User reviews

As an advent fan of the Kenshin animated series, I found this film and other the films a great live action adaptation. Everyone played their role spectacularly. I rarely write reviews but I felt that it was worth mentioning and I hope their sales do extremely well.

One of the best things I enjoyed about the movie(s) was obviously the action sequences costume designs and how the settings mimic'ed Tokyo & Kyoto was portrayed in the series. It felt like I was in that time line. Some hardcore fans would be disappointed that it was not EXACTLY like the series as far as the plot but how much can you condensed from a series into a 3-part movie. I thought it was well done.

The biggest difference between the anime series and the movie is that, in the series they focus on how techniques work and analyze fighters style in great detail & length. There is none of that in the movie which was not a big deal whatsoever.

I would LOVE to see if they could make a movie of the OVA series with Kenshin being the Manslayer (Hitokiri Battousai) and tell the story of the cross scar on his face.

Any one else agrees?

When the live action movie of Rurouni Kenshin was announced, I was not pleased. I feared the adaptation would just kill this great story, and because of that, I ignored the installments. Yet here I am, beyond satisfied with the trilogy. Actually, I am thrilled to be alive in a time where stories like this one are respected and loved to be told in such a beautiful way by cast and crew. In every frame, you see the efforts in sound, photography, directing, writing and acting (among others) to make the most enjoyable moment for the audience, whether it's made of anime/manga fans or not. There is only one word to describe the AWESOMENESS in this flawless adaptation: subarashii (magnificent). I thank you all involved. And congratulate you on the marvelous job done.

After sleeping three days and dreaming with his master Seijuro Hiko (Masaharu Fukuyama), Kenshin Himura (Takeru Satô) wake up and finds that he was saved by Hiko. Kenshin asks to learn the Hiten Mitsurugi technique, "Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki", to defeat Shishio, and Hiko agrees and trains him. Meanwhile Makoto Shishio (Tatsuya Fujiwara) meets the Prime-Minister Hirobumi Ito (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) that is forced to betray Kenshin declaring that he is a wanted outlaw; otherwise Shishio will destroy Tokyo and the government. What will Kenshin do?

"Rurôni Kenshin: Densetsu no saigo-hen", a.k.a. "Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends" is one of the best trilogies of cinema industry ever. The duel between Kenshin and Shishio is too long but in the end, the good wins the evil. The ending is very sweet and fortunately Kaoru Kamiya has survived. Fortunately the producers have not made another sequel despite the number of fans. It is better off missing Kenshin than seeing a commercial weak sequence only for the box office. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Samurai X 3: O Fim de Uma Lenda" ("Samurai X 3: The End of a Legend")

.... is that you need an even bigger movie to kill them.

A story so big it steals from the characterization and the development of the themes that made the Kenshin tale so interesting in the first place.

I have already questioned why anyone in their right mind would want to spend the better part of 6 hours building up to the "final fight" behind Kenshin and the super-baddie (who is so overdrawn he could just as easily have appeared in a Bond film) ....?

And I see in the IMDb, at least so far, one or two fans have been brave enough to make the very same points I am making.

To be honest, I enjoyed the children's TV series more than this opus. Whether that makes me a poor critic or a child at heart is another matter entirely.

I repeat my view that the point of film is to entertain. If a film fails to entertain, it fails, period.

In this film, the only one who seems to be having fun is Masaharu Fukuyama, playing Kenshin's original Master, conveniently appearing to assist a very tricky plot arc.

The first time he finds Kenshin on the beach, almost dead, he remarks how astonished he was to see his "stupid student" again after almost 15 years.

But he says it with a smile, and we know he is happy to see Kenshin.

At that single juncture, I thought, for one brief shining moment, that this saga was finally going to be fun.

And it was. For the 15 minutes or so that Masaharu Fukuyama appears on camera, we get a peek at what this film might have been.

But just a peek.

A reflective first act may prove to be too slow for some viewers, but these moments contain the most imperative lessons for Kenshin in the entire trilogy. This film contains-easily one of the greatest third acts I've ever seen, and any martial arts/action film buff worth their salt needs to see this film. Once again I applaud Satoh Takeru, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kenji Tanigaki and the rest for the unbelievable devotion to realizing these dynamic characters as authentically as possible. Aside from some character development gripes, the assuredness of direction, cinematography, pacing, acting-chops, choreography and perhaps most importantly, appreciation for the source material, it's lessons and essence, this is easily one of the best, ( if not the best) in contemporary Japanese action cinema. This trilogy was seriously on point. Purists open your eyes: this is what all adaptations should strive to achieve, creating an ending that is far more impactful, and ultimately improves upon its source. Next to "The Raid", unparalleled fight choreography.

