One of Japan's most outrageous and prolific filmmakers Takashi Miike ('Audition', 'Ichi the Killer') creates a startling vision of Edo era Japan and the tale of a band of noble samurai who fight a malevolent aristocrat in the name of honour. In Shogun-era Japan, the powerful and sadistic Lord Naritsugu threatens to shatter the country’s fragile peace and plunge it once more into war. Determined to stop him at all costs, an elite group of ronin (samurai without a master) devise a plan to defeat him. Massively outnumbered, the thirteen fearless warriors must face the sadistic aristocrat's lethal army in a monumental and bloodily violent showdown. Miike stamps his trademark style on to the samurai genre with this action-packed and blood-spattered epic. Arguably the most wildly unpredictable and certainly one of the most controversial directors in cinema, Miike reinvents himself once more – channelling the spirit of Akira Kurosawa – offering up an extended, brilliantly staged action finale and more than enough carnage to satisfy his fan base, this is a stunning addition to the jidai geki genre. ★★★★ "Intense and always spectacular" - Anton Bitel, Little White Lies ★★★★ "Remarkably controlled" - Tim Robey, The Telegraph