From the Akira Kurosawa era to Tom Cruise’s sword-wielding period piece “The Last Samurai“, historical epics on the famed swordsmen of feudal Japan have produced some of cinema’s most unforgettable classics. However, director Yuji Shimomura and stunt king Tak Sakaguchi are preparing to throw what looks to be a real Samurai movie game-changer into the ring with the upcoming “Crazy Samurai Musashi”.
On the basis of the movie’s gimmick – a single-take action sequence pitting our hero against a whopping 400 enemies – that’s certainly a tall order to live up to, but if anyone’s up for the challenge, the duo behind 2016’s “Re:Born” most certainly are. Even better, the movie’s first full trailer recently debuted online to give viewers a glimpse at what “Crazy Samurai Musashi” has in store, which you can see below!
The new trailer is also accompanied by an interview with Tak Sakaguchi going into the making of the film, albeit without subtitles. However, even for viewers lacking a basic fluency in Japanese, “Crazy Samurai Musashi” has clearly set the bar high with its first proper trailer.
The Myth, The Legend: Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Musashi is arguably the most famed Samurai of all time, one whose legend is such that an entire documentary with Mark Dacascos was devoted to him. On the basis of the new trailer, “Crazy Samurai Musashi” seems highly cognizant of this, striving more to represent the legend of the man rather than being a straight-forward historical work. And when the king of all Samurai is the subject of your movie, how better to capture that than to pit him against 400 opponents?
A Single-Take Action Bonanza!
As if that wasn’t enough, the trailer’s boast of the movie’s single take action-sequence should instantly shoot “Crazy Samurai Musashi” right to the top of every action lover’s must-see list for 2020. One-shot action scenes have become huge in the last few years, with everything from “Ninja II: Shadow of a Tear“, “Creed“, “Kickboxer: Retaliation“, all three seasons of Netflix’s “Daredevil“, and many others producing some of the most out-and-out gorgeous contemporary action sequences.
Sam Mendes’ war epic “1917” also recently got in on the one-shot act in a big way, cleverly masking camera cuts to present the entire movie as one continuous shot. It’s as clear as ever that single-take battles are a surefire way to make any movie a hot topic for action aficionados. While a lot is still yet to be seen about “Crazy Samurai Musashi”, one need only look at “Re:Born” to know that the men at the wheel know what they’re doing.
“Re:Born” Gave John Wick a Run for His Money, Remember?
In an era where assassin-driven movies have more than carved out their niche on the action movie landscape, the anti-hero of “Re:Born”, Toshiro, could give “John Wick” a run for his money. Though Tak Sakaguchi has more than been around the block in both stunt work and action films, “Re:Born” was a beyond stunning distillation of the science of cinematic action.
The movie’s incredible forest battle in particular was a slam dunk and a half and judging by the premise of “Crazy Samurai Musashi”, it now almost looks like a warm-up for the upcoming movie’s sword-slashing, single-take action. With Both Yuji Shimomura and Tak Sakaguchi leading the way, audiences can rest assured that “Crazy Samurai Musashi” is as capable of delivering on its seemingly impossible boast of a single take, 400-on-1 war as anyone could possibly dream of!
