Chanbara Beauty is a film that makes no pretence about what it is; based on the zombie slashing video game Onechanbara (that I haven't played and sort of translates as "sword fighting girl") with the tagline "Babes, Blades and Bikinis - What More Do You Want?" on the DVD cover you can't really expect this to be high class entertainment... and to be fair you'd be right.
The plot is non-existent (though apparently more fleshed out than the game it's based on), internal logic often absent and explanations missing even thought they would have been easy to add. However, I'm willing to bet it's pretty true to the video game as the lead characters let loose with infinitely repeating double-barrelled shotguns and take on special "power ups", that even make the characters glow whilst they're active in a traditional video game manner, during the 'big fight at the end of the level'.
No, it's not a 'good film' but it never pretends that it's going to be a work of art; "pretty girls kill zombies and fight with Samurai Swords in finalé fight (18 minutes of the 86 minutes total length!)" is what the video game and this film are about. Babes, Blades and Bikinis is what it promises and it delivers in spades, so switch your brain to neutral, grab a beer (or a glass of sake) sit back and enjoy the silliness and (as stated in the BBFC guidelines) "strong and bloody violence" that is Chanbara Beauty!
The DVD (UK, Region 2):
The picture is a widescreen TV-friendly 1.85:1 anamorphic one and for a soundtrack you have a choice of 2.0 Dolby stereo or 5.1 Dolby digital, both Japanese; sorry - no dubbed English soundtrack though obviously there are English subtitles.
Normally, as a bit of a purist, I wouldn't decry the lack of dubbing but for this style of film when you really want to switch your brain off and watch it is a shame that it's missing... still you won't really be watching for the dialogue! If you really want an English dub track, have a Region free DVD player and don't mind losing the 'Making of...' documentary the US Region 1 release apparently has one.
For extras there's a trailer for the film and a 35 minute 'Making of...' documentary.
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