Customer Reviews

Samurai Showdown [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

To put it simply, this is a bad, bad movie, an example of what happens when you try to make a video game into a movie. The animation is badly done, the voice acting sub-par --the voices don't even match the characters very well -- and the frequent action sequences are retro to the extreme and just don't look good.... I'm sorry to everyone who liked this film, but I love all anime, and I couldn't get halfway through this one. Avoid this movie at all costs.

I am a pretty big anime fan and I am not quick to judge, but this is definetly not on my top ten list. I rented it having high hopes, but I ended up wishing that I hadn't stayed up to watch it. Fans of the videogame have probably already seen it, so if your just a person looking for a good anime to watch, find something else. It looked like it might be good at first, but the plot never went that far, and everything had a kinda vague feeling to it. It had 2 or 3 good fight scenes, and a little bit of humor, but that's about it. I would not recommend buying it, but it might be worth renting.

If you want a good videogame anime, try the Dark Stalkers series.

Simply put, Samurai Shodown is a below average action anime with average dubbing and average art. It is fighting game anime that takes the story from the game and does pretty much nothing with it. Buuuut, that doesn't mean it doesn't have its good parts. In fact, there is a pretty good dose of drama at the scene that occurs after the part when Haohmaru defeats Earthquake, and it's done very well in the dub. Speaking of dubbing, Haohmaru's voice is great (thank goodness, he's the main character), but supporting roles, uh, suck. Galford shows about as much emotion as Amakusa (which is null, by the way), Hanzo's voice is too deep for its own good, and Gen-An is just plain funny. The action scenes in this movie are flat out average.

The one thing that almost redeemed the entire movie was the ultra-cool ending theme (not the English credits. Stick around until the Japanese credits roll). Not only does it show additional characters and awesome fight scenes that weren't in the movie (weird), but the nice ending theme, sung in Japanese, is subtitled, with pronunciations! Anyway, if you don't mind a generic plot and want a bit of action, give it a rent.

Hey! I have been reading these reveiws and I'm pretty pissed off! Sure it's not a street fighter or vampire hunter d, but it's still good, The characters are done well, with good voices, and let's not forget the song at the end, it's a anime good for a rainy day.

What a perfect buy and it was great entertaining. I loved the action go see this. I love the game and the motion picture.

I have the movie and I agree with both reviewers that there are some bad elements of the movie. I was not too impressed about the battle scenes. I was hoping to have more sequences of the bad guys and the goods guys with all the characters in the movie. Instead they restricted most of the power abilities they could have shown in the movie. If they have took the effort to make a great movie, there would have made enough money to make a trilogy. Within the story line of the games, there was a whole lot more going on in the story then what they showed in the movie. I own the movie and regardless of its aweful film, I bought it because its my favourite game. I am glad another Samurai Shodown game cam out onto the Playstation 2. I was so upset about SNK disapearing forever..(Really the person who made this movie should realize that its a Japanese game, so it should've been spelled correctly. SAMURAI SHODOWN NO "W")

Thanks for reading my review.

Okay, I will admit, I only figured out that Amakusa was a guy when I watched it the second time around. But tell me, what good anime DOESN'T have some kind of cross-dresser in it?! Anyway, the animation is nice- really clear and bright. And i just love the characters, especially Nakoruru and her hawk! (Ever played Samurai Shodown 2 for NeoGeo Pocket? She looks ADORABLE super-deformed!!)

I honestly think that this movie is a lot better than those other people say it is. Storyline is good, music was absolutely cool, not quite breathtaking, but good enough, and I liked the characters. I haven't played the game, but this movie was good enough for me. I call this a purchase, not a rent. This movie deserves a better chance than the people here have...

This is more of a warning than a review. Some may be tempted by this title's low price. Others may consider buying it because they are fans of the popular video game series it is based on. I warn you all not to be tempted. The voice acting in the dubbed version is some of the worst that I have ever heard. It is not only poorly done but sometimes entirely nonsensical (macho fighter characters with girly voices..etc). The dialogue is silly, insipid and often incoherent. The plot is at best weak. Characters wander in and out and the story wanders back and forth. The animation is the best aspect of this title and it is merely average or a bit below. In short, this title is atrocious. If you want swords and sorcery action, buy Ninja Scroll and pass on this dog.

I have no idea why AD Vision decided to make this their first dubbed release, but all I can say is that, uh, Shiro Tokisada Amakusa (the bad guy with the makeup)is MALE. Talk about not knowing a production's storyline. Good thing AD Vision released Dirty Pair, otherwise I might not have forgiven them for this....