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Shintarô Katsu, Yu Wang, Watako Hamaki, Michie Terada, Koji Nambara

Blind swordsman and masseur Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) does battle with a one-armed swordsman in this exciting installment of the Zatoichi film series. While traveling across the plains of Furukawa, th... read more read more...e blind hero comes in contact with a one-armed swordsman, Wang Kang, and a child on the run from a band of bloodthirsty samurai. Taking refuge in their temple, Zatoichi finds himself deep in intrigue and lies as the hunt becomes a clash between the two swordsmen in a bloody fight for their lives. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

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78% liked it

1,139 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 34 min.

Directed by: Kimiyoshi Yasuda

Release Date: January 1, 1971

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DVD Release Date: July 13, 2004

Stats: 49 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (49)


  • April 23, 2012
    Jimmy Wang Yu is cool. Truth be known, he should have defeated Zatoichi with one hand behind his.....oh dear. You get the picture though. This felt almost like a Babykart vs. Babykart film, with the two men trying to protect the boy, alas as they say in the final scene, 'We could... read more have been friends, but we spoke a different language" - something like that anyway. Zatoichi is ace.
  • September 8, 2009
    Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman is better than Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo. It doesn't feel the needs to needlessly inflate Wang's role. It adds a new visionary style as Wang's martial arts and fighting skills are very different to those we have seen before. It makes his scenes... read more more exciting and his battle with Zatoichi interesting and unpredictable. Plenty of limb lopping and some emotional investment. The best thing about this film is the confrontation where neither Zatoichi, nor Wang is the villain. It doesn't chicken out from giving us a decent ending either.
  • August 27, 2008
    On his travels, blind swordsman Zatoichi stumbles across a massacre and takes in a small boy who witnessed the event. When the killers come looking for him, Zatoichi and family friend Wang Kong or "the one-armed swordsman" pledge to defend the child at all costs. Although this in... read morestallment in the long running franchise has a rather gimmicky premise, its combination of frenetic action scenes and an atmospheric historical setting makes for a good, solid samurai movie. Shintaro Katsu shifts from affable booze hound to intimidating bad ass with the greatest of ease; the scene when he rescues a local girl from the assassins is fantastic. Despite its attempt to ape the master, it's no Kurosawa as technical limitations mean a couple of scenes are so dark it's difficult to tell what's going on and the moral message at the end felt forced. But as a whole it's a very enjoyable blood & katana flick that won't disappoint fans of the genre.
  • August 14, 2007
    A dream-combo of a movie with Katsu Shin and Jimmy Wang Yu, both starring as the lead characters. The differences of cultures and languages make the interaction between both characters beliavable, and thus, making the innevitable showdown more juicy.

    Katsu Shin happens to have m... read moreore screen time, hard to avoid being this mainly a Japanese production, but still, there is plenty of stuff to see for fans of both characters.

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