is, really, only this one was made by an impressive collection of A-list talent, all of whom are still on top of their game. Director Tsutsumi Yukihiko just directed Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins, The Last Samurai) in hit Japanese drama Memories of Tomorrow and leading man Hiroshi Abe is one of the nation's more in demand actors, instantly recognizable to any fan of current Japanese film. Also spotted in the supporting cast are cult icon Riki Takeuchi and Kankuro Kudo, the latter best known in these parts as the writer of Zebraman and Ping Pong. So, believe me when I say that when this movie gets goofy it's because it wants to and not because it doesn't know how to do anything else.
Abe plays a wandering swordsman whose weapon is crafted from a mystical material that grants him supernatural powers. Only three objects made of this material exist in the world and whoever holds all three will rule the earth and so he is roaming in search of the other two and also someone worthy of holding all three. Of course, there are other forces at play who want them for themselves. It's very goofy, deliberately lo-fi stuff and looks hysterically fun. It's also freshly out on Hong Kong DVD with English subtitles included and you can find the trailer embedded in the Twitch Video Player after the break.
Ordered this, and cannot wait to see it.
But where does that odd English title come from?
oh man, that line about being goofy because it wants to and because it doesn't know how to do anything else is the perfect description of takeuchi himself. only he can get away with some of the stuff he involves himself in. "LA-LA-LA-LAAAAA!" wtf!
No, he should have a cult following for EGG alone.
I spent several minutes trying to work out what EGG stood for before realizing you'd just put the title in all caps for no apparent reason.
I was never able to track down a copy of that, even when I was living in Japan...
Trick, Keizoku, Ikebukuro West Gate Park...if only there was a market for live action TV. It looks like he's in the process of making some moves on the big screen, so he may finally start getting the reputation he deserves.
Loved the movie, but man, in this day and age of high def, the HK DVD hurt my eyes at times. The DTS sound is great, but the image suffers from being soft and blurry and - worst of all - has A LOT of pixellation, to the point of it being distracting.
I think you might have gotten a bad disc, bee ... mine's a little bit soft in parts maybe, but not to the point of distraction and I didn't see any pixelation at all.