| SYNOPSIS:
Don't
be fooled by the ultra low-cut skirt, knee-high boots and
flowing black cape. Behind the angelic facade and streaming
locks, gleams a sword-killing machine who doesn't think twice
before setting on a bloody rampage. Sequestered at a young
age on a remote island, Azumi and nine other children have
grown into robust teenagers having perfected the fine art
of the Japanese sword. However, before sending then out into
the world to perform the task they had trained so long for,
their master has one final test: they must kill each other.
Shocked yet unable to disobey direct orders, Azumi and her
friends brandish their swords at each other. Through the character
of Azumi, Kitamura offers a portrait of a complex and deeply
wounded young girl torn between what she's been taught and
what she truly believes. Will she follow her heart and hang
up her sword or will she remain the ruthless assassin she
had been trained to become?
DISC
ONE: MOVIE REVIEW
The Blue
Max’s release of Azumi comes in 2 dvds set. The first
one contains the movie and the second one is packed with the
extras. The
story of Azumi is set in the turbulent times of a feuding
Japan, where ambitious warlords caused numerous battles and
bloodshed in the nation. In order to bring peace back to the
people, an old samurai, Master Gessai, was tasked to train
a group of assassins to eliminate those warlords who seek
to pursue power through battles and the lives of many others.
Young Azumi (Aya Ueto) and her group of friends spend their
lives training for this mission and were raised with the belief
that only in completion of their mission will they be able
to bring peace to their nation.
Just
before they can start their actual mission, Master Gessai
gives them a final test that would reveal their determination
to accomplish this task: to kill the buddy that they are closest
to. Only those who survived the final test were allowed to
proceed on with mission.
As
the mission begins, Azumi starts to question the moral of
this mission. As her faith starts to shake, more obstacles
arise and soon, her remaining friends and mentor are all in
dire need of help, help that perhaps only Azumi could provide.
It’s not difficult to see why this film is so popular
with fans of Japanese anime and manga. It has kinetic furious
sword fights that are performed by the cast, Aya Ueto included.
Azumi is filled with memorable villains such as the wildly
wicked Bijomaru, a monkey hairdo ninja with a doglike growl
and other colorful characters that are often found in the
animated world of anime. However the characterization wasn’t
the strongest aspect of the film and many of the characters
ended up as one-dimensional characters.
Nevertheless,
Aya Ueto aced in her role as Azumi, bringing a range of vulnerability
and toughness to her character. With her good looks, a decent
story and fabulous sword fights, Azumi is an entertaining
slash and dice flick that worth checking out.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Bluemax’s
Azumi is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen and comes with
switchable English and Chinese subtitles. The audio aspect
might upset some home theatre hobbyist. The 2 channels setup
will disappoint those who are used to the 5.1 or DTS sound
system setup. As there were plenty of swords clashing and
even thunderous explosion towards the finale, a 5.1 or DTS
options would greatly enhances the viewing pleasure. However
the rest that just rely on their inbuilt TV speaker should
not have any problems with the setup that this Dvd presents.
Another interesting aspect of this Dvd was the intermittent
appearance of Bluemax Logo during the movie. This is a translucent
minor distraction that lasted less than half a minute and
appeared at least 4 or 5 times during the movie.
DISC
TWO: SPECIAL FEATURES
If you enjoyed the movie, this second disc contains
interesting information about the Azumi movie production,
allowing viewers to learn even more about the effort behind
Azumi.
Battle on the Wildside
The first “making of” segment contains the pre
production, the process and postproduction of Azumi. It covers
interview with the author, the producer, the director and
the cast on their views of this movie.
The most interesting bit of this documentary would be the
friendly bantering and bickering between the director Ryuhei
Kitamura and producer Mataichiro Yamamoto. From their near
clash during the first meeting to how they agued about the
editing of the film, it’s a surprise to all that they
even managed to complete this movie without either one of
them walking away from the production.
It
was followed by interviews with the young actors that played
the group of assassins, including the difficult training that
this group underwent in order to perform most of the stunts
in this movie. They also spoke of the characters they played
and the most memorable and emotional scenes for their characters.
Fighting
on the edge
The second segment of “the making of” took place
mainly during the actual film set. Although there was some
overlapping of points that were pointed out in the first segment,
this segment should not be missed as it does add some new
point of views on the making of Azumi segment.
One
of the highlight here would be the interview with the actor
that played Bijomaru (Joe Odagiri), the effeminate psychotic
killers that was send to slaughter the group of assassins.
One of the interesting insights was how this talented actor
gets into his character’s thirst for blood and his focus
on achieving the character’s mentality.
Another
highlight would be the look at behind the scene of the last
major battle in Azumi, revealing how they used camera works
and special effects to capture the climatic finale.
Promotion Clips
Basically a continuous stream of Azumi trailers
with a 2 minutes runtime.
Azumi II Death or Love Press Kit
Contains 2 mins of continuous Azumi II’s
trailers which are could be skipped and this is followed by
9 mins of Azumi II segments.
Azumi II Dvd Added Value
This segment features mainly interview with
Azumi actress, Aya Ueto on her thoughts about the first Azumi
and the sequel that follows. It initially covers the accolades
that the first Azumi movie received and the pressure that
Aya Ueto faced in playing the character she helped bring to
life.
It
also branches out to her thoughts on the new director Shusuke
Kaneko, new characters and returning characters in Azumi II.
This segment prepares the audiences on what to expect for
in the sequel.
Overall
Verdict of this Azumi Dvd:
Although
the cover of BlueMax’s cover for Azumi is a far cry
from the Japanese release, a reappearing BlueMax icon and
a 2ch audio format, Bluemax’s Azumi’s is still
one of the better local Dvd release thus far in terms of their
picture quality and the extras that has been packed into this
set.
MOVIE
RATING :
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Richard Lim Jr
|
