CRAZY SAMURAI: 400 vs 1 brings a 77-minute one-take epic fight to Blu-ray [Review]

CRAZY SAMURAI: 400 vs 1 is built on a wild premise.  The bulk of the film is a 77-minute one-take fight sequence pitting one samurai against 400 warriors in one unbroken shot with no cuts. Unfortunately, the battle turns out to be as much an endurance test for the audience as it is for the unstoppable samurai at the heart of the film.

Directed by Yuji Shimomura (Death Trance), the film stars the acclaimed Japanese action star and choreographer Tak Sakaguchi (Versus) as the titular “Crazy Samurai.” Based on the real-life duelist Miyamoto Musashi, the film centers on a cataclysmic battle between Musashi (Sakaguchi) and the 400 students of the Yoshioka school. The reasons for this battle are pretty murky, but what preamble there is exists just to set up the brutal fight sequence that takes up the majority of the film.

As exciting as the concept is, the 77-minute battle at the heart of the film is a bit of a slog. Shot in bright daylight in the woods and in small village sets, it’s a dreary-looking affair that has the visual appeal of an iPhone home video. While the style may be lacking, the actual battle itself is also a series of repetitive movements with few high points. The concept remains pretty much the same; Musashi is swarmed by a horde of a dozen or so warriors at a time, and he relentlessly battles them off with a series of similar attacks and defenses. Those same dozen-ish warriors then fall out of the camera frame and appear time and time again to give the impression of the “400 warriors” on the attack.

There may not be much more to it, but there is something fascinating about watching Tak Sakaguchi’s physical exertion and fatigue bear down on him over the course of the extended fight. It’s akin to watching a real-time workout with no water or relaxation breaks; it’s truly a feat of remarkable physical stamina and he looks completely destroyed by the end of the film.

CRAZY SAMURAI: 400 vs 1 is a film with a central gimmick that manages to wear thin much too soon. The base idea is exciting, but the execution is severely lacking, with a washed-out and bland colour palette and repetitive action that gets old early on in the film’s nearly 80-minute central sequence.

While a behind-the-scenes look at just how Yuji Shimomura and the team of actors managed to pull off this stunt would likely deepen the viewer’s appreciation of the film, the Blu-ray release doesn’t include any supplements of note (there’s just a trailer).

A film like CRAZY SAMURAI: 400 vs 1  likely has a built-in audience, and fans of Tak Sakaguchi may want to check this out just to witness his astounding physical transformation over the course of the battle. For anyone else, this endurance test may offer little reward.

CRAZY SAMURAI: 400 vs 1 is available on Blu-ray now via Well Go USA.