"47 Ronin" (2010?) ... .'whoa' style

[Vexx]

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/12/09...epic-47-ronin/

Keanu Reeves Dons Samurai Outfit For Feudal Epic ‘47 Ronin’


Published by Elisabeth Rappe on Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 10:16 am.
Keanu Reeves knows kung-fu — but does he know how to wield a katana? He’s going to have to learn, because according to Variety, he is set to be the star of “47 Ronin” for Universal Pictures. The film lacks a director, but is being penned by Chris Morgan, who will be tailoring the story to suit Reeves’ half-Asian heritage.
“47 Ronin” is based on a true story of a band of samurai swordsmen who avenged the death of their master in 18th century Japan. Their master attacked a corrupt court official, Kira, a crime that saw him forced to commit seppuku. His masterless band of samurai swore to avenge their master’s death, though they knew they would be severely punished in doing so. Their successful attack on Kira has gone down into national legend, and they are still revered in Japan today.
The big screen version will be be highly stylized, mixing fantasy elements with gritty battle scenes, making it a cross between “Lord of the Rings” and “300.” This seems like a film that might cause a fair amount of controversy in Japan not only in its choice of a lead actor, but by toying with a story that is a beloved legend. It sounds like a fantastic story, though, and I hope it’s done with respect.

I am theorizing it might make a good matinee bit of escapism..... if I can beat my "but that's not how..." brain module into submission

The key note here is that they're going for a "japanified 300" rather than a literal adaptation, rather like "300" was a mythical telling of the Spartan defense. Just to clarify, I didn't write that newscopy -- its just quoted from the article.
I suspect Mr. Reeves will train for months and use clever camera work so as not to appear totally incompetent at sword work (like most actors).

If I thought they were going to stick to the legend/record I'd be more interested but given that "tailoring the story" line... I suspect it won't resemble the original tale much.

[Shadow Kira01]

Just because Reeves is good at kungfu doesn't mean he will wield a katana properly. In fact, the two types of martial arts are totally unrelated. As for the movie itself, I am not interested in samurai..

[iLney]

Hmm, American "300," "Japanese "47 Ronin," Chinese "7 swords," French "The three musketeers."

This world is really amazing

[Utau]

and here i was thinking "300" were Greeks

[Vexx]

Well, they were Greeks.... Sparta was a kingdom within Greece's little conclave of nation-states.

[iLney]

Ah, my bad, it should be Greek "300"

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Vexx

The key note here is that they're going for a "japanified 300"

THIS IS JAPAN!

Seriously, my old man and brother are quite the fans of this type of movies. It's pretty much a given I'll be watching this at one point or another because of them.

[-KarumA-]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

THIS IS JAPAN!

Seriously, my old man and brother are quite the fans of this type of movies. It's pretty much a given I'll be watching this at one point or another because of them.

better yet NIHON DESU! *kick!*


I love samurai movies, I'm really going to look forward to this one

[OtseisRagnarok]

Wait... Keanu Reeves has asian descent?
that should be enough to garner the classic response: woah....

[Claies]

Keanu Reeves isn't "half-Asian," his father is only part-Hawaiian-Chinese (Wikipedia-linked article). Of course, "half-Hawaiian" isn't too glamorous, but I don't see any bit of Asian on him, even if he does kung fu alright. >_>

I don't expect this to get too much better than the Last Samurai, if at all.

[OtseisRagnarok]

Originally Posted by Claies

Keanu Reeves isn't "half-Asian," his father is only part-Hawaiian-Chinese (Wikipedia-linked article). Of course, "half-Hawaiian" isn't too glamorous, but I don't see any bit of Asian on him, even if he does kung fu alright. >_>

I don't expect this to get too much better than the Last Samurai, if at all.

Last Samurai was actually good, though. I liked it, at least...

[Demongod86]

As someone who actually read the 47 Ronin (which was DAMN cool), there was no way that you could really make something LotR epic out of it, simply because it wasn't on that big of a scale. Most of the book involved plotting, and the *one* battle wasn't some massive melee, but a very carefully executed stealth strike, and was quite one-sided.

But it will honestly be interesting to see how the movie does this. That said, I think the Japanese people will feel proud that their culture is being so turned into something completely epic and badass, even if it wasn't quite as badass as the silver screen will make it look.

[OtseisRagnarok]

Originally Posted by Demongod86

As someone who actually read the 47 Ronin (which was DAMN cool), there was no way that you could really make something LotR epic out of it, simply because it wasn't on that big of a scale. Most of the book involved plotting, and the *one* battle wasn't some massive melee, but a very carefully executed stealth strike, and was quite one-sided.

Well, there were inaccuracies in 300 as well(There were Athenians providing support from the oceanside, the 300's last stand was actually only for the purpose of covering a retreat of their fellow greeks, etc.). Don't expect it to be a perfect translation.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by OtseisRagnarok

Well, there were inaccuracies in 300 as well(There were Athenians providing support from the oceanside, the 300's last stand was actually only for the purpose of covering a retreat of their fellow greeks, etc.). Don't expect it to be a perfect translation.

300 is a mythic tall-tale verson of the actual battle, using source material written by Frank Miller the comic artist -- it was never intended to be "accurate".

I suspect this is going to run along the same lines...