Unfortunately, Walter Hill's sanctioned remake of Kurosawa's original was bound to be a pale imitation. Hill is strikingly faithful to Yojimbo, almost character by character. And he is a terrific director of action pictures; indeed, he can handle any genre I've seen I'm work in. Nothing about this production disappoints, especially if you like sprays of gunfire, Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken, superb sound editing, and Ry Cooder's music.
The problem is the era: Prohibition in America, specifically Texas. The original is set in Japan in 1860, near the end of ronin culture, when freelance samurai warriors still roamed. The samurai anti-hero, Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune), ruthlessly pits two ruthless gangs against each other in a remote village, just as John Smith (Willis) does here in Texas. But Sanjuro ultimately faces an opponent with a *gun.* I.e., he brings a gun to a sword fight. This changes *everything.* Swords were becoming antique, as were samurai warriors. So Yojimbo became a profound look at the end of an honorable warrior culture, only to see it replaced by an infinitely more violent culture based on nothing more than sheer greed. Zero nobility. In the hands of a master filmmaker like Kurosawa, that idea propels Yojimbo to greatness.
Walter Hill tries to duplicate the powerful sword vs. Gun tension with Colt automatic vs. Thompson submachine gun, but but it's still a gun in a gunfight. Even given the firepower of a Tommy gun in the hands of a maniac (Walken), it is a puny difference.
The problem is the era: Prohibition in America, specifically Texas. The original is set in Japan in 1860, near the end of ronin culture, when freelance samurai warriors still roamed. The samurai anti-hero, Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune), ruthlessly pits two ruthless gangs against each other in a remote village, just as John Smith (Willis) does here in Texas. But Sanjuro ultimately faces an opponent with a *gun.* I.e., he brings a gun to a sword fight. This changes *everything.* Swords were becoming antique, as were samurai warriors. So Yojimbo became a profound look at the end of an honorable warrior culture, only to see it replaced by an infinitely more violent culture based on nothing more than sheer greed. Zero nobility. In the hands of a master filmmaker like Kurosawa, that idea propels Yojimbo to greatness.
Walter Hill tries to duplicate the powerful sword vs. Gun tension with Colt automatic vs. Thompson submachine gun, but but it's still a gun in a gunfight. Even given the firepower of a Tommy gun in the hands of a maniac (Walken), it is a puny difference.