Best Samurai Movie

[Dimeola]

Seven Samurai...This is a 1960`s Kirosawa B&W subtitled flick that is a classic. The spaghetti westerns are based on it. Didnt know if you guys had ever seen it. Is well worth a rent if you can find it.
Dimeolas

[ichi]

Seven Samurai = The Magnificent Seven

Try ALL of these:

Samurai Assassin (best ever)
Incident at Blood Pass (get to know the characters by watching other movies first)
Yojimbo (Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More)
Zatoichi meets Yojimbo (get to know the characters by watching other movies first)
any of the Zatoichi series (personal fave)
Ran (what a movie&#33http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
47 Ronin (supposedly historical)
Kagemusha
Throne of Blood (=MacBeth)
Rashomon
any of the The Razor series

and for a totally bizarre head trip, try
Lone Wolf and Cub (actually chops a guy off at the ankles)

ichi

[Ithaskar Fëarindel]

Sorry guys this goes to the Monastery.

Monastery covers both history and culture of the world. There are quite a few threads there concerning the Japanese.

[Heraclius]

I'd have to say Kagemusha would be my all time favorite

[ichi]

Ithaskar: Thats cool, or the Tavern

ichi

[Aelwyn]

Mystery of Chess Boxing http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Oh wait, thats not really a Samurai movie. Its still good though, has Ghost Faced Killer in it. Not very realistic, but still fun to watch.

[Stephen Hummell]

ive seen the 7 samuri, and ran, and ive heard that kagemusha is good, but i cant find it anywhere. And i dont want to buy it

[Kensai Achilles]

Stephen, Kagemusha and those other movies that Ichi mentioned should be available in major public/college libraries. I'd go there to check out foreign dvds. Hey its free and beats blockbusters http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif

if u r looking for action samurai movies, 47 ronin and rashomon may not be what u r hoping for. The 47 ronin that i've watched is Chushingura, and if i'm not mistaken there are 2 movies about this legend. it has a rather slow plot (207 mins) and focusing more in describing spiritual values of the ronins and scheming instead of swords fight.

About rashomon, it is closer to detective movie. it revolves around a murder story and questions on humanity. It invites us to think. it won an oscar so u might like it http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

For samurai actions, other than 7 samurai u might like Samurai 1-3 (series). It's based on Musashi's novel by Eiji Yoshikawa. I read the novel first and I love it much better than the movies (around 1000 pages single edition, or 5 separate series). I like the movie cuz many of the characters are quite close to what i had in mind. Especially Otsu, Musashi, priest Takuan, and that old disgruntled grammy http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif . Heck I even named my cats Otsu and Musashi after I read the book and watched the movies http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Kensai Achilles]

hey this link got some synopsys:

samurai movies (http://www.isop.ucla.edu/eas/japan/medieval-feature-films.htm)

[terryblack825]

The Blind Swordsman Revenge was pretty cool.

[Stephen Hummell]

the worst fuedal japan movie has to be shogun, except for the nudity, i was all right with that http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif




FORZA ROMA

[Skomatth]

Which one would you say has the best battle scenes? I've seen none at all.

[Parmenion]

A lot of samurai movies have fairly poor battle scenes. Kagemusha is one of my favourite movies but the battle scenes are quite poor compared to contemporary western films.
The Seven Samurai has the best battle scene I know of. Not for it's reality or special effects, but for it's emotional content. I really felt as though I was there as one of the samurai or one of the heimin.

Yojimbo would be my favourite but for one of the baddies having a firearm. It's not a single-shot flintlock pistol either, but a revolver straight from a cowboy film - wierd. I don't know too much about Japan in the 19thCentury though, maybe they still had samurai around. Anyone know?

I thought that the Shogun was actually a series rather than a movie. In the UK it was played as a long running series that was actually quite good. We are talking about the one with Richard Chamberlain in right?

[Crimson Castle]

I prefer The Hidden Fortress done by Akira Kurosawa after he did the famous Seven Samurai classic.

http://www.movielocity.com/d/r.cgi?ID=1116

I watched Ran and Kagemusha too. I liked them but I found the fighting, esp the accuracy of the musket firing a little too "artistic" for my liking.

