Anssi Vartiainen In the post-apocalyptic future the former guardians of the emperor have become a clan of assassins. But now their princess has departed from their ranks after finding out that the steward of the clan does not have her best interests in mind. And now she must flee from them all. The assassins, the government, the everyday people.The Princess Blade is based on the manga Lady Snowblood by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura, and it is very much style over substance. But it is good style. The opening fight pretty much sets the tone for the entire film. If you're not hooked after it, you can safely turn the TV off or look for something else to watch. The film is barely nothing more than one big katana fight after another, with crazy stunts, back flips, lots of swords doing that drawing sound they never do in real life, cool poses and people getting cut down.Though to be fair, the story isn't all that bad. It just isn't focused on enough. The Princess Yuki (Yumiko Shaku) flees from everything she has ever known and meets Takashi (Hideaki Ito) a rebel against the government, being forced to hide in his home. Both Shaku and Ito are good actors and have genuine chemistry together. It's just that aside from the action scenes, the movie is pretty hard to follow. People have conversations together, but none of the scenes connect with one another and in the end you're not really sure what this all means for the characters and the world they live in.There are also some rather strange touches and details in the story, but I blame the fact that they were adapting a manga series for those. Such details can always seem strange and superfluous if you're not careful about which scenes to add and which to leave out.All in all, The Princess Blade is worth a watch if you'd like to see a kung fu action film that takes place in the post-apocalyptic future. Its story is not terribly exciting, but the action scenes are good enough for you to enjoy the film as a whole.

BA_Harrison Not knowing too much about the film before viewing, I popped Princess Blade into the DVD player expecting a lighthearted disposable babes-with-swords action movie and boy was I surprised; instead of a throwaway plot and an emphasis on 'cool' visuals, I got a rather bleak and bloody tale of retribution and the futility of life.Yuki is a member of the Takemikazuchi clan—killers for hire who work for the reigning monarchy, disposing of any opposition. When she learns that Byakurai, head honcho of the clan, was responsible for the death of her mother, she seeks revenge. After failing to kill Byakurai, she flees the group, hotly pursued by her fellow assassins who see her as a traitor.Narrowly escaping death by climbing into the back of a passing truck, Yuki is befriended by the driver, a rebel who is part of a terrorist organisation secretly fighting the establishment. The two outcasts grow fond of each other and plan to run away together, but it is not long before both of their pasts catch up with them with tragic results.With stunning swordplay choreographed by top Hong Kong star Donnie Yen, a decent story and a strong visual style, Princess Blade is an admirable debut from director Shinsuke Sato. Despite a rather slow middle section in which time is taken to try and develop characters and flesh out the sometimes confusing plot, the film never bores, and when Yuki finally gets to exact revenge, she does so in spectacular fashion, chopping, hacking and slicing all those who dare to draw swords against her.Bloody and brutal, this is definitely worth a watch for fans of the genre.

Mystical_lonewolf I first saw this poster and thought, "Wow, this seems interesting." so i hoped to find it and found it at best buy. I have the special edition one.This film is about Yuki, born and bred assassin in Japan. She learns the truth about her mother's death and seeks revenge also meets a guy who was in the group of terrorists. The two have slowly became to be friendly and learn from each other. Yuki has learned to understand human emotions and of reason for killing as Takashi quits the terrorist group.The ending was actually a sad ending, and i feel that it was bit brutal of the director. I really like this film, it is worth my money to see this. Anyone who thinks this film sucks must be something wrong with them.The biggest thing i love about this film is the fighting styles Yuki does and that it wasn't really gory, unless you wanna count Yuki cutting the blade through her enemy's shoulder diagonally. Although you only see the blood, no guts. This film seems to have a gallon of fake blood in this film, in my opinion. but i have to say, this film is easy on the eyes, and the ending requires lots of tissues.

HappyPlants Yet another offering from Japanese cinema in which we are treated to briefly exhilarating action sequences punctuating a vague and convoluted plot. Yet even the action never quite delivers. It opens with an impressive assassination, combining clever camera-work with well choreographed well edited moves. Unfortunately, with the exception of a couple of beautiful individual shots, it is a steady decline in quality from this point. The fights become briefer, duller and increasingly difficult to work out what exactly is going on. The plot is generic and the characters utterly two dimensional, while the subplot of the rebel organisation is half hearted. If you want a mindlessly fun, violent flick with big swords, bigger guns, gallons of blood and an absurd plot, rent 'Versus.'