Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Holstra Boring, long, and too preachy.

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

nthe_void Fist of let me say that the animation in this feature is superb. Unfortunately, due to the ridiculous dialog, I couldn't finish watching it. I love Samuel L. Jackson but something about feudal samurai yelling "punk ass bitch" and bars blasting RZA kills the atmosphere for me.I'm not opposed the mash up of genres, but I think that this one did not fulfill its potential. Perhaps its partially due to the fact that I not a big fan of the Blaxploitation genre.Additionally, the plot was rather weak. You killed my father, prepare to die etc. If you like movies like Shaft and you also like Japanese anime then maybe you can make it through the whole thing. However, I hear the ending sucks.I gave it a 5 for the visual quality of the film alone.

Graham Felton This is not going to be a plot review as many people have written proper and better ones than I could. Instead, this will just be a deposit of loose thoughts from a cinefile who wanted to put something down for others who might be interested in giving this title a go.I originally dismissed this title due to its actual title and thought it was a bit trite in its "Blaxploitation" of afros and samurai. In the anime genre and world, mecha, teen heroes, and samurai have been beaten to death... resurrected and then beaten to death. While a fan of Samuel L. Jackson and of the era of feudal Japan and its samurai I decided to look it up at bluray.highdefdigest.com. I try to make it a point to watch as many different titles as I can and from each style so that I can try to be well-rounded. After seeing such high praises from some interesting sources (aintitcoolnews.com and highdefdigest) I decided to give it a try on blu-ray.The story, while simple, is solid with above par voice overs from a Hollywood cast. The production values look superb and in blu-ray the feature was beautiful. The pace was pleasing and the story-telling was worthy of the best reviews listed on this site. The characters were interesting and the character development was fantastic. Great tie-ins and a recurring theme were refreshing and a delight to watch. There are no heroes here, just characters with their own agendas who all relate to one another. The character comments from the co-producer in the extras are well worth watching as he can explain things from the director and his perspective that really pull things together after you watch the series. While initially having reservations about this title, I can say that I was impressed across the board with it and would highly recommend it to anyone who is open minded or is a dedicated anime fan. Several parts of the story reminded me of borrowed themes from other famed stories or movies; however as a whole the title was genuine and funky as it was fresh... while remaining classic in the anime world. It gets a nine out of ten for me with style. Let me know what you think.

Wayori Afro Samurai is the story of a swordsman seeking vengeance for his murdered father. Haven't seen that before. In order to achieve this goal, he must defeat the number one swordsman in the world that stole the title from his dead dad. The funny thing is that this Number 1 uses two guns to fight, and yet he is the number one "swordsman." Go figure. The Number 1 and Number 2 swordsmen are labeled by these special bands saying that they're number one and number two, and as you might have guessed, the Afro is number two, and EVERYONE with a weapon wants a piece, whether or not that weapon is a sword. I can't tell what source this show ripped off more: Ninja Scroll with its "everyone wants you dead" premise and ninja sidekick or Samurai Champloo with its attempt to immerse hip-hop culture with Japanese swordsmen using the "black samurai" gimmick that mildly offended me. Great animation and action, but overall, not a good show.

chaos-rampant Afro Samurai came out of left field from me. Totally unexpected, I saw the tile pop up somewhere and sounded cool enough for me to give it a go. And even though I'm not an anime fan, I found lots to appreciate in this mini series of blood and mayhem.The main appeal for me was the combination of blaxploitation culture and samurai swordfighting (chambara). Samuel Jackson doing the voice-overs for both Afro Samurai (Clint Eastwood style, few words, calm and badass) and his sidekick Ninja Ninja (wisecracking non-stop banter) was another major plus. The third advantage is the simple story that takes its cue from a long line of revenge movies: this is a simple revenge story and that's why it works so well.In a futuristic world, young kid watches his father get cut down by baddie who is after his father's Headband #1. Headband #1 allows its bearer to be like a god. The only one who can challenge him is the one who wears Headband #2. Anyone can challenge Headband #2. As one could expect, Headband #2's path is littered with corpses as everyone and their dog want their chance to challenge Headband #1. Young kid grows up and becomes Afro Samurai and walks the path of revenge against Headband #1. A colourful ensemble of baddies will stand in his way, from a neo-Buddhist cult of assassin monks, to cyborgs to teddy-bear faced guys with a grudge to common crooks. Through flashbacks we come to find out how Afro Samurai became who he is and how he obtained Headband #2. Simple yet effective.The main appeal here is the visual aspect. Being a fan of 60's and 70's chambaras and jidai-gekis I find the swordfights a tad too hyperkinetic for my taste, but that's anime for you I guess. However everything has a smoother, more westernized approach perhaps to the rapid, eyesore that often is the genre which I took to with pleasant surprise and relief. The graphics and design tend to be great (especially Afro Samurai's) although they can settle for just good or serviceable at times. The blood geysers and slashing, taking their cue from stuff like Lone Wolf and Cub and Lady Snowblood (copious amounts of glorious arterial sprayings) will please every fan of the red stuff although it's not particularly gruesome. Good, clean, family fun.The soundtrack is done by usual suspect RZA. I have to say that the whole combo of hip-hop/anime/exploitation works particularly well even though I'm only a fan of the latter third. If you wanna get a picture of what Afro Samurai is, think of the animated sequence in Kill Bill vol. 1.