11 Rebels is a war drama directed by Shiraishi Kazuya (The Blood of Wolves, The Devil’s Path, Birds Without Names). It is inspired by true events, and set during The Boshin War/Japanese Civil War. It’s July 1868, and a war is brewing in feudal Japan as a new government tries to instill itself. On one side, there is the Northeast Coalition, and on the other is the New Imperial Army, both of which are surrounded by the ruling shogunate, the Shibata clan, headed by 13-year-old Mizoguchi Naomasa. Both sides are making their way to Nagaoka Castle to seek the support or surrender of the Shibata Domain. The Shibata clan wants to avoid bloodshed of its own people, which will no doubt occur if the Coalition and Imperial Army come face-to-face, so they hatch a plan to avoid this.
Washio Heishiro (Nakano Taiga, Under the Open Sky), a member of the Shibata xlan, is sent on a secret mission to protect a strategic fortress on the outskirts of the Shibata Domain, which the Imperial Army will pass through on their way to the castle. However, Washio has only been given a handful of soldiers—including the ruthless Irie (Shuhei Nomura)—and 10 criminals to carry out the mission. They are also flying the false banner of the Northeast Coalition so that the Shibata Domain can claim to have no connection to their actions. The ragtag group of criminals, nicknamed the “Northeast Coalition Suicide Corps”, have been promised freedom and clemency for their crimes if they fight and bleed to protect the fort, but if any of them try to flee, all of them and their families will be executed. The motley crew includes a wide variety of characters, including a disgraced priest, wronged woman Natsu (Sayashi Riho in her feature film debut), gambler Akani (Onoe Ukon, Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai), serial killer Tsujigiri (Ryôta Oyanagi), and the handsome Nimaime (Hayate Ichinose) aka “Handsome”, who just looked at a soldier’s wife the wrong way. The main rebel is Masa (Yamada Takayuki, Gintama, 12 Assassins), a peasant who murdered the Shibata man who raped his wife, and is now reluctant to assist the Shibata with this plan. And finally, there’s the mentally-challenged Noro (Sakumoto Takara, Rage), who quickly latches onto Masa as his “Brudda”, and happens to be an expert with bombs.
As the group faces one relentless attack after another on the fort, and somehow manage to hold back the attacking armies, they start to doubt whether the officials who recruited them will actually keep up their end of the deal. But despite feeling betrayed, and severely outnumbered, the men (and woman) continue to forge through, becoming like a family to one another, and hoping to survive this battle.
The finer details of the political machinations and drama in 11 Rebels can be a little difficult to follow at times, and there are so many characters to keep track of, but the film is a fun, bloody, action-packed war movie with loads of exciting battle sequences. The filmmakers definitely enjoy showing the audience severed limbs and digits, exploding bodies, and blood flying everywhere. It’s like The Dirty Dozen meets Tarantino. Whether the soldiers and this ragtag crew are using samurai swords, rifles, knives, cannons or makeshift grenades, the fighting, explosions and bloodshed is constant. These action sequences look like something out of a big budget Hollywood war movie. At the same time, we also get some nice character development. Masa starts off as this loner who wants nothing to do with the mission, but starts to care about his fellow convicts, especially Noro, who has taken a liking to him like a child. We also see how Washio starts off loyal to his people and cause, but once he realizes that his superiors have no intentions of honoring the deal with the rebels, he in effect becomes the titular 11th rebel. The ragtag crew may be outnumbered by the attacking armies, but they are able to utilize their minimal resources wisely, coming up with unique and creative plans to distract and take out their enemies. But how long can they keep this up? Especially when those who recruited them are looking to cover their tracks. Is there any safe place for them to go?!
Well Go USA has released 11 Rebels on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital. We were sent the Blu-ray version for review, which looks and sounds great. The picture is crisp and clean, with a solid level of detail throughout. The film is offered in both its original Japanese language as a booming Dolby Atmos track, as well as in an equally-immersive English DTS-HDMA dub. Whenever there is a dub track on these Well Go releases, I always like to start with that as I would prefer to enjoy the visuals of a movie rather than be concentrating on reading the bottom of the screen the whole time. This dub is quite well-acted and natural-sounding, though the dialogue differs at times from the English subtitles. For example, many times in the audio, people are referred to as Squire, while the subtitles use the word Sir. That said, both audio tracks make excellent use of the stereo and surround sound to provide a very immersive feel to the action sequences, and to enhance the overall ambiance. This immersive aspect is specially noticeable in scenes when the rain in pouring down in the jungle.
Well Go’s Blu-ray release does not include any bonus material, besides the usual trailer and previews. The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a locking HD keepcase. There is no digital copy, but our review copy did include a carboard slipcover.
What’s Included:
Film: (2:00:29)
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Blu-ray:
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: Japanese Dolby Atmos in Dolby TrueHD, Japanese Stereo, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Stereo
- Subtitles: English, French
Extras:
- Trailer (2:17)
- Previews
- The Prosecutor (1:37)
- Hunt The Wicked (1:41)
- Striking Rescue (1:08)
Final Thoughts:
11 Rebels is an action-packed war movie reminiscent of The Dirty Dozen, but set during feudal Japan, and with the blood-soaked intensity of Tarantino. Viewers are transported back to this era with beautiful cinematography, and exciting battle sequences, which range from samurai swords and bombs, to rifles and cannons. The film has the feel of a big budget Hollywood film, but with a Japanese sensibility. Well Go’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, but is absent of bonus material, besides an English Dub option and the film’s trailer. The release is also available on 4K UHD for those with the ability to play back that format—I suspect that will look fantastic! This is certainly worth a look for fans of war movies and samurai action flicks, and don’t mind quite a bit of blood and flying body parts.
11 Rebels 4K UHD
(as of June 8, 2026 20:12 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
11 Rebels Blu-ray
(as of June 8, 2026 20:12 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
11 Rebels DVD
(as of June 8, 2026 20:12 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
