"Good Samurai Movies ? " Topic

Anything good and in color ……. LOL I just can't do the black and white movies anymore

Samurai Banners, Ran, Kagemusha, Heaven and Earth (though not easy to find), the Lone Work and Cub flicks,

There are several more that I can't recall the titles

Scott,
The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise!!

cheers,
rob

I do love that movie ……… but

Magnificent Seven … That Yul Brenner is too cool. :)

Mike B

Samurai Trilogy is good, and in color criterion.com/boxsets/40
Of course, the Kurosawa movies are all good too.

Pretty much anything done by Mifune and/or Kurosawa is worth watching.

Take a look here TMP link and also here TMP link

Hai, domo arigato

Samurai Trilogy, Ran, Kagemusha, skip The Last Samurai…

YOur missing out on some good black and white films.

Six String Samurai is good and in color, though slightly off genre.

imdb.com/title/tt0118736

The ShoGun mini series was very good I thought, and had some small battle scenes in it. I think it was about 12 hours long.

Heaven and Earth, Ran and Kagemusha are the perfect trifecta!

Thanks,

John

Sheesh I'm tired today. I meant to write "Lone Wolf and Cub"!!

Also 'When the Last Sword is Drawn' about resistance to the Meiji restoration. Has a some nice battle scenes.

Don't skip The Last Samurai it's a great film IMHO.

As for the films already mentioned i've seen mostly all of them,and i like them all since i've got most of them myself.

Captain Gideon

Azumi 1 & 2.

Zatoichi
link

And of course anything by Kurosawa.

A number of great and classic films have already been named. In the last few years some very quiet and touching samurai films have been released by director Yoji Yamada:

The Twilight Samurai
The Hidden Blade
Love and Honor

Yamada emphasizes that taking a life was a big deal, even for a samurai. There also tend to be very spouse friendly, with fully developed female characters and accurate depictions of life in Edo and Meiji era Japan. They also have the added appeal of being based on some excellent short stories. The name of the author escapes me at the moment, but the collected volume is entitled, "The Bamboo Sword."

Mention should also be made of a movie called "Hana", which takes place in an Edo slum in 1702. Its about a young samurai searching for the killer of his father. The situation becomes complicated when he realizes that he doesn't want to kill the man.
All of these films are funny, intelligent and uplifting. They depict a samurai that is more than an icon, action figure, or caricature. Thats is certainly not to say that the previously mentioned films are bad. I own and love all of the films mentioned so far. Its just nice to see another side to samurai films.
Thanks and best wishes,
Tony

I also liked the Twilight Samurai. Good movie

Mr. Leahy hit the nail on the head. Can't get any better then Heaven and Earth. I might have to go and rent it this weekend again.
VR
James Mattes

Hana for another interesting view of the Samurai world

To get a better view of subsistence living in old Japan, The Ballad of Narayama. No Samurai and no swords, just peasants living in a mountain village, but a cultural piece of great value.

The Samurai I Loved is also very beautiful. It is one exceptionally great move with a katana technique that I had to stand up and cheer at. I've been working on it.

If all you are after is just battle scenes, you are missing the best part of it all these films. Aside from plot and story, which most of these actually have (devoid in modern American movies), the cultural concepts are amazing. Look deeper.

Heaven and Earth is available from Belle and Blade. It's where I got it.

"New Tales of the Taira Clan", "Kwaidan" and also the annual taiga dramas shown on NHK. My favourite are "Hojo Tokimune" (2001 – covers the Mongol Invasions) and "Yoshitsune" (2005).

YouTube link
YouTube link

Ran

Samurai Banners

Kagemusha

Chushingura

Heaven and Earth

Samurai I, II, & III

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Incident at Blood Pass is excellent! As is Samurai Fiction… but it might be in b&w? Can't remember at the moment.

I rented Ran ………… great movie !!

Thanks, Wulfgar, for the recommends. I'd never heard of Yamada but his (?) films sound like a refreshing take on the genre.

You're very welcome, Ninjasaurus.

"The Sea is Watching" is another that I became aware of just recently. Its not a samurai film, but focuses on the lives of a few oiran, or pre-geisha, living in a brothel in Edo. The film shows how powerless they are in a very male society in which the shogun himself has bent Confucian teachings to keep women in subjection. It sounds much darker than it really is, and the end of the film is a quiet celebration of life's possibilities.

The script was written by none other than Akira Kurasawa, in response to criticism that he was unable to portray a developed female character. Kurasawa passed away before the film could be made, and so it was made by another director using Kurasawa's script and set design.

The film focuses on the women, but samurai and the Edo universe are very much in evidence.
Thanks and best wishes.

47 Ronin by Ichikawa is slow but beautiful, until they attack when it becomes fast and bloody.

Hara Kiri, hands down, the best Samurai flick. B&W, you Philistine! Nothing beats B&W for classic film.

Personal favorites:

Hara Kiri..false Bushido at best!
Kagemusha..great intro!
Thirteen Assassins..love it!
Goyokin..perfect!

Nani????? hahaha

I am watching Shogun right now. The old James Calvell adaptation.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

The Hidden Fortress by Kirosawa
yojimbo,of course 7 samurai
slightly off topic but cool movie= MONGOL ,made in the last couple years
does Ronin count-it has Samurai miniatures in it?