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Samurai movie recomendations going beyond Kurosawa

lambertlambert 1,166 Posts
edited August 2005 in Strut Central
I'm starting to really dig Samurai stories (even went so far as to slog my way through the entire Lone Wolf and Cub series), but now I need some help. So far I've been leaning on Criterion to play tastemaker, but I've caught all the Kurosawa movies that I can. Since then my only forrays were picking up Sword of Doom and the Samurai trilogy; both great films but in different ways.I haven't seen anything with the legendary Jubei character, yet, and was wondering what may be good in that field. Also, I rented Kibakichi, which is entertaining but I was a little disapointed in the "monster movie" kitsch element to it.Also, are Yakuza films essentially dealing with the same character elements, only periodic differences, or are the Yakuza less likely to be shown in a heroic light?Anyways, what good shit am I really missing?

  Comments

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    Have you seen The Twilight Samurai or The Hidden Blade yet?

    They are both kinda the same deal.. And there's not a whole lotta of sword play in them. But fucking hot all the same.
  • Sun_FortuneSun_Fortune 1,374 Posts
    Ozu's Floating Weeds is a beautiful film.
    you see kurasawa's "Dreams" yet?
  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    Also maybe check out





    Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto

    Samurai 2: Duel At Ichijoji Temple

    Samurai 3: Duel At Ganryu Island



    And the Lady Snowblood films...

    The Princess Blade



    And people hate on Azumi... But I liked it.





    The Zatoichi films are nice also.
  • Funky_MimizuFunky_Mimizu 631 Posts
    San Biki no Samurai - Three Outlaw Samurai (Seven Samurai, but with only three samurai! LIghthearted and bad-ass at the same time)









    Daibosatsu Toge - Sword of Doom









    Kozure Ookami - Lone Wolf and Cub









    Zatoichi (the actor was actually the brother of the guy who played Ogami Ito in Lone Wolf and Cub) - Blind massuese yakuza swordsman kicks ass and gets some laughs and pulls all the girls in this excellent series













    If you haven't seen these, they should keep you busy awhile. Lonewolf and Cub is fucking amazing. Truly next level samurai-exploitation flicks, Zatoichi too. Both are long series.



    Peace...

    FNM





    *Edit* Damn... I gotta start reading posts better... I didn't make it through the subject line of the OP's post before hitting reply. Gomen!*Edit*

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Zatoichi and the Ring of Fire is ridic.

    The recent remake is "ok." Not crazy wack (except for purists) but a little too overdone.
  • Dj_Coma_ToastDj_Coma_Toast 874 Posts


    Also, are Yakuza films essentially dealing with the same character elements, only periodic differences, or are the Yakuza less likely to be shown in a heroic light?

    Anyways, what good shit am I really missing?





    samurai movies are only so good beyond kurosawa, for sure there are gems like sword of doom, twilight etc. i liked samurai fiction and the other nakano films are beautiful! stereo future, akakage (red shadow)

  • Dj_Coma_ToastDj_Coma_Toast 874 Posts
    btw: kinji fukusaku (yakuza papers dude) also directed battle royale, samurai reincarnation, tora! tora! tora! as well as a bunch of others.
  • Funky_MimizuFunky_Mimizu 631 Posts

    And people hate on Azumi... But I liked it.



    I really wanted to like this (because I bought it without renting it first)... I could barely finish it. I wanted all the main characters to die, and quickly.

    Samurai movie for 10 year old japanese boys and girls.

    Kidstuff... to me at least.

    Peace...
    FNM
  • coffinjoecoffinjoe 1,743 Posts
    Kozure Ookami - Lone Wolf and Cub




    cosine, the whole series is wicked & i think all 6 of the "baby carts" are out on dvd
  • PEKPEK 735 Posts
    Ozu's Floating Weeds is a beautiful film.
    you see kurasawa's "Dreams" yet?

