Actors: Julian Sands, Wes Bentley, Angus Macfayden
Directed by: Alejo Mo-Sun
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
DVD Release Date: November 6, 2012
Run Time: 105 minutes
Film: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 2.5 out of 5 stars
When I first heard of this film, I didn’t even recognize Wes Bentley on the cover. Then I realized that he was in “The Hunger Games” and this was a mere cash in on that role. The film itself is an awesome premise dealing in a post-apocalyptic setting with samurai and dark magic but it doesn’t take advantage of this total coolness. There is some decent CGI effects but nothing that really blew me away. This feels like a low-budget “Dune” without the cool worms and blue eyes. Worth a went but I wouldn’t recommend this as a buyer.
Official Premise: On a planet where humans must scavenge the post-apocalyptic barren wasteland, Hirokin, a reluctant samurai with a dark past sets off on a mission to fulfill his destiny. Having fought to the death to save his wife and son from the planet’s evil dictator, Griffin, and his elite army of warriors, the lone samurai is left for dead in the vast desert. Armed with his samurai blade Hirokin is forced to choose between avenging the murder of his family and fighting for the freedom of his people. As he goes into war he’ll discover a shocking revelation about his family leaving revenge running through his veins.
The special features are ok but not spectacular on this DVD. There is a short but sweet featurette called “Creating Aradius: The Making of Hirokin: The Last Samurai”. I would have liked to seen more of Aradius in this film to be honest, just looked like a desert set to me. There are also two featurettes on the fighting called “Training the Samurai” and “Fight Choreography”. Lastly there are a few deleted scenes. I should point out in closing that even though this is only DVD, the Dolby Digital 5.1 track is quite decent with the few action scenes in the film.
