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Six-String Samurai

Six-String Samurai (1998) Movie Poster
  •  USA  •    •  91m  •    •  Directed by: Lance Mungia.  •  Starring: Jeffrey Falcon, Justin McGuire, Kim De Angelo, Stephane Gauger, Clifford Hugo, Oleg Bernov, Igor Yuzov, Zhenya Kolykhanov, George L. Casillas, Avi Sills, Monti Ellison, Kareem, Richard McGuire.  •  Music by: The Red Elvises, Brian Tyler.
        In a post-apocalyptic world where the Russians have taken over a nuked USA and Elvis is king of Lost Vegas, ''Six-String Samurai'' chronicles the tale of Buddy, a hero who's a '50s rocker and wandering warrior rolled into one, too-cool package. Armed with his six-string in one hand and his sword in the other, Buddy is on his way to Vegas to succeed Elvis as King. Along the way, he saves an orphan who decides to play tag-along to his rescuer. What follows is the road trip from hell.

Trailers:

   Length:  Languages:  Subtitles:
 2:38
 
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Review:

Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
Image from: Six-String Samurai (1998)
In SIX-STRING SAMURAI, the Cold War climaxed in 1957 and resulted in the annihilation of American civilization. The people who survived the nuclear attack found themselves under the rule of the Soviet Union. All that remains of free society on U.S. soil is a place in the Nevada desert called Lost Vegas. Here, Elvis Presley was crowned the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

But as the movie begins, the King has passed on without naming a successor. Warrior-musicians from across the land, including Death himself, trek to Vegas in hopes of filling the vacated throne.

One such musician is Buddy (Jeffrey Falcon), a Rockabilly guitarist who totes a vintage 1957 six-string acoustic guitar and a samurai sword. In the opening of the film, this Buddy Holly clone saves the life of a young boy (Justin McGuire) from a band of wannabe-neanderthals. But after dispatching the barbarians, Buddy wants nothing to do with the child and tries to leave him behind. Given the bowling assassins, windmill zombies, gumball-shooting barbarians, and the bullet-less Red Army that stand between the musician and Vegas, leaving the boy behind is a wise choice. The Kid, however, doesn't think so and sticks to Buddy like an insect on fly paper. Together, they confront horde after horde of misfit villains on the road to Vegas.

Given the bizarre characters in this movie, one might think that the producers of the film just said, "OK, we'll have a guy go from point A to point B. To make it interesting, we'll have people dress up in whatever costumes we can get our hands on and have them attack this guy." Considering how strange and varied the characters are in SAMURAI, it is difficult to say which of them were a homage to other post-apocalypse movies and which resulted from budget constraints. The small budget undoubtedly forced director Mungia to improvise in some scenes.

What does not seem improvised are the many fight sequences in the movie. Jeffrey Falcon is credited as the stunt co-ordinator and he certainly does his best to make himself look good. He slices, somersaults, and flips his way through the skirmishes, coming out almost completely unscathed with the exception of the climactic battles with the Red Army and Death, played by Stephane Gauger doing his best imitation of Slash from Guns 'N' Roses. All of Buddy's kills are comprised of the action movie-style one-slash-you're-dead variety.

While achieving realism was clearly not Falcon's goal in these fights, they do make for a good showcase for his abilities. Falcon, in a higher profile movie with broader appeal, has the potential to become a martial arts action hero for the indie circuit.

In SAMURAI, Falcon is as over-the-top as everyone else which may turn off trash cinema virgins. The movie makes no apologies for going so far over the edge; in fact, it revels in its campiness. A prime example is the cannibalistic family that appears near the beginning of the picture. The actors do not hold anything back in their portrayal of what the Cleavers would have been like after surviving a nuclear holocaust. The mother mugs in horrific fashion for a close-up while offering cookies and the father zealously hammers Buddy and the Kid with questions without ever paying attention to their answers.

The over-acting, however, seems somehow appropriate for this strange little movie. The classic rock-inspired soundtrack that is as much a star as any of the actors is but one of the signs which tells the audience that this is a rock 'n' roll fantasy. This off-kilter world has precious little room for normalcy as we know it.

This movie will probably not gain the followings that PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW enjoy but it certainly deserves the attention of fans who wouldn't mind seeing an alternative to effects-laden Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters.


Review by Troy Wood [IMDB 6 November 1998] from the Internet Movie Database.

 
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