Bored by The Last Samurai's saggy stoicism? Not impressed by Kill Bill's comic-book thrills? Then let Takeshi Kitano show you a real Samurai actioner as he stylishly reimagines a cult '60s series.

In front of the camera, peroxide-blond bombshell Kitano is Zatoichi, a laconic, blind masseur with dazzling sword-skills, who mops up a 19th-century village stricken by warring gangs, two vengeful geishas and a doleful-but-deadly Ronin (Ichi The Killer's Tadanobu Asano). Behind the lens, Kitano is on auteur overdrive, pulling together an effortless interweave of slapstick comedy, subtle melancholy and - best of all - devastating violence.

We're talking swordplay as sharp as anything you've seen, Zatoichi lashing out with rattlesnake speed and ferocity - cue geysers of spurting CG blood - before continuing his chuckling amble. Layering in stylistic odes to Japanese masters like Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi and Akira Kurosawa while filtering it through a quirky verve all of his own, Kitano collides action into art with (literally) striking effect. Beat that.

DVD Extras:

Neatly packaged in a black metal box, this two-disc set includes a solid, 40-minute doc following the film from press launch to Venice success, filmed interviews with Kitano and his crew, and the usual trailer and filmographies, not to mention three Zatoichi postcards and a limited-edition film cell.