Keishi Otomo returns with the conclusion to the Kyoto arc, the writing and directing, and honestly everything with the production design holds up in Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends. The reason being that it was shot back to back with Kyoto Inferno which was the first part of this duology. I decided to watch this film a day after Kyoto Inferno because of how the story takes place immediately after as Kenshin recovers following losing Kaoru at sea, and that was the right choice to do. I don't have anything bad to say about the writing, it keeps the same level as Kyoto Inferno and the characterization as well. But one thing that I felt they fixed even more so than the previous movie was how they shot the dialogue and more drama sequences, the first film (Origins) had the tendency to not be engaging in the drama sequences but it feels like the director and actors got better with the experience, as with the previous film I found it engaging and The Legend Ends keeps up with engaging character interactions and dialogue. The scenes with Kenshin Himura and Hiko Seijuro were great, containing some of the best acting of the film. Tatsuya Fujiwara's performance as Makoto Shishio is another highlight in terms of acting. I'm glad Ryunosuke Kamiki who plays Seta Sojiro got more time to shine, especially in the fight sequences, the rematch was astonishing and epic like a lot of the fights are. There's one more character I want to write about and it's Saiko whom is important to the Kyoto duology but doesn't really have a big character arc, but I have loved him since his first appearance. The way he fight and the skills he posess, he is just so entertaining to watch and the actor does a phenomenal job.

Though the first act isn't as action packed like Kyoto Inferno first act was, I found it extremely well written and truly a strong point of the long length, it did everything it needed to do to build up for the climax and ending fight with Kenshin and Shishio. It tells us more about our main character and hero, and the darker characterization is truly perfect here. The second act is where The Legends Ends truly begin to shine, story and individual character arcs that Kyoto Inferno started come full circle, and it's where Aoshi Shinomori makes his anticipating return. Something that have been in the ten years making and something he told us in dialogue multiple of times, his need to kill Kenshin. I would actually say the fight sequence between them was way better than the one Aoshi had with Okina "Elder", it was fast and engaging but also epic in terms of quality and how the music played into it. The second act is stronger but the act that truly brings this samurai film to a 10 is the third and final act. Everything about it is breathtaking and incredible, a satisfying and action packed climax.

The fighting choreography and action sequences are like the previous film, truly superb and also beautifully shot. The sets that are used in this film are great, especially where Kenshin trains with his old master. Many sets and locations in these two films are beautiful, this second installment of the duology having the most stunning ones. The musical score during action sequences and in other scenes, are like Kyoto Inferno, quite brilliant. The music is powerful and memorable, edited well into the scenes so it flows really well.

Now this is far from the best film I have ever seen, but these two films together are some of the most entertaining films I've seen. Not a single minute went by that I found myself bored, Keishi Otomo created a film worth coming back to. If not just for the brilliant and epic action sequences, Kyato Inferno and The Legend Ends will become classics in the samurai/action genre. Without a doubt.

Like all the Rurouni Kenshin movies, this is well crafted with excellent sets, costumes, action and cinematography. It is let down by the villain Shishio who has a shallow characterisation. Some of this film was a bit ridiculous, for example the fire sword (how does that work physically?). Overall it was a good film though.

I reckon you'll have at least seen the two movies before this one. So I don't consider it spoiling talking about things that happened before this movies events. Like the fact, that our main character swore to not kill anymore. Something difficult to hold up, especially if you consider how many people are out to get him.

After that cliffhanger from the previous movie, we do get an introduction to that character we saw at the end. And it's a pivotal character to say the least. Since I'm not aware of the Manga or Anime made before this, I can't compare anything. I do know that the dynamic of the movie works nicely. Also the action scenes are really well choreographed (like the previous one). It might be a bit too long with its running time, but it's still very entertaining

The action scenes just freaking brilliant can't get enough of it.

After watching the original trilogy, this is their weakest movie, at least to me. The plot is boring, the action is sparse and does not contribute to the plot as it was in the previous two movies, and when the action does pick-up, its almost the end of the movie. And don't get me started on how some people don't survive a simple slash wound, while others can survive being stabbed through.