    Yamanaka's 'Humanity & Paper Balloons' - Yamanaka was a contemporary of Ozu's, made 22 films over the course of a 6 year career and was drafted the day that 'Humanity...' premiered; he died a year later @ the age of 29 in Manchuria... The DVD's available as a R2 PAL for those w/ multi-region players on this side of the Atlantic and it's based off a Kabuki play...

    Steer clear of Ichikawa's 'Dora Heita'; for late era Ichikawa, you're better off w/ his cinematic adaptation of 'The Makioka Sisters'...
  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts

    And people hate on Azumi... But I liked it.



    I really wanted to like this (because I bought it without renting it first)... I could barely finish it. I wanted all the main characters to die, and quickly.

    Samurai movie for 10 year old japanese boys and girls.

    Kidstuff... to me at least.

    Peace...
    FNM

    10 years? I dunno about that... I would say 15-18. I agree it was geared towards that group. It did star a pop singer... I guess the film just appealed to the kid in me. I thought it was stone cold the way they trained most of their life and in the next minute, they had to turn around and kill their best friend. The movie is in no way anything close to a classic samurai tale. But I did enjoy it.

    I'd put ever other Samurai flick mentioned above ahead of it. But I thought this movie was alright and it entertained me. It's one of those you either like it, or you hate it type deals.

    Now Death or Love on the other hand was total shite...
  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    Check this here site out.
    They review a lot of classic kung-fu films. But they also give you a guide to 'Jidai Geki' which are basically Japanese period movies. Which include 'ken geki' or sword fighting films, which is what you're looking for.
    Also checkout the 'Wuxia Pien' page, which is basically the Hong Kong martial arts scene doing there version of 'ken geki'.

    This is a great site, which i've spent many hours on.
    Ahh knowledge...
  • kilogramkilogram 152 Posts
    i liked samurai fiction

    think i need to watch this again.
    i love samurai movies and i really couldn't get into this.
    seems like it was made for kids or something.

    you must see lady snowblood.
  • kilogramkilogram 152 Posts
    i liked samurai fiction

    think i need to watch this again.
    i love samurai movies and i really couldn't get into this.
    seems like it was made for kids or something.

    you must see lady snowblood.
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    Check this here site out.
    They review a lot of classic kung-fu films. But they also give you a guide to 'Jidai Geki' which are basically Japanese period movies. Which include 'ken geki' or sword fighting films, which is what you're looking for.
    Also checkout the 'Wuxia Pien' page, which is basically the Hong Kong martial arts scene doing there version of 'ken geki'.

    This is a great site, which i've spent many hours on.
    Ahh knowledge...

    Yes that site is a great resource for anyone interested in Asian action cinema period. It keeps up to date on re-releases as well as the new stuff.

    'Sword of Doom' is what's up.
    Don't spend a lot of time on current stuff until you have digested a few classics like the Zatoichi series and Lone Wolf and Cub.
  • motown67motown67 4,513 Posts
    Zatoichi was a long running TV and movie series that's been re-released slowly by surely. I think they're up to about 17 or so now. You can usually find them on line or at a good video store. There's one director that made some really good ones but I'm not at home right now so I can't even remember his name or which episodes. I've got a couple books on Samurai movies as well that I can look into and give some suggestions, but you'll have to wait until next week.
  • PEKPEK 735 Posts
    Zatoichi was a long running TV and movie series that's been re-released slowly by surely. I think they're up to about 17 or so now. You can usually find them on line or at a good video store. There's one director that made some really good ones but I'm not at home right now so I can't even remember his name or which episodes. I've got a couple books on Samurai movies as well that I can look into and give some suggestions, but you'll have to wait until next week.

    They were released under the Home Vision Entertainment moniker, the parent distributor of Criterion; in the wake of news of Home Vision bein' completely subsumed into the Image Entertainment banner/umbrella, it remains to be seen whether or not the Home Vision titles will continue as before...
  • lambertlambert 1,166 Posts
    I've been watching the musashi trilogy again.

