One of the rare movies that do it RIGHT
In so - SO - many movies and TV shows, someone is shown to be some kind of collector or appreciator of cultures, artifacts, and they always have katana in there somewhere. You can see this in Naked Gun, The Office (Gabe), and numerous others.
What really bothers me, is that these supposed experts and masters of japanese culture that even own actual katanas, don't seem to understand one thing:
WHICH WAY to display or store the katana.
It's ALWAYS the wrong way.
Let me explain.
Katanas are 'curved' swords. The curved outer side has the cutting edge, the inner side is dull (for lack of better term).
Now, when we think about the edge, it has to remain sharp for a sword to be useful as a sword. A sword should be sharp, right? Why would we let the cutting edge of a sword become dull before its time, even if we're not going to maintain that edge specifically?
When the edge is pointed upwards, it stays sharp, as the metal isn't going to 'flow' towards the edge and dull it. It's the optimal way of displaying, storing and keeping katanas - ALWAYS KEEP THE EDGE POINTED UP!
If you store it the wrong way, the blade will dull before its time, because the edge is pointed down, and gravity exists. Should be self-explanatory, really. For some reason, people always want to put a katana in a movie or TV show in such a way that the ends point upwards - this means, the edge is pointing down and getting dull every second.
Why would you ruin a perfectly good katana this way? HAVE YOU NO RESPECT?!
Anyway, this movie is a breath of fresh air, because it does it right. Look at Hattori Hanzo's katana walls - they're all PROPERLY stored and kept. Not only do we see him treat the katanas with the respect they deserve BEHAVIOURALLY, but also in the CORRECT WAY OF STORING THEM.
Finally a movie that does it right - why is this so difficult? Are americans so traumatized by 'frowny faces', they rather create artificial 'smiles' everywhere they go, so even katanas have to be dulled just so some idiot can think it 'looks cool' (while being improperly stored/displayed)?
It just kills the immersion that the character knows _ANYTHING_ about anything, even common sense would tell you to keep the katana with the sharp blade pointing towards the ceiling, not the floor. But I guess it looks 'cooler' to have a katana resemble a smile than a 'frowny face'.
This phenomenon among many others is what kills any hope for finding intelligence or humanity in this world.. this movie doesn't quite restore it, but is balm to the wounds in this way.