My son got me a dvd of two Japanese movies for Christmas. Blade of the Immortal and 13 Assassins. I enjoyed them both. I had read about them somewhere. I think it was here. But I cannot find it. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some similar films? Something available on DVD, I don't have any net flicks or things like that. Thanks for any advice.

Akira Kurosawa is considered the master of samurai films. Look up his films, most notably things like Seven Samurai (start with this one!), Throne of Blood, Hidden Fortress, Kagemusha, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Rashomon, and Ran.

Or, if you're wanting something more Westernized, there's always The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise, or the 1980s miniseries Shogun with Richard Chamberlain.

Yojimbo and its sequel Sanjuro are a good place to start. If you liked 13 Assassins, you might enjoy Seven Samurai, which as you probably know was the basis for the western The Magnificent Seven. If you're a Star Wars fan, you might like the movie it was based on, The Hidden Fortress.

Yeah, you'll probably recognize a number of Kurosawa's samurai stories. Several of them became the basis for later famous American films, such as:

The Magnificent Seven = Seven Samurai
Star Wars = The Hidden Fortress
A Fistful of Dollars = Yojimbo (Okay, technically Italian, but still became famous in America...)


And on the flip side, a few of Kurosawa's samurai films were based on famous Shakespearean works:

Ran = King Lear
Throne of Blood = Macbeth

The famous Kurosawa films are already mentioned.

If you want good fun, Lone Wolf and Cub series are good watches, as are Zatoichi films.

More reflective ones include Hari Kari (there are two versions. I prefer the B&W one), Samurai Rebellion (starring Toshiro Mifune).

A more recent one I really enjoyed was Twilight Samurai starring Hiroyuki Sanada who also played Ujio in Last Samurai.

I understand there is a Samurai version of Unforgiven, starring Ken Watanabe. I haven't found it, so no recommendation based on viewing experience.

quote:

Originally posted by Windhover:
The famous Kurosawa films are already mentioned.

If you want good fun, Lone Wolf and Cub series are good watches, as are Zatoichi films.

More reflective ones include Hari Kari (there are two versions. I prefer the B&W one), Samurai Rebellion (starring Toshiro Mifune).

A more recent one I really enjoyed was Twilight Samurai starring Hiroyuki Sanada who also played Ujio in Last Samurai.

I understand there is a Samurai version of Unforgiven, starring Ken Watanabe. I haven't found it, so no recommendation based on viewing experience.

Lone Wolf and Cub was great!

I remember seeing the Watanabe version of Unforgiven. I think it was back when I was messing around with torants and such things. As I recall, I really liked it, but it pretty much followed Eastwood’s version scene-by-scene and line-by-line.

quote:

Originally posted by Windhover:
I understand there is a Samurai version of Unforgiven, starring Ken Watanabe. I haven't found it, so no recommendation based on viewing experience.

It's available for rent on Apple TV and Amazon. We watched it on Apple TV for $2.99. I think it shows up as Unforgiven (2013). The Japanese title is Yurusarezaru Mono. We liked it, although not as much as the Eastwood movie.

The Zatoichi series of movies are pretty damn good. You can find most for free on Youtube. I did buy a couple from Amazon Prime Video (in particular, the one about Zatoichi's sword).

I’d also suggest the movies about Miyamoto Musashi. It’s a trilogy. I thought the book was a bit better than the movies but still, you can’t talk about Samurai without factoring in the sword saint. I watched them a few months ago on HBOMax.

Good suggestions above, especially the Musashi trilogy.

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail. Very early Kurosawa, IIRC, his first after WW2.

Onibaba. Para posted about this movie years ago. A slow motion horror in the samurai period.

The Third Shadow Warrior. Slow motion horror in the samurai period.

Three Outlaw Samurai. A lot of fighting, a modicum of plot.

Shogun's Samurai. Sonny Chiba.

Shogun's Ninja. Sonny Chiba.

Hari Kari. I have not seen it but it gets good reviews.

The Great White Tiger Platoon, 1954. Tragedy of young samurai.

Five Men of Edo. I started this movie about five times and was interrupted every time...

47 Ronin, directed by Mizoguchi. An anti-war samurai film made during WW2. Mizoguchi was fortunate to have escaped punishment.

Sansho the Bailiff, directed by Mizoguchi. An anti-totalitarian film set in samurai period.

Ugetsu, directed by Mizoguchi. A dream set in the samurai period.

Ninja versus Mafia. Awful and unintentionally funny.

Ninja Gari. Not seen it.

Yes, There are some good movies/series out there.

I'd have to give Rurouni Kenshin the nod for being the most historically accurate.

Hara-kiri. A bit slow in the beginning, but well worth the wait.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
I remember seeing the Watanabe version of Unforgiven. I think it was back when I was messing around with torants and such things. As I recall, I really liked it, but it pretty much followed Eastwood’s version scene-by-scene and line-by-line.

There is also a literal Japanese "Spaghetti Western" which is basically closing the circle that went from "Yoyimbo" to "A Fistful of Dollars" - "Sukiyaki Western Django" (2007) by Takashi Miike, the director of "13 Assassins". Set in a 19th century Japanese town named "Yuta", shot in English, and featuring a Gatling gun in a coffin and Quentin Tarantino. There's not much samurai, but as a movie it's hilarious in its re-remake metaness.

Personally I have always thought that this scene from 7 Samurai stands out as one of the best scenes in Samurai lore.





Not yet discussed in this thread, but I believe that Kill Bill should get at least a nod when it comes to Samurai related films.

This scene always stands out to me, in my opinion one of the most powerfully emotional and beautifully shot scenes ever...

O-Ren's apology is so sincere, and I've watched this movie dozens of times and just now noticed that her Katana does not have a hand guard.

quote:

Originally posted by jsbcody:
The Zatoichi series of movies are pretty damn good. You can find most for free on Youtube. I did buy a couple from Amazon Prime Video (in particular, the one about Zatoichi's sword).

[FLASH_VIDEO]<iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5xH-P0vGazs" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>[/FLASH_VIDEO]

Or for a different take on this the version from Takeshi Kitano.

I seem to recall enjoying Heaven and Earth, though I only saw it the one time many years ago. More army/battle oriented than one on one IIRC.