Rule 32: Enjoy the little things in life.

theindiegeek on: Six-String Samurai

I love netflix, I really do.  But more on that in a future post.  Over the weekend I watched a (seemingly) random movie that was recommended to me because I liked the following movies:

• Doctor Who
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• Brick
• A Nightmare Before Christmas
• A Scanner Darkly

Quite an interesting list to recommend a movie with.  Although those five movies are all pretty awesome, have to say.  It sounded quite interesting.  Here’s the premise:

After the Russians lob an atomic bomb at the United States in the late 1950s, survivors flock to the neon lights of “Lost Vegas,” where Elvis Presley is a bona fide king of music and men, but when His Majesty dies unexpectedly, the city’s shiny throne is up for grabs. Armed with a six-string in one hand and a samurai sword in the other, rock ‘n’ roll hipster Buddy (Jeffrey Falcon) vows to make it to Sin City in time for his coronation

What part about that is not awesome?  I’ll admit, it does sound a bit over the top, and at points it is, but in a good way.  The story follows a young boy who’s fleeing across the wasteland with his mother when they are attacked by raiders.  Buddy (the titular Six-String Samurai) steps in but not before the boy’s mother is killed.  The boy starts following Buddy, much to Buddy’s dismay, as the wasteland is no place for kids, and time is short for a guy who’s got a gig in Vegas to get to.

If you know me, you’ll know that I love dystopia/wasteland stories and video games (see earlier post on Fallout 3).  Not that there’s too many of them, but when I find ‘em, I generally love them. (On a side note, if you know of any, please tell me!).  I love seeing how different people see post-apocalypse life carrying out.  The whole thing combining samurai swordplay with rock and roll is too awesome.  Truth be told, it was the kind of concept that could have failed horribly in many different ways.  But on the large part, I think they succeeded.  I very much enjoyed it.  There’s a good soundtrack, and the action is great.  Jeffrey Falcon, who starred and made a good deal of this movie, was formerly a stunt man, in Chinese action movies, so the action is very much akin to that genre.  Now, something needs to be said about the title character.  I think he’s pretty much made of awesome.  Wearing a black and white tux, glasses, stubble, and a samurai sword duct taped to the back of his classic guitar.  One of those characters where most things out of his mouth could be considered badass one-liners.  Seeing the character in action was my favorite part of the movie.

I will admit, this is very much a niche movie and cult classic.  It’s not for everyone, but if you’re at least a bit like me (and if you’re visiting this site, I would hope you are), please check  it out.  The relationship between the boy and Buddy quite reminded me of the relationship between Jake and Roland in The Gunslinger (Dark Tower book 1), and seeing a guy wield both a katana and a guitar is just too awesome to pass up.

–theindiegeek