Just perfect...

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I do not have the language of a movie critic, just that of someone who appreciates the art. I have seen a lot of martial arts movies and I rate this one highly, not that it was real slick, but because of its simplicity and a nice feeling of time and place. I enjoyed the fight scenes because I have not seen many hard style films. So this was a treat to see actors who are Masters keep the fight scenes (with few exceptions), dynamic and strong. This movie captured my mind many times and gave me the immediacy of, "how would I react in similar situations?" And if I was up against a well trained fighter of this style, how would I do? Like many of the reviewers, I was also at first confused by the final words of the master. As the movie progressed my interpretation was to fight with no mind, "mushin no shin," fully aware, not fixed, no plan, no target, no thought, no emotion. With just the body and deep consciousness in-charge, ready to express the art spontaneously as the fight presented itself. If you are truly in the no mind state you are not striking, "it" is doing the striking (I have had that experience but not as much as I would like). I did not see this in the final fight. But I would think that even the best martial artists would have a difficult time with that expression of the art as an actor, far too dangerous.

If you like a decent story line with realistic fight scenes like in Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade and Love and Honour you might like this movie as well. But if you like lots of wire work and long fighting scenes with lots of unrealistic moves then watch your typical mainstream HK movies such as Legend of the Fist, Once Upon a Time in China and Iron Monkey.Simple. Just because it's a martial arts films doesn't mean we have to throw them all into one category. They are completely different types of movies. It all depends what you prefer or what you're in the mood of. Personally, I wish they made more movies like this.

Not sure what the other guy is talking about, but the movie is awful, and I speak from the perspective of one who has almost 10 years experience in the art presented in this movie.Plot (minor spoiler alert): The chasing of a piece of cloth has so little to do with karate that it's silly to even make a movie where this is one of the central plot items. The two characters, Taikan and Giryu compete for their teacher's black belt, which is one of the silliest things that karate people work for. Karate training, actual hard work, body development, and realistic self-defense take a back seat to the competition for something to keep your uniform closed.Acting: For some reason, people seem to think that posing and sulking is acting. It's not. Yes, I suppose the two main characters' acting is better than, say, that of the Military Police in the film or what you see in previous karate movies like Black Belt Jones, but I wouldn't be proud of it. At the best of times it's wooden, and at the worst formulaic. Granted, the script didn't give them much room for much acting, but it didn't sell me. The military police were absolutely terrible - they might as well have walked on and said nothing but "I'm eeeevil, mwahahaha..." Not even a wooden performance, a melodramatic cartoon that would have been better acted by Muppets. (Actually, that might have made the movie more watchable.) This may be what people are calling the Asian style, but so many other Japanese films over the years manage much greater subtlety of character and motivation, and can convey wrongness of character without resorting to overstatements. It's like saying fried Mars Bars are cultural cuisine - they're not, and there are many better things you can do with the ingredients.Direction: Much more emphasis on poetic scenes of people doing karate in tall grass or meditating in windy areas or looking tense and conflicted. The scenes are beautifully and clearly directed, which is the only reason that this gets two stars rather than one. However, the red balloon scene after the beating of Giryu is unrelated to anything and doesn't actually have anything to do with the plot, showing that the director is just trying to play up the "beautiful poetry of Asian cinema" aspect of the film rather than actually trying to make a good movie. More like "Look! Look! This is pretty! Ooh, this too! Look! Imagery..." Basically worthless to the story, but then, they couldn't make a decent movie, so they might as well make it look nice.Fight scenes: JKA Point Kumite is not a fight scene, and techniques from said kumite do not make for good fight scenes. I've never seen anyone in any real fight ever jump in, punch, and jump out again. Not going to happen. Likewise, the "block only" circular patterns that are supposed to cover the Goju-ryu part of the movie does not make for interesting fighting, or any sort of powerful set of techniques that we can believe. Finally, the lack of grappling, tegumi, locks, and throws show just how bad karate is being misrepresented in the film. It's simply a bad sport karate demonstration with no relation to the real art.Overall, this movie is not worthy of the title of karate movie, and I feel should be struck from the record.

The movie tagline: "Real Fight, Real Karate, Real Japan" just says it all. I waited much to see this on DVD.. The movie lived up to my expectations, which were based on the trailer and the fact that the main "actors" are real karate masters of 1st, 5th and 6th dan.The story takes place in the 30's, the country is about to go to war. A military troop arrives at a dojo where 3 guys practice karate with an old master and they soon engage in a fight. The soldiers want to take the building but finally they take the karate pupils, after they demonstrated their strength. The old master soon dies and leaves the black belt - representing their dojo - behind so that the most worthy of them can get it. But they have a lot to learn before.. Giryu (Akihito Yagi) is very naive, while Taikan (Tatsuya Naka) is the opposite of him, so they take different routes. The story, the acting, the movie itself could stand on it's own without any fights. The scenery is nice, the drama, the characters are well built, the directing is very simple, yet powerful, honest. The music is also worth mentioning, it was composed by Naoki Sato.So, what's so special about this movie? That it's real, and it has it all. Great fighters and actors, a meaningful story, a nice movie with a respectful message and representation of karate. The style which - compared to hundreds of movies about flying swordsmen or vengeful kung fu masters - is just not so popular on screen. Maybe that's because it's not about showing off, so it doesn't look that cool at first. Don't expect any wire-work, stuntmen falling ten meters or special effects to exaggerate anything. There is nothing to exaggerate here, because even the simplest, shortest moves look so perfect and powerful that it needs no explanation. This movie makes a lot of things more clear about karate, and gives meaning to it. Reading about the movie on the net I found several karate forums where people praised the actors for being great masters and also nice, humble persons after knowing them. The fact that the movie was also advertised in these circles made it clear that it's not an average action flick. Naka Sensei, who plays Taikan in the movie is an instructor (ranked 6th dan) of the Japan Karate Association and Akihito Yagi (5th dan) is also an instructor and the president of IMGKA (International Meibukan Gojyu-Ryu Karate Association). I hope it wasn't the last movie they appeared in, their charm and talent would be a great addition to Japanese cinema and could further exhibit the true power and meaning of karate traditions.