Customer Reviews

Baian the Assassin, Vol. 1

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Acupuncturist, Dr. Baian considers himself an asset to his community with a very Dark secret. He is an Assassin, but he only takes money for killing evil, fiendish, heinous & rotten people using an extra large needle to the back of the neck of his victims which leaves no trace. Set during the Japanese Edo period, scenes takes place mainly in sleazy bars & brothels, capturing a sense of the Japanese underworld of that time.
A little slow with not much action (per the earlier review).
If ya want lotsa action I recommend Demon Spies, Shadow Hunters or Lone Wolf with Cub.

Baian the Assassin is a very good show.

I say "show" because it is exactly that, it's a DVD of two episodes of a 90's Japanese TV show, rather long episodes at an hour and a half each... Featuring some VERY good acting, the likes of which most westerners will never see on their networks again, unfortunately.

Veteran Actor Ken Watanabe is wonderful as always (he always delivers in the many Jp films I have seen with him in it) in the role as a compassionate Doctor with a secret side, that of an assassin.

I am rather amused to a point (the point, where as a fan, it begins to IRRITATE me) to see reviews talking about this as a "movie" when it is, in fact, NOT a movie. A minimum of googling would reveal this! It is, however, a fine example of what I believe is called 'Jidai Geki' (from the Wiki: Jidaigeki (時代劇) is a genre of film and television or theater play in Japan. The name means period drama, and the period is usually the Edo period of Japanese history which was from 1600 to 1868.) meaning that if you enjoy character and plot exposition as much or more than THE ACTION then you might want to give these a try. I am anxiously awaiting the next releases of these on DVD now.

I am by no means an expert, but geez - It's awfully boring, and even worse: MIDLEADING - to read a review in which an opinion is given where the reviewer in question is ignorant of a whole genre, you know?

So, to reiterate: It's a DVD of two episodes of a Japanese TV show...and hopefully this release, along with the Zatoichi TV series DVD releases, bodes well for the fan of Jp TV of the past... It's a veritable goldmine!

Baian the Assassin, Vol. 1 - 4

I have watched the series over and over, and I never tire of it. Ken Watanabe is perfect in this role. I wish they would release the rest of the TV series on DVD.

I had low expectations before watching this(based on the lack or not so favorable reviews) and was pleasantly surprised. By no means is this an action packed entry. If you are expecting something on the lines of Lone Wolf & Cub, Mute Samurai, or even Shadow Warriors dont even bother watching this series. It's a slow builder where Baian and his friend gather recon on how to assassinate their targets. What I find interesting is how Baian(who uses his accupuncture needles) and his toothpick/blowdart making friend, Hikojiro, are able to effectively use these methods to kill versus traditional samurai/ninja means(i.e using swords). I especially wondered how they would pull it off in the second episode when they are up against 4 ronins. I dont this is the best jidageki ive ever seen but its not as bad as some people make it out to be.

Recently I was having a discussion with some friends about how "just because it's foreign, doesn't mean it's good."

And here's the proof.

There's nothing inherently wrong with this movie... directing, acting, story are all set to tell a story with the film allotted. It's just the exposition. Characters explain their actions, all of the time, whenever there is dialog. What isn't explained by flat, emotionless dialog is explained by voice over. What isn't explained by either is eventually referred to later in dialog and explained again. In short, there's no real reason that this is a movie--it's more like a bunch of people telling each other the story.

Which, who knows, might be a popular Japanese motif in filmmaking. But I doubt it. I don't claim to know that much about Japanese cinema, but I've seen enough to know that it can do better than this. This comes off as a stoic action movie (think Steven Seagal) with very little action.

However, all told it could have just been a bland, boring piece of work that was good enough to be unremarkable, but then we had the "European Woman" enter (a Japanese actress with a blond wig...) and it was no longer possible to take this movie seriously. I know, "we've" done it too: I think back to the repeated character of Dr. Wong that was played by Boris Karloff back in the 40s. Or even the great Katherine Hepburn playing an Asian heroine at one point. But still... terrible, terrible stuff.

--PolarisDiB