I've read a few reviews on here about how wishy-washy the action was and the twisting of the plot. As a super fan of Samurai X, I really see no other way of having recast this story without overkill of CGI and long meandering plots. I doff my cap to the producers of this as trying to remake the history up Battousai, leaing up to the final battle with Shshio, was no mean feat. The character replications are exemplary, the sword fights are memorable and even some of the remakes of Kenshin's signature moves are brought to life in the most realistic ways possible. Condensing a series that went 96 episodes + 4 OVAs each going on average 23 min (though up to the Shishio battle would be about eps 50 something) into a trilogy of 2hr 15 min each is not easy, especially while trying to build some level of intimacy and depth with the characters is not easy.

Cons: I' have loved them to develop some characters further, or give the backstory at least (Sojiro, Aoshi and some of the Juppongata) to create more drama and depth, as well as inclide some more epic fight scenes.

Overall: 8/10

Fans of the manga may have issues with the story, but since I don't know the source material, it didn't bother me.

The key moments are well done, but in between those key moments things tend to drag on. I understand these are manga characters, so they tend to be on the unrealistic side. But something just feels off in the delivery of the dialogs, they seemed... disconnected. But once I got to those key moments I was thoroughly entertained.

The fights are fantasy style katana combat, but very creative and well choreographed. As a fan of martial arts movies, I enjoyed them very much. The "final boss fight" was fantastic and worthy of the climax of the trilogy. Bravo.

If you like action, especially martial arts action, I say this trilogy is worth a watch, but just keep in mind this came from comic books. As with most action movies, if you look too deep everything falls apart, so just sit back and enjoy.

HOW?! Director, please teach other directors how to make live-action movies right. A lot of the original plot was changed but wow it was done in a splendid way! The director really knows what he's doing. And can we give a shout-out to the action director because the fight scenes in this is INSANELY AWESOME, BEYOND DESCRIPTION OF WORDS. And the fact that no stuntmen were used, that the actors did the whole thing? RESPECT! Plot. Amazing. Cast. Of course it's amazing too. Action. AWESOME!

When the second film ended, Kenshin was in a tough spot, Kaoru was missing and Japan was in a difficult position. It is at this point that Kenshin must delve further into his past with his enigmatic sensei to complete the healing needed to fully embrace atonement for his past. It is this element of the film, the first half, and the conversations with his master that have some of the best writing in the series. His master is wonderfully acted, and this film uses the strengths of choreography and the skill of the cast to a new level as they face off in a series of challenges before coming together in a climactic final battle.

Unfortunately, the lessons learned in the first half of the film are diminished as the final battle undoes some of those lessons. Shishio's end comes not as a result of how the characters have grown, which results in the best fights taking place earlier in the film.

As a conclusion it ties up most of the story pretty well and finally creates some clarity around Kenshin's relationships with his new friends, but makes some simple plot errors that diminish the conclusion of the film.

(I don't usually post reviews on here, but it's been a while since I've been this let down by a film.)

It's rather hard to describe how much of a massively disappointing final act in the live-action Kenshin trilogy this film is. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that the people who made the second film had nothing to do with it. After the second film (the first half of the Kyoto Arc) had been brought to life so brilliantly, it's hard to see how they could have dropped the ball this badly for the third film.

For starters, it takes about 90 minutes for it to finally get moving, most of that devoted to Kenshin learning the final technique he needs to defeat Shishio (the main villain). The problem is, the anime and the manga don't take anywhere near that long to tell this part of the story, so why they felt the need to stretch it out to death is a complete mystery. This ends up wasting precious time, which in turn left them little choice but to cut out most of the important events that lead up to the final fight, basically rewriting a huge chunk of the story. Instead, what we get is a bloated action sequence in the third act that tries to smush several of the fights together, chopping them down to mere fragments of what they should have been.

This also calls up a pretty big plot hole. The main villain's guards are known as the "Ten Swords." In these two films combined, we see our heroes defeat four of them. I guess the other six took a vacation, or were completely forgotten about by the filmmakers. The final fight with Shishio is appropriately epic (though stretched out a little too much to the point of monotony), but it does nothing to make up for the film's major shortcomings. I'll end this rant here, but I will add that I really hope they try again in the future. They wouldn't even have to redo the whole thing, just this one film, if only so fans can have the great finale that this story deserves.

The weakest of the original trilogy but still plenty to like. Not too dissimilar to the first two.