Reloaded...Kill Bill...Last Samurai...America discovers the Katana!

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

And I for one say here, here!

 

[TiQuinn]

Nah, Kevin Costner had one in "The Bodyguard" a while back.

 

[KenM]

And don't forget Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction.

 

[Hand of Evil]

You do know that the newest fitness fad (in LA, soon to be everywhere) is the katana workouts. Really, this is not a joke.

 

[TiQuinn]

You do know that the newest fitness fad (in LA, soon to be everywhere) is the katana workouts. Really, this is not a joke.

Great! Maybe we'll be seeing some of these idiots walking around missing fingers and limbs! One can only hope the katanas are nice and sharp...

 

[Skade]

Was it ever lost? I've always thought America was obsessed with the Katana, ignoring all other blades in place of it.

 

[Desdichado]

I agree with Skade -- remember Highlander too?

 

[mmu1]

If there had ever been a decline in katana fanboyism, I haven't noticed. I wish the overrated thing would just go away.

 

[Shadowdancer]

As long as America has ninjas flipping out, there will be katanas.

 

[kengar]

As long as America has ninjas flipping out, there will be katanas.

Absoloodle.

The katana thing hit the mainstream radar pop culture-wise in the 70's with kung-fu & ninja movies + the Shogun mini-series. It's waxed & waned a bit over the last 25-30 years, but -it seems to me- any time a sword is used in a modern era movie (as opposed to medieval fantasy, etc.) it's a katana or other Japanese-style sword (Blade's blade, Highlander, etc. Remember Rutger Hauer's Blind Fury?).