In Full Bloom

I was a bit worried about watching this movie when I saw it was in Japanese/English, and I was right about that. Its about 50/50 Japanese/English. After searching and not finding any subs, I decided to give it a go anyhow. The movie is well made, with lots of images from Japanese nature. The acting looks good too, at least not too weird. The japanese dialogue is really hard to understand without subs but thats expected I guess. The movie gave me "flashbacks" to Bruce Lee and Rocky movies, I would not be surprised if the writers have watched all of those films. Tyler Wood and Yusuke Ogasawara are doing a nice job as the main caracters in the movie, and its their first movie for both of them. I would guess not their last :) The directors, Reza Ghassemi and Adam VillaSenor (they are also the writers) are doing a nice job putting the movie together. Part of the movie are in black/white, but it fits the movie good and helps make the "mafia" effect stronger.

I believe this movie could been a strong 8 or maybe even a 9 in my rating, but because its impossible to understand everything without subs, I have to set it as low as 7.

I have been tracking this film since it came out, as the synopsis made it seem like one I'd enjoy. It has been a frustrating wait (for any subtitles anywhere) that I've all but given up on at this point, but what I can't understand is how anyone is even reviewing this movie without being fluent in Japanese. I see a couple that mention it, but I am shocked at how many actually watched it & reviewed it, good or bad, with so much of the dialog totally missed without the subtitles. I mean, you can't even rent it on Amazon with them..they just don't exist! I've never come across anything like this.... I'm someone who uses subtitles for everything, just because so many shows/movies these days include mumbling actors, poorly recorded audio tracks, and my TV speakers are crap... but I've never been unable to find any subtitles at all, even for the most obscure titles.

Is this a perfect movie? No. Really really no. HOWEVER, it is one of the most original and unique films I've seen in years. There are certain aspects that just do not work. Some of the scenes with the American Boxer can feel repetitive. But other than that, this is a beautiful film, from two first time directors. And most the of the cast are first timers. It's really amazing. The cinematography really blew me away. I can watch the last 30 mins of the film on repeat. I'm really curious what this team makes next. Also the Japan Boxer is a BEAST!

I generally like foreign movies as long as there are English subtitles with it. For the most part, I find the acting and atmosphere refreshing, especially considering how much of what Hollywood produces these days is straight up garbage. This movie while having potential, is really hampered by no English subtitles to be found anywhere. Movie must not be very well known at all cause no one has bothered to make ANY subtitles available at all. Probably viewing this if you can speak Japanese would be more understandable than if you just spoke English and trying to figure out the Japanese parts. I have this movie on hold just in case someone does make some English subtitles for it. Otherwise I'm not going to try to view it again.

I watched this movie a couple times and every time I found something more beautiful about it. The sound and music were remarkable and not like many soundtracks I've heard on independent films.

You can also tell everyone in this film engaged from the heart. I felt that through the screen right away. It's really impressive that the directors not only directed the film, but also wrote, shot, and edited it. Immense talent, hats off to them and the cast. If you're looking to watch something easy on the eyes, watch this film.