I've also seen 7 Samurai, Samurai:the Musahshi story, Throne of Blood, etc.. but Hidden Fortress is the stand out perforance.

Has anyone read Kazuo's graphic novel, LONE WOLF AND CUB ? The first 20 books or so were quite good.

[Crimson Castle]

Quote[/b] (Parmenion @ April 12 2003,08:42)]Yojimbo would be my favourite but for one of the baddies having a firearm. It's not a single-shot flintlock pistol either, but a revolver straight from a cowboy film - wierd. I don't know too much about Japan in the 19thCentury though, maybe they still had samurai around. Anyone know?
One of the Japanese Samurai was supposed to have purchased a six-shooter from one of the Western traders.

The whole idea of gunpowder in Kurosawa's films is used symbolically to show the death knell of the Samurai culture. Each time someone fires a gun, they always fatally wound a Samurai.

In Yojimbo, the pistol is suppose how a low-level scum can with the aid of western technology threaten the high level samurai yada..yada....yada.

[--<-Dan The Dagger Man->--]

I thought seven samurai was a good film. Mostly because it is realistic, instead of stupidly-invincible heros.

[bhutavarna]

Quote[/b] ]The whole idea of gunpowder in Kurosawa&#39;s films is used symbolically to show the death knell of the Samurai culture. Each time someone fires a gun, they always fatally wound a Samurai

yeah...remember at the end of Seven Samurai, when the best swordman was killed by musket. very sad.

[solypsist]

seven samurai > magnificent seven

[t1master]

i saw a movie recently that reminded me alot of shogun total war... it seems like the whole game was based on the movie, but i cannot remember the name of it...i thought it was heaven and earth. it was in color, and had subtitles, and was about a young warrior struggling to control his clan and eventually japan. there was a woman who played a flute in the woods, who the eventual diamyo fell for.. and the battle scense were huge, with a lot of cavalry and costume, just like the game. the final battle involved the hero and his rival in a one on one duel. any help figuring out the name would be great.

edit: it was heaven and earth... 1993.
Heaven And Earth




MPAA RATING: PG13
SHOWTIME ADVISORIES: Violence, Adult Themes
STEREO / ESP / SUBTITLE
1993, 1 h 44 m

Feudal samurai epic set in the 16th century, when, in his quest to take over Japan, fierce conqueror Takeda Shingen (Masahiko Tsugawa) comes up against the peace-loving but powerful Shinto priest Kagetora (Takaaki Enoki), resulting in the mother of all battles to settle their epic vendetta. Atsuko Asana and Hideo Murota costar in this big-budget period film from director Haruki Kadokawa that recalls the classics of Akira Kurosawa.

[bhutavarna]

Quote[/b] ]Heaven And Earth




MPAA RATING: PG13
SHOWTIME ADVISORIES: Violence, Adult Themes
STEREO / ESP / SUBTITLE
1993, 1 h 44 m

Feudal samurai epic set in the 16th century, when, in his quest to take over Japan, fierce conqueror Takeda Shingen (Masahiko Tsugawa) comes up against the peace-loving but powerful Shinto priest Kagetora (Takaaki Enoki), resulting in the mother of all battles to settle their epic vendetta. Atsuko Asana and Hideo Murota costar in this big-budget period film from director Haruki Kadokawa that recalls the classics of Akira Kurosawa.

the priest Kagetora depicted in this movie is in fact Uesugi Kenshin. the major battle shown in this movie is the 4th battle of Kawanakajima. those who played Shogun will know him and the battle.

there is another movie about the rivalry of these two powerful daimyo. it is told from the Takeda side. however, the main character is not Shingen, but Yamamoto Kansuke who died at the 4th Kawanakajima. unfortunately i can&#39;t remember the title, but it&#39;s worth watching.

[Skomatth]

theres a tom cruise movie coming out called THE LAST SAMURAI. It looks really cool.