    Getting battle royale pretty soon.

    Anybody seen anything new on this front?
  • oxnardcoreoxnardcore 141 Posts
    no love for

    ?

    "that was the night everything changed..."
  • idiotproofidiotproof 880 Posts
    Agreed.... Sword of Doom..... Dope shit...


    Finally released on DVD was this excellent Toshiro Mifune film.. In his Yojimbo character...
    heads will spin



    Chushingura is based on the tales of the 47 Ronin. Ronin means somnething like 'masterless samurai' by the way
    Check some history. Fascinating stuff, especially if you watch these films for more than just fighting.
    http://www.samurai-archives.com/ronin.html



    Super dope enjoyable Sonny Chiba flick. Great fun....




    This could have been good...but wasn't. Owl's Castle. Shame.


    Whereas this is spectacular. An epic in all senses.
    also known as The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy. My copy has a different cover. You won't be dissapointed.



    The original Zatoichi films. There's like 25 films in the series from the 60s /70s. Dope films....

    The many that I've seen are all dope. But remember that most Samurai films aren't like Hong Kong martial art films. Good stories interact with the action.


    This release is 7 films, but sadly Full Frame, so screw that. These films were beautifully made in lavish widescreen.
    Better off going fo the Home Vision releases. jhough they have a few gaps. Trouble with licensing apparently.


    HANZO THE RAZOR.[/b]
    Thsi was released onto DVD earlier thsi year...
    Ninjas, samurais, crazy 70s' cinematography, mental Japanese sensibility.....
    Fkn' aye'. Will send you right off the eye popping scale.




    This Japanese site is excellent for really obscure releases on DVD, but hell expensive.
    And not all have English subs...
    http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/movie/essentials/kurosawa/



    I thought i had bookmarked the hard to find excellent Samurai film website.
    I could go on & on....

    Okay, I'm too lazy, but here's some links to the entire DVD/video releases of 3 of my fave Japanese directors who have dabbled in Samurai films, though mostly Yakuza/mob films as well.
    Awesome shit. Can't reccomend highly enough.

    http://i16.jp/japans/ALPHAXBFBCBAEEB6D5C6F3__Kinji+Fukasaku.html
    http://i16.jp/japans/ALPHAXBFBCBAEEB6D5C6F3__Seijun+Suzuki.html
    http://i16.jp/japans/ALPHAXBFBCBAEEB6D5C6F3__Yasuharu+Hasebe.html

    Oh & check out the website of the recent remake of the 60s's Sonny Chiba film, G.I. Samurai, aka Timeslip.
    Modern Japanese army go back into time & end up in feudal Japan.
    http://www.sengoku1549.com/pc/

    I haven't seen it yet, but sadly some recent Japanese films have been a tad too Hollywood in style.
    Korean films are upping the ante, but that is another thread of some amazing shit in itself.

    Hope that hleps anyway...
  • loudwizardloudwizard 358 Posts
    if you likd Sword Of Doom , you need to see Samurai Assassin.

    stars Toshiro Mifune-
    made by the same dude who made Sword Of Doom.
    they were made about a year apart.
  • lambertlambert 1,166 Posts
    if you likd Sword Of Doom , you need to see Samurai Assassin.

    stars Toshiro Mifune-
    made by the same dude who made Sword Of Doom.
    they were made about a year apart.



    is it b+W?!?!?!?
  • loudwizardloudwizard 358 Posts
    yep, B & W.

    just make sure you read the notes section of the disc
    before you watch the film,
    or you will likely be confused.
  • lambertlambert 1,166 Posts
    I hear you.
    It was helpful after sword of doom to do the same. Putting it in the context of a literary serial that encompassed nearly 60 volumes put a lid on any grumblings I might have had about the lack of a sequel. Needless to say, it would've been impossible.

    That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to have seen one though.
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