13 Assassins (2011)
93%RT Audience Score: 88%
Awards & Nominations: 15 wins & 28 nominations
Takashi Miike’s electric remake of Eiichi Kudo’s 1963 period action film is a wild spectacle executed with killer, dizzying panache.
If you’re looking for a movie that’s equal parts action-packed and thought-provoking, then 13 Assassins is the perfect pick for you. This samurai film is a refreshing departure from the typical gore-fests that director Takashi Miike is known for, but don’t worry, there’s still plenty of blood and guts to go around. The real highlight of the movie, though, is the epic 45-minute battle scene that will leave you on the edge of your seat. It’s no wonder that some critics are calling it Miike’s masterpiece. So grab some popcorn and get ready for a wild ride through feudal Japan.
Production Company(ies)
Das Films, David Sonenberg Production Polygram Filmed Entertainment,
Distributor
Magnet Releasing
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for sequences of bloody violence, some disturbing images and brief nudity
Year of Release
2010
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 6m
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Language(s):Japanese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 29, 2011 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 5, 2011
Genre(s)
Action/Adventure
Keyword(s)
starring Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Goro Inagaki, Mikijirō Hira, Hiroki Matsukata, directed by Takashi Miike, written by Daisuke Tengan, action, adventure, Japanese, R rating, box office gross $802.5K, reviewed by Tom Mes, Jim Schembri, Paul Byrnes, Tom Long, J R Jones, Chris Vognar, Jason Adams, Mike Massie, Yasser Medina, Ed Travis, David Harris, Noah Berlatsky, samurai, assassination, historical, period film, Shinzaemon Shimada, Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira, samurai warriors, battle scene, government official, faithful bodyguards, Minami Ichikawa, Tôichirô Shiraishi, Michihiko Yanagisawa, Magnet Releasing
Worldwide gross: $18,689,058
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $25,405,653
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,620
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,770,518
US/Canada gross: $802,778
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,091,286
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,163
US/Canada opening weekend: $45,854
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $62,333
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,128
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $6,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $8,156,319
Production budget ranking: 1,743
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $4,392,178
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $12,857,157
ROI to date (est.): 102%
ROI ranking: 930
Takayuki Yamada – Shinrouko
Yusuke Iseya – Koyata
Goro Inagaki – Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira
Mikijirō Hira – Sir Doi
Hiroki Matsukata – Kuranaga
Director(s)
Takashi Miike
Writer(s)
Daisuke Tengan
Producer(s)
Minami Ichikawa, Tôichirô Shiraishi, Michihiko Yanagisawa
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
15 wins & 28 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (132) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (126) | Rotten (6)
Culminates in a riveting, ingeniously plotted, and inventively shot 45-minute battle scene.
November 7, 2013
Tom Mes
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The excessive mind of Japanese director Takashi Miike (Audition; Ichi the Killer) throttles back the gore to deliver a disciplined, refreshingly grounded samurai action film.
September 14, 2011 | Rating: 3.5/5
Jim Schembri
The Age (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
13 Assassins looks at honour from many angles, without becoming simplistic. Ichii hasn’t lost his edge after all.
September 9, 2011 | Rating: 4/5
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
Familiar though it may be, as samurai movies go, 13 Assassins” is a killer.
June 10, 2011 | Rating: B+
Tom Long
Detroit News
TOP CRITIC
This slam-bang remake of a 1963 feature by Eichi Kudo builds slowly, accumulating characters and themes, then explodes into a prolonged and masterful battle sequence inside a deserted town.
June 10, 2011
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
One can pinpoint the exact moment when 13 Assassins transforms from vivid samurai drama to insane work of genius.
June 9, 2011 | Rating: A-
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News
TOP CRITIC
“13 Assassins could end up being Miike’s masterpiece. It’s that good.”
July 2, 2021
Jason Adams
My New Plaid Pants
It’s clear that the exhilarating 50-minute climax battle is both the director’s forte and his primary passion.
November 30, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Rather than being a simple action movie, it is all a bloody samurai film that revives the chambara genre. [Full review in Spanish]
June 27, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
…the film offers far more than cheap thrills and violent spectacle. 13 Assassins brings men to the crux of their beliefs and forces them to live out the reality of their choices in battle.
April 2, 2020
Ed Travis
Hollywood Jesus
Takashi Miike has created a reverential and vital film in a genre that many may have thought as moribund and passé as its subject.
November 6, 2019 | Rating: 3.7/5
David Harris
Spectrum Culture
13 Assassins is a samurai movie dedicated to giving you what you expect in a samurai movie
September 16, 2019
Noah Berlatsky
Splice Today…
Plot
In 1844, the peace of Feudal Japan is threatened by cruel Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira, who is politically rising and getting closer to his half-brother, the shogun. After the harakiri of the Namiya clan leader, samurai Shinzaemon Shimada is summoned by the shogun’s advisor Sir Doi of the Akashi Clan to listen to the tragedy of Makino Uneme, whose son and daughter-in-law have been murdered by Naritsugu. Then Sir Doi shows a woman with arms, legs and tongue severed by Naritsugu and she writes with her forearm a request to Shinza to slaughter Naritsugu and his samurai. Shinza promises to kill Naritsugu and he gathers eleven other samurais and plots a plan to attack Naritsugu in his trip back to the Akashi land. But the cunning samurai Hanbei Kitou that is responsible for the security of his master foresees Shinza’s intent. Shinza decides to go with his samurai through the mountain, where they find the hunter Koyata that guides them off the mountain and joins the group. Now the thirteen men prepare an ambush to Naritsugu and his army of two hundred samurai in a suicide mission to stop evil.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Goro Inagaki plays the ruthless Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira, who is the target of the assassins’ mission in the film.
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