Ten to Chi to
1990 / 125m - Japan
War
2.5*/5.0*
Heaven and Earth poster

Watches

January 24, 2022

2.5*/5.0*

If you love epic battles with lots of (human) extras and colorful armies, this film is definitely for you. It's not unlike Kurosawa's Ran, only a bit shorter, tighter and slightly more impressive. These samurai war films aren't really my thing though, so two hours was still a bit too much to be able to fully appreciate it.

The premise is pretty simple. Two samurai armies are facing each other in battle. Their leaders want to make sure the other side doesn't get too much land under their control, and so they chase each other throughout the land, waging war and trying to outsmart each other whenever they meet.

There are some impressive battle scenes here. The colors pop, the camera work is nice and Kadokawa has a good eye for lighting and composition. I do get bored with these big battles rather quickly, and the plot doesn't offer too much intrigue. Still, I think it's one of the better films in its genre, it's just that the genre isn't really for me.