blade of the 47 ronin

BLADE OF THE 47 RONIN Duels With UK Audiences In April

Director Ron Yuan’s latest thriller is now readying its Spring release in the UK with Blade Of The 47 Ronin from Dazzler Media. Featuring Anna Akana, Mark Dacascos, Teresa Ting, Luna Fujimoto, Yoshi Sudarso, Mike Moh, Dan Southworth, Akira Koieyama and Dustin Nguyen, the movie releases on Blu-Ray and DVD from April 24 In this exhilarating martial arts adventure, an evil witch named Yurei, whose ancestor was slain by one of the legendary 47 Ronin, has surfaced in modern day Budapest determined to have his revenge. Yurei seeks to completely destroy all samurai by uniting both halves of the powerful Tengu Sword. A prophecy claims only a descendant of the original 47 Ronin can wield the blade and defeat this great evil. The samurai are shocked when Lord Shinshiro identifies a streetwise New Yorker named Luna as the one who was prophesied. He charges ronin Reo and apprentice Onami with […]

REIGN OF THE ASSASSIN: A Word With ‘Blade Of The 47 Ronin’ Actress Luna Fujimoto

Lee B. Golden III

Netflix and Universal 1440 have just released their latest offering this season, Blade Of The 47 Ronin from director Ron Yuan. My review is currently available here while as of last week, I was offered an opportunity to get a word in with one of its cast members, actress Luna Fujimoto, who stars in the film as a member the “Onna-bugeisha”, a clandestine unit of female warriors led by modern-day Samurai lord, Shinshiro, played by Mark Dacascos. In our interview, Luna discusses her upbringing in the arts and what it took to land the role, and ultimately working with the likes of Yuan and his team. She’s actually been making the interview rounds for a while now and I’m honored that Film Combat Syndicate just happened to be her latest stop along the way, and after seeing her on screen, I look forward to seeing even more of her on […]

Now Streaming: BLADE OF THE 47 RONIN, Where Martial Arts And Magic Clash In Ron Yuan’s Pulpy Modern-Day Samurai Sequel

Lee B. Golden III

It was pretty much anyone’s guess nine years ago whether or not Carl Rinsch’s Lord Of The Rings-esque take on the classic tale of the 47 Ronin was going to get a sequel of any kind, as big as the aspirations (and budget) were for Universal’s 2013 box office flop. Suffice it to say that some jaws dropped when the trades reported such a follow-up to be directed by actor Ron Yuan who had long begun racking up his film credits behind the lens and with direct-to-disc/streaming releases becoming the more suitable business model for studios looking to capitalize on residual film fandom. Thus, we have Universal’s 1440 shingle joined by Netflix in rolling out Blade Of The 47 Ronin, the second chapter which is set 300 years after the events of the first film and is set in none other than Budapest, which is where Rinsch’s installment was partly […]

Ron Yuan’s BLADE OF THE 47 RONIN Slays In A Ten-Minute Preview Of The Upcoming Action Sequel

Lee B. Golden III

Actor and director Ron Yuan pulled his latest major feat with a festive screening earlier this month at UTA in California for Blade Of The 47 Ronin. The campaign has already rolled out an official promo and character image gallery which you can view here and here courtesy of leading lady Anna Akana who stars in the modernized futuristic sequel to the Keanu Reeves-led 2013 Universal Pictures release. An evil witch named Yurei, whose ancestor was slain by one of the 47 Ronin, has surfaced in modern-day Budapest determined to have his revenge. Yurei seeks to completely destroy all samurai by uniting both halves of the powerful Tengu Sword. A prophecy claims only a descendant of the original 47 Ronin can wield the blade and defeat this great evil. The samurai are shocked when Lord Shinshiro identifies a streetwise New Yorker named Luna as the one who was prophesied. He […]

BLADE OF THE 47 RONIN Unsheathes A Dystopian Female Samurai Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

A new Friday report by Variety‘s Patrick Frater confirms the completion Blade Of The 47 Ronin, the sequel to the original Keanu Reeves-led 2013 Universal Pictures release. Actor and filmmaker Ron Yuan (Step Up China) directs for a second venture with Tim Kwok producing, and a script by John Swetnam, Lucifer actress Aimee Garcia, and A.J. Mendez. The film, which wrapped in Hungary this week, hails from Universal’s 1440 Productions shingle. Actress Anna Akana (Jupiter’s Legacy) stars alongside U.S. martial artist Teresa Ting and Mike Moh (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), and Warrior actor Dustin Nguyen, along with Chris Pang, Japanese actor and model Fukuyama Chikako, action star Mark Dacascos, Luna Fujimoto, Akira Koieyama and Nino Furuhata. As Frater notes, Blade Of The 47 Ronin is set in Budapest, 300 years following the events of the first film. It takes a more subversive turn as it brings a more […]