Six-String Samurai
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| Six-String Samurai | |
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 Six-String Samurai film poster |
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| Directed by | Lance Mungia |
| Produced by | Michael Burns Leanna Creel |
| Written by | Jeffrey Falcon Lance Mungia |
| Starring | Jeffrey Falcon |
| Music by | Red Elvises Brian Tyler |
| Cinematography | Kristian Bernier |
| Editing by | James Frisa |
| Distributed by | Palm Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1998 |
| Running time | 91 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1 million+ USD |
Six-String Samurai is a 1998 post-apocalyptic action/comedy film directed by Lance Mungia. Brian Tyler composed the score for this film along with the Red Elvises, the latter providing the majority of the soundtrack.
Six-String Samurai was greeted with a great deal of excitement when shown at Slamdance in 1998, winning the Slamdance awards for best editing and cinematography, and gathering extremely favorable reviews from influential alternative, cult and indie film publications such as Fangoria, Film Threat[1] and Ain't It Cool News.
In a limited theatrical release the film ran for several months in a few theaters, gaining a reputation as a minor cult film; having a budget of $2,000,000, it only made a mere $124,494 at the box offices. An intended trilogy has been discussed but not yet realized, just like the predicted launching of the career of the film's star, Jeffrey Falcon, a martial artist who had appeared in several Hong Kong action movies in the 80s and early 90s. While Mungia made several music videos, he did not direct another feature until the 2005 film, The Crow: Wicked Prayer.
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[edit] Plot
Six-String Samurai is set in an alternate history America, in which Russia launched several nuclear warheads at the U.S. in 1957, reducing most of the United States to an inhospitable desert. The government has entirely collapsed save for the Kingdom of Elvis, who rules from "Lost Vegas" to California. The Red Army is besieging Vegas, but the lack of supplies and equipment ("We haven't had bullets since 1957," comments a Russian general in the movie) from the Soviet Union has caused them to degenerate into just another gang squabbling for territory. As the movie begins, Elvis has died and a radio disc jockey (voiced by Keith Mortimer and sounding suspiciously like Wolfman Jack) announces a call for all musical virtuosos to come to Lost Vegas to try to become the new King of Rock'n'Roll.
Buddy (Jeffrey Falcon), a Buddy Holly look-alike with a katana taped to the back of his guitar, is one of the musicians converging on Lost Vegas on the death of The King. Early in his travels, he finds himself obliged to take care of a kid, simply called "Kid" (Justin McGuire). While Buddy resents having to look after the Kid, the Kid turns out to prove his worth in a few key situations.
Buddy comes across many people in his travels, ranging from a zombie-like, cannibal suburban family to the 'windmill people' who are dressed like astronauts, to the filthy tribals that make up most of the civilian population. He also combats many foes, including a samurai, a bowling team of bounty-hunters, a Russian surf band (played by the Red Elvises), and the Russian army laying siege to Lost Vegas. Throughout his journey, Buddy is stalked by his greatest foe: a sinister Slash look-alike who might be the personified Grim Reaper, and his grungy group of guitarists/archers; the goal of "Death" is the elimination of all King-wannabe rivals and the conquest of Vegas (this being allegorical to the actual motive, that of removing rock'n'roll music from society and replacing it with the sound of heavy metal)
[edit] Opening sequence distortion
The opening sequence has an intentionally distorted visual effect. The de-anamorphic visuals are a subtle "tribute" to the Chinese martial arts films (notably the films by Shaw Brothers) that often had their wide-screen opening sequences compressed to the 1.33:1 format of TV screens for VHS release.
[edit] Thematic elements
Throughout the film there are homages to many major popular musical movements in the United States. Buddy, the main character, is a symbol of the birth of rock ‘n roll music. Since the film itself is under the pretense that a nuclear bomb was set off in 1957 one may infer that Buddy is Buddy Holly who died in a plane crash in 1959. He shares the style of clothing, especially his horn-rimmed glasses. However, the film states that it occurs forty years after 1957, ruling out a literal interpretation of Buddy's identity.
During the film the character of Death, who resembles Slash from Guns 'N Roses, eventually kills a character representing Jerry Lee Lewis. Death also dispatches a character resembling a mariachi, and another dressed in a country western style. His minions also briefly torment a character dressed in hip hop fashion. Death also kills the last remnant of rock music, in the protagonist Buddy.
However, the last scene of the film depicts the child donning the garb of Buddy and flashing forward in time. This suggests that though the original sense of rock ‘n roll is dead, there is hope for the future.
The film also contains many references to The Wizard of Oz, especially the film, moving past mere homage to a loose imitation. For instance, a little person instructs Buddy to "Follow the yellow brick road." Lost Vegas, seen from the distance near the end of the film, resembles the Emerald City. Death is obsessed with obtaining a specific object (guitar picks, and Buddy's guitar pick in particular), much like the Wicked Witch of the West seeking out the slippers. Also, Death is killed by being sprayed with water, as was the Wicked Witch of the West. When Buddy dies, his body disappears, leaving only his clothes for the kid to take. This resembles Dorothy taking the shoes from the vanished body of the witch at the beginning. Additionally, both films heavily feature music.
[edit] Six String Samurai comic
In September, 1998, a single Six String Samurai comic was released from Rob Liefeld's Awesome Entertainment. Written by Matt Hawkins and Rob Liefeld, it featured art by 'Awesome' artists Dan Fraga and John Stinsman. A continuation rather than an adaptation, the plot summary from the comic is as follows:
- "In this alternate universe, in 1957 the Russians took the United States by nuclear force. Only one piece of the American frontier remained free, a patch of land known as Lost Vegas. Through this desert wasteland wanders the “six string samurai,” a latter-day Buddy Holly who handles a guitar or a sword with equal skill. He’s a man on a collision course with destiny: It seems that King Elvis, who ruled over the land of Vegas for forty years, has finally taken his last curtain call and the throne now stands empty. But it’s a rough road to the big city and the body count is likely to be high, as demonstrated in this postapocalyptic future with a beat we can dance to."[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Gore, Chris (1998-01-26). "SIX-STRING SAMURAI". Film Threat. http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=1131. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
- ^ Atomic Avenue: "Six String Samurai". Accessed 1 February, 2008
