In 1990, Japanese director Kazuo Kuroki directed Ronin Gai, a remake of the 1920 film of the same name which is widely considered a land mark in Japanese cinema as it was one of the first period dramas to be made. Not only was the film a remake of the original but it was also meant to serve as a tribute to the director of the original movie, Shozo Makino, who had recently died at the time this film was made.

Set in feudal Japan, the film follows the story of Aramaki Gennai (Yoshio Harada), a rogue samurai who stumbles into a brothel looking for a good time and a drink or two. He tries to make it with Oshin (Kanako Higuchi), one of the more expensive women employed in this house of ill repute, but another samurai inclined to lay with women of the evening named Horo (Renji Ishibashi) has already got his eye on her considerable prize. To top it all off, the brothel bouncer, Bull, is watching out for his employee to make sure no foul play works its way into his establishment.

Around the corner, a third lonely samurai named Doi lies with his sister who makes her living breeding birds. Neither of them have much money nor do they have any real prospects in life, much like the crew hanging out at the brothel nearby. When a gang of evil samurai set their sights on the small town thinking that they can come in and swoop up whatever they want without having to worry about anyone putting up too much of a fight, the locals finally learn to band together and find strength in numbers to protect their meager lives against the oncoming attackers.

The influence of master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa is all over this film, from the sets to the cinematography to the characters (tell me Aramaki doesn't remind you of Mifune's role in Seven Samurai) but sadly, when it's all said and done, no one does Kurosawa like Kurosawa and the lack of an original approach hurts the movie. Kuroki does a decent job of aping Kurosawa's style but all the while we're conscious of the fact that it's not Kurosawa doing the work which leads one to wonder what the point of it all is when we could just watch one of his own films instead and likely find better results.

It's not that Ronin Gai is a bad film, it isn't at all, but it lacks the kind of soul that a director with his own voice can infuse into a movie. The story is interesting, the characters are decent and some of the swordplay scenes are quite dynamic but again, it feels like a Kurosawa knock-off because it is a Kurosawa knock off. One thing that the movie does have going for it in a big way, however, is the undeniable screen presence of the one and only Shintaro Katsu, best known as Zatoichi and Hanzo The Razor. While his role isn't as big as it is in his signature films, he's still got enough screen time to leave an impression.

Also worth noting about the film is that a young Takashi Miike worked as second unit director on the film, before he branched out on his own and became famous for films like Ichi The Killer and Audition.

In the end, Ronin Gai is a decent time killer. It moves along at a good pace, it's got some great sword fights, and it's got a pretty solid cast but it lacks the originality and spirit required to really raise it above other samurai films that have been made before and after. It's an entertaining film, it's just not a great film, which is a shame as at times you'd almost think that it could have been.

Video:

The framing on the 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer looks dead on and the colors are surprisingly crisp and bright. While the transfer hasn't been flagged for progressive scan, which results in some blurring during much of the action scenes, overall this is a pretty solid effort from Home Vision. Print damage is minor and film grain is kept well in check. There is only some slight shimmering in the film and no really serious edge enhancement problems or compression artifacts. Black levels are pretty strong throughout and skin tones look natural.