In Feudal Japan the era
of the samurai is waning, and sadistic young Lord Naritsugu rapes and
kills at will. No one can touch him because he is the Shogun's
younger brother and thus above the law. A senior government official
realizes the situation will become even more dangerous after Naritsugu
ascends to a higher political position, and thus a trusted samurai,
Shinzaemon, is secretly hired to assassinate him.
Shinzaemon gathers eleven more samurai, and the dozen plan to ambush Naritsugu on his long journey home from Edo.
Along the way they meet a hunter who claims to be of samurai lineage,
and they adopt him as the thirteenth assassin. He in turn helps them
find the village they have chosen for the battle. They take the village
over and convert it into a labyrinth of traps with many camouflaged fortifications.
But when Lord Naritsugu
arrives, the assassins discover they are outnumbered even more heavily
than originally expected; there are 200 guards, not seventy. Nonetheless
they decide to continue with their mission.
STARRING: KOJI YAKUSHO, TAKAYUKI YAMADA, HIROKI MATSUKATA, KAZUKI NAMIOKA
2010 – JAPANESE with OPTIONAL ENGLISH SUBTITLES – COLOR – 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN – 126 MINUTES