Some cheesy dialog and not so great acting aside, this is a fantastic movie. The cinematography, the music, combined with Emu's voice-overs, they created such an amazing, mysterious atmosphere in the movie. And it also doesn't hurt that Yo was played by Mark Dacascos who's... *_* Yeah.
Back-breaking fight scenes are given in a movie like this. What was really amazing, though, were the female characters. I was smitten with them, both with Emu O'Hara (played by Julie Condra) and with Lady Hanada (played by Yoko Shimada). They were both so strong, each in a different way, and they went after what they wanted no matter the cost. And yet, Lady Hanada had a code of honor that she strictly followed - like when she killed her lover when he tried to ambush Yo and Emu, she killed him despite being fond of him because she gave her word that neither her nor her people would go after Yo and Emu. It's really amazing, the weight a word of honor still carries in the Japanese society.
Another thing that's beautiful is, that Mark Dacascos and Julie Condra fell in love during this movie, married and have been together ever since, 18 years now.
I also plan to get the manga. I know that it's very different from the movie, but then, what comic book/manga isn't? I would just like to read the original story.
