The Hidden Blade
Tartan | Release Date: June 23, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Casually paced and filled with telling detail, Yamada's delicate drama with swordplay (there's not much, but what there is packs an emotional wallop) transcends its specific setting in its depiction of Katagiri's internal struggle. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Enormously enjoyable. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The Hidden Blade is tranquil, touching, and, in its climactic sword fight, excitingly real. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The restrained drama both punctures the mythic ideal of the samurai culture (trained as fighters, they mostly serve as clan bureaucrats) and spins a romantic portrait of one man who values principle over protocol despite the cost to his reputation. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Yamada's decidedly undazzling yet expressive filmmaking approaches classicism, from a sensei training session captured in one lengthy shot to the final showdown, seen with shifting points of view that suggest a relativist unease with the cut-and-dried judgments of war culture. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Builds slowly--maybe too slowly--to a mano-a-mano standoff, just like "The Twilight Samurai," and just like the earlier film, the new one presents its climactic swordfight matter-of-factly, with no superheroics and a lot of hesitation. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Both epic and intimate, this impassioned samurai drama is for anyone who's ever watched a movie and muttered, "They just don't make 'em like they used to." Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Deeply affecting, "Blade'' portrays an oddly elegant way of life that will soon be like the era in that other movie, "Gone With the Wind." Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
Though less powerful than Mr. Yamada's "Twilight Samurai" (2002), The Hidden Blade is an affecting portrait of the impact of profound change on people with limited options. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
It's a sensitive, slow-moving 19th century samurai drama that will appeal to that tiny cadre of filmgoers who savor the classic Japanese films of Mizoguchi and Inagaki. Read full review
63
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Bears more than a passing resemblance in story and form to "The Twilight Samurai," but stands on its own as a pleasant, if unremarkable, romance. Read full review
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