I had seen a trailer for this on some other movie we rented, and said, wow, that looks great. Ordered it from Netflix. Then I sat on it for two months waiting for a good time to watch it (i.e., when Mr. Otter wasn't around...he deplores my recent penchant for Japanese video and anime...) but gave up and just put it on one Sunday afternoon.

And I swear, not twenty minutes into it, I was online ordering a copy for myself.

This is a typical samurai movie- two factions, the lone swordsman, the kid he takes under his wing.

But wait! like Six-String Samurai it's NOT typical...because this one is a spaghetti western, complete with wailing, whistling soundtrack.

But wait! the plot is also, on a small scale, the Genpei war between rival Samurai factions!

But wait! it's also the Plantagenet/York War of the Roses, complete with a Shakespeare-quoting samurai. (This was the point when I said, I gotta have this.)

Seriously, I love this movie. A great plot (good guys, bad guys, and the townspeople caught in the middle), a walk-on by Quentin Tarantino, a ton of great action shots, a sense of humor, a good soundtrack, a whole lot of riffs on spaghetti westerns...what's not to love?

Come on over! we'll watch it again and have a great time.