10 Iconic Samurai Movies That You Need To
See
Samurai were the officer caste of medieval
and pre-modern Japan. This
special social class included professional
warriors who lead their lives
according to the ethic code of bushido "the
way of the warrior". Samurai
films are a great way to delve into Japan�s
heroic past so I thought I would
come up with 10 tales of katanas and chivalry.
1954's Seven Samurai, Directed by one of Japans
greatest directors
Kurosawa Akira. Set in a rather chaotic 16
Century Japan, marauding
bandits threaten and raid villages. One village
of farmers decides to hire
seven samurai (Toshiro Mifune) to defend them
from these bandits with the
payment of food. This film is among the best
Japanese cinema has to
offer, but to warn those you who haven't seen
it yet, it's around 3 and a
half hours long. And if you're expecting hours
of fighting or cool samurai
slashing things then I would not recommend
this!
But 2010's 13 Assassins on the other hand
has over 40 minutes of head
rolling samurai carnage. The story follows
a retired samurai (K�ji Yakusho)
who learns that the Shoguns adopted son has
been killing peasants. So he
assembles a band of samurai to hunt down and
assassinate this tyrant.
Takashi Miike does a grand job directing,
the characters are well written,
and the movie is beautifully shot.
1950's Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa), is a story
about a crime that's been told
from different perspectives which all contradict
each other. It's a
masterpiece in storytelling, a puzzle for
the viewer, where you spend the
whole time wondering who is telling the truth
and who is guilty (Toshir�
Mifune). A must see for people who like mysteries.
1985's Ran, is an adaptation of Shakespeare's
King Lear, �where an elderly
warlord (Tatsuya Nakadai) retires, handing
over his land to his three sons.
However, he vastly underestimates how the
new found power corrupts
them and cause them to turn on each other
and him. The battle scenes are
suitably over the top with bright red blood,
and the humour is subtle
enough not to get in the way.
1961's Yojimbo. This movie follows a lone
samurai (Toshiro Mifune), who
drifts into a small town soon to discover
that the town is divided by two
criminal gangs. The samurai Sanjuro, who is
probably the coolest character
in cinema, sees this as an easy opportunity
to make money by lending his
services to both sides. This film was the
main inspiration for the movie A
Fist Full of Dollars, where you have Clint
Eastwood playing the stranger,
who wonders into the town.
1963's Sanjuro, the righteous sequel to Yojimbo.
Unfortunately not as
popular as the original, probably because
as it wasn't remade into a
western. In this film Sanjuro returns to help
an idealistic group of young
samurai to weed out their clan's corrupt superintendent.
This film is as fast
moving and well written as its predecessor.
1962's Harakiri (Masaki Kobayashi). Harakiri
is a Japanese form of ritual
suicide, also known as Seppuku. The story
follows an elder ronin samurai
(Tatsuya Nakadai) who arrives at a feudal
lords home and requests an
honourable place to commit suicide. But when
the ronin inquires about a
younger samurai who arrived before him, things
take an unexpected turn.
The plot to this movie will haunt you, in
my opinion this is easily one of the
best samurai movies ever made.
2002's The Twilight Samurai, Where a 19th-century
low-level samurai
(Hiroyuki Sanada) struggles to get by while
working as a clerk at a clan
office. After losing his wife to disease and
having to care for his daughters,
things are pretty bad for him, until the arrival
of someone from his past
stirs things up.
The Twilight Samurai is beautifully made,
it works really well with how it
deals with Japanese honour, duty and saving
face. And director Yamada Yoji
does an amazing job with this film.
2003's The Last Samurai, why is this movie
on the list? Well what I like
about this movie, is that it's a samurai film
from a western point of view.
Where Tom Cruise an American military advisor
embraces the Samurai
culture he was hired to destroy after he is
captured in battle. Director
Edward Zwick does a good job with his historical
and cultural research,
which leads to a great gateway movie for western
audiences to enjoy a
Japanese themed film.
1966's The Sword of Doom, follows a highly
skilled sociopathic samurai
(Tatsuya Nakadai) that goes around killing
people. His actions builds a trail
of vendettas that end up follow him closely.
Most samurai movies have an
element where the main protagonist of the
film is somewhat relatable and
does good. But with Director Okamoto Kihachi's
The Sword of Doom, that is
not the case. The particular samurai in this
film is dark, violent, and very
intense.
And that's my video! leave a comment in the
comments section down
below on which Samurai movie is your favourite,
and if you have any
suggestions for any other film genres for
me to cover, please by all means,
let me know, and don't forget to like and
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10 Iconic Samurai Movies That You Need To
See
