Review of Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011) by Jeff J — 01 Aug 2015
Not a bad film in itself, but as with cinema masterpiece remakes it results in the obvious question: WHY? This one adds nothing worthy to the original, which is one of the greatest films ever made. Instead, its solid but workman production and performances pale badly by comparison.
Were it an original movie, it would be a good one, not exceptional, but not a bad one either. That is the inherent danger in undertaking a remake, and it's nearly impossible to remake a masterpiece without falling flat.
While this one is OK, without substantial flaws, it fails to rise to the level of Masaki Kobayashi's original by a large margin. Takashi Miike could have better spent his time, energy and money on creating an original Edo period film, not attempting to remake one of cinema's all time masterpieces.
Eventually, this one will end up in the dustbin of discarded remakes, forgotten for all but a footnote in the trivia notes for the original.
This review of Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011) was written by Jeff J on 01 Aug 2015.
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
