Sword of the Stranger - Standard BD [Blu-ray]

I watched it years ago when I rented the blu-ray disc from Netflix. For a very long time, it was an under-produced disc that carried a hefty price tag. Thankfully the price has finally come out of the stratosphere and I have finally bought this absolutely gorgeous and endearing movie. Frankly though I couldn't remember much of it: "it's beautiful and the ending is very intense."Basically the story is that a mysterious ronin samurai teams up with a grouchy little boy and his dog. For reasons that aren't clear until closer to the end, the boy is being pursued by a team of hardcore warriors. As is to be expected, the samurai ends up having to come to the boy's rescue. What is NOT expected is the emotional gravitas that the film exhibits at that point in the film. The combination of the slow-trickle of character development, the final show-down that's been established, the way the action is animated and staged, and ... THE MUSIC. Oh baby Jesus, THE MUSIC!! At times it feels like it might be trying a bit too hard, with both the music and just the way everything is trying to tear down whatever emotional wall you've built up about caring for fictional characters, but this movie will break you down and leave you reeling from anticipation and emotional turmoil. I hate to oversell it but the climax of this film is pure cinematic poetry and really pulls the whole of the movie together.One of the things that many "not-a-fan-of-anime" people might appreciate is that the physics and movements of the characters are reasonably life-like. Our characters aren't super-humans who can jump fifty feet in the blink of an eye and land on a dragonfly's wings while all the opponents burst from the sword strike. Also, the animation is drawn in such a way that there's a camera that puts you in the middle of the action. Almost like a subtle shakey-cam, where it barely notice it but it adds to the events on the screen. The fighting, the action, and the animation in general are all very well done.I mentioned the music earlier, which is like How to Train Your Dragon good, but also like HTTYD: if you have a good surround sound system--GET THIS FILM! It's not overly bombastic or anything but it is exceptional clean and dynamic but it has an extremely engaging surround mix. I don't know if it was my imagination but I felt like the dubbed version might have been a tad bit better in this department. While I prefer subs, my roommate prefers dubs and as I switched over to the dubbed version to test it out, it seemed like the atmosphere of the sound mix opened up to another level. The dub is decent enough--the main characters are well-done but supporting characters often had me laughing with their horrendous line readings.

Wow, I first saw this movie on youtube and immediately searched for it on Blu-ray to own. This movie was release in 2007 so its been about 8 years out in stores. I can appreciate the artistic value this movie has to offer since I'm a current student for animation. This is the very reason I choose a career path. But, enough about me. If you're reading this then you probably just want an opinion of the movie. So I'll give that to you!The original story is by "Bones" and the movie director by Masahiro Ando and scripted by Fumihiko Takayama. The plot is early 1800's in Japan where a small Chinese mercenaries (The Ming) agree with Japanese to search and capture a small boy named Kotaro for a ritual of immortality. During Kotaro's flee with his loyal dog, they come across a nameless ronin called No-name. No-name is a man who is haunted by his past ordered to assassinate two small children air to dynasty. He later meets Kotaro and his dog while finding shelter. During their stay; they are attacked by Elite group of swordsmen while still no match for No-name and the aid of the dog. Kotaro finds value in the ronin and seeks to past the man for his protection also to get medical attention for his poisoned dog. Now, the challenge is to travel low key through villages and open land to get Kotaro to his destination a Buddhist temple with awaiting monks.Kotaro is quickly betrayed and hand him over to begin the sacrifice ritual. No-name shortly after learns of the betrayal and go after to rescue the boy.The Japanse has declared an all out battle with the Chinese Elite Army and the most electrifying fights happen. Dynamic sword play and an epic battle between the hero No-name and Ming's blonde hair warrior Luo-Ling! I think we know who come out victorious here. But, I will admit there were times to expect No-name was in over his head.Overall great entertainment and spectacular performance. Well worth the money; that is if you truly appreciate timeless art and plan on watching it over and over. The actions were so smooth and natural its hard to believe it hand drawn. Some day, I would love to work on a project as such and perhaps I shall! Now, if you were to excuse me I'm going to watch the movie once again!