Writing in VL-7/00, reviewer Rob Blackwelder said: “Mixing ancient Eastern philosophy with hip-hop street smarts and a Scorsese gangland atmosphere, fiercely independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch paints a strangely serene portrait of a surgical, stealthy, and an enigmatic hitman (Forest Whitaker) double-crossed by the mob in this understated and penetrating urban fable. Director and star conspire to lend a mesmerizing calm to this intelligent story of a violent but internally peaceful life, juxtaposing oil-and-water elements (the deeply reflective samurai mentality, ghetto life, mafia honor, oddly light comedy, and a hardcore rap score by the RZA) that leave imagery and axioms tripping around in your head for days after seeing the film.”
Bowing on Blu-ray with a fine 4K digital restoration, this Criterion Collection edition features extras including a new Q&A with Jarmusch, a new conversation between actors Whitaker and Isaach De Bankolé, new interviews (with casting director Ellen Lewis, and Shifu Shi Yan Ming, founder of the USA Shaolin Temple), a new video essay on RZA’s original score, an alternate isolated stereo music track, the 2000 “making-of” featurette “The Odyssey: A Journey into the Life of a Samurai,” deleted scenes and outtakes, archival interviews, and a booklet with an essay by critic Greg Tate and quotations from Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, by the early-18th-century monk Yamamoto Tsunetomo. Highly recommended.