NathanMcDunnough Karma is a bitch and her name is Lady Snowblood. This movie is for those who love stories of revenge, old school martial arts, and gushing fake blood. I'm not embarrassed to say that I love this movie: the acting, the cinematography, the music, the falling snow, the bloodshed.Sometimes there's a hate so strong, so seething, so powerful, that it transcends. The Lady Snowblood kind of vengeance is a vengeance so deep it passes from mother to daughter. We're talking about revenge for murder and rape, so you know it's going to get ugly and Lady Snowblood leaves a trail of spurting blood wherever she goes.Born Yuki Kashima, Lady Snowblood, an asura, is also born. "People say you can't wash away the mud of this world with pure white snow: You need asura snow, stained fiery red." Yuki is born of her mother's determination to exact revenge on those who perpetrated rape and murder on her and her family. Her mother seduces and sleeps with men for the sole purpose of bringing an asura into the world to exact this revenge. Yuki is born breach and her mother dies in pain and agony, while willing her vengeful spirit to pass onto her daughter. A red-painted, blood spurting, blood splattering, blood staining, bloodbath ensues, as Yuki stabs and slashes her way to Lady Snowblood fame.

Jithin K Mohan One of the most beautiful, stylistic and brutal action films I've seen. Tarantino essentially ripped off this one with Kill Bill. The cinematography and music were some of the highlights along with the great action choreography. Some of the most memorable sword slice killing in cinema is here. A must watch especially for all the Kill Bill fans.

Charlie Picart This is a hard movie to rate. The Criterion version is beautiful; the picture quality is really high and shows off some nice photography and simply nice Japanese scenery and settings (though some of them are obviously studio). The actors play well; the story is simple and well put together... The music is also very enjoyable and the action is clean and brutal. Almost fun... and yes you get this whole Tarantino vibe that explains the gain of popularity this movie has had in the 21st century. But ultimately the movie is slow and a little boring? All the pieces taken separately work well but it's simply not that enjoyable... at least in my humble opinion.

mevmijaumau Toshiya Fujita's Lady Snowblood, (based on the manga of the same name) starring Meiko Kaji, is now most commonly known as the film that inspired Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. Tarantino is a notorious copycat, but I frankly don't find that to be a big deal, I mean other filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick copied from other films all the time yet nobody has a problem with that.Kill Bill lifted many elements from Lady Snowblood; the female revenge plot with four main villains (the one played by Lucy Liu is even inspired by Shurayuki), battles on snowy fields, fountains of watery blood, fights with the female villain's henchmen, an animated sequence (in LS it's a series of scenes from the manga because I assume the budget was too low for an animated scene), the protagonist killing a girl's parent, division into chapters, some of the music which was plain borrowed, and the non-linear chronology. I actually prefer Lady Snowblood to Kill Bill because it has a far more absorbing atmosphere, which is one of the most important things for a movie to have as I see it.Lady Snowblood is divided into four chapters and dramatically narrated by some anonymous. Surprisingly enough, the camera-work is just brilliant for an exploitation film. There are many interesting techniques, like zooming in on a stair-ascending character's partially obscured face in the background and then focusing on her as soon as she appears on the others' level, or suddenly zooming out of the scene high into the sky. The color cinematography and costume work are all very memorable.The bloody scenes have the usual fire hydrant-like blood fountains common in many samurai films at the time, I mean that's just classic, I can't believe some people are having problems with that. The over-the-top acting also isn't a nuisance, it's a lovable exploitation film trope that just makes the movie better. Meiko Kaji is great both in the leading role and on the film's soundtrack; the main song Shura no hana (translated by Tarantino as The Flower of Carnage) is amazing, probably one of the best movie character theme songs I've heard so far.Lady Snowblood also has a sequel by the same director, a Hong Kong remake, as well as a sci-fi re-imagining which came out years later. But yeah, sadly it's most famous for being an inspiration to Tarantino, which is unfortunate because it's a great film on its own, a masterpiece in its own genre - highly entertaining, dark and colorful. Be sure to check it out.9,5/10