My exploration of Samurai/Ninja films...(Where to start with Samurai films.)

[paimeifist]

UPDATE: This thread has become more than I anticipated. These films are great, and I love to discuss them and hear what others think! I have changed the title of the thread to something I deem more fitting. From here on out I will update this post each time I watch a movie with a rating for each movie(based on my enjoyment of it), along with the post # where I shared my thoughts. (For my own reference, and if anyone is interested.) I am not reviewing these movies per say, just sharing my thoughts after an initial viewing, so don't expect anything too in depth. This will also make it easier to recommend movies for me if anyone wishes to do so!

Man, I don't like putting a number rating on movies :-/...What I have seen so far:

The Tale of Zatoichi - 8/10

Yojimbo - 9/10

Shogun Assassin - 10/10; Post #6

Sword of Doom - 9/10; Post #14

Rashomon - 8/10; Post #18

Hunter in the Dark - 6/10; Post #19

Seven Samurai - 10/10

Sword of the Beast - 10/10; Post #45

Sleepy Eyes of Death 1 - 8/10; Post #46

Sleepy Eyes of Death 2 - 8/10; Post #58

Twilight Samurai - 10/10; #61

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Original Post.

Just getting into Samurai movies, Hulu has a lot of the criterion releases.

So far I have watched The Tale of Zatoichi and Yojimbo, and loved both of them.

Just trying to get a sort of "top 10 essential" list or something going...there are so many just on Hulu that I spend as much time looking at them as I do watching them, lol. Feel free to recommend movies other than those on Hulu as well!

[Karlos]

Check out this thread, bro:

http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7489

[stills]

7 samurai

Shogun assassin/ lonewolf & cub

Rashomon

[paimeifist]

Watching Shoguns Assassin now. Had the Blu ray laying around for some time.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Just getting into Samurai movies, Hulu has a lot of the criterion releases.

So far I have watched The Tale of Zatoichi and Yojimbo, and loved both of them.

Just trying to get a sort of "top 10 essential" list or something going...there are so many just on Hulu that I spend as much time looking at them as I do watching them, lol. Feel free to recommend movies other than those on Hulu as well!

Both sequels to those two The Tale of Zatoichi Continues and Sanjuro are both worth watching. I'm a big Kurosawa fan (his Criterion releases are on Hulu as you know) so Seven Samurai should be a future watch as well though that film really needs to be seen on the biggest screen you have access to. Personally I would take the Zatoichi films a little at a time. Don't overload all at once (which I have done in the past), but do not wait too long either. It is interesting to see how certain elements will be repeated throughout the storylines and, of course, eventually you will see (a slightly disappointing to me) Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (of course there is some debate on whether that is the same character as in the Kurosawa films.)

[paimeifist]

Yeah I figured it would be best to pace myself with watching sequels of these movies for now because I'd be missing out on different films. It's been months since I watched Zatoichi though so I may check the second one out soon.

I just watched Shoguns Assassin, man this movie was kick ass, while way different than the older movies, lol. I actually really liked the sound track and dub track(narrative from the kid was cool). I'm interested In seeing the Lone Wolf and Cub movies to see what the differences are.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Yeah I figured it would be best to pace myself with watching sequels of these movies for now because I'd be missing out on different films. It's been months since I watched Zatoichi though so I may check the second one out soon.

I just watched Shoguns Assassin, man this movie was kick ass, while way different than the older movies, lol. I actually really liked the sound track and dub track(narrative from the kid was cool). I'm interested In seeing the Lone Wolf and Cub movies to see what the differences are.

I had first seen Shogun Assassin on tape and eventually got to the six Lone Wolf and Cub movies on DVD. As you probably know Shogun Assassin takes from the first two (more heavily on the second one.) The one aspect I did miss from Shogun's Assassin was the kid's narrative which is not there in the series.

I tend to prefer period pieces (jidai geki) from Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi (not necessarily samurai films, but they might have samurais in them) over chambara (swordfighting, technically chambara aka chanbara films are a subgenre of jidai geki but you will often read a distinction between the two analogous to kung fu and wuxia.) But I do enjoy quite a bit of them. If you search several threads in this section you will see tons of recommendations, so you have quite a bit of good films ahead of you.

Meanwhile check out Kihachi Okamoto's Sword of Doom.

[paimeifist]

I had first seen Shogun Assassin on tape and eventually got to the six Lone Wolf and Cub movies on DVD. As you probably know Shogun Assassin takes from the first two (more heavily on the second one.) The one aspect I did miss from Shogun's Assassin was the kid's narrative which is not there in the series.

I tend to prefer period pieces (jidai geki) from Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi (not necessarily samurai films, but they might have samurais in them) over chambara (swordfighting, technically chambara aka chanbara films are a subgenre of jidai geki but you will often read a distinction between the two analogous to kung fu and wuxia.) But I do enjoy quite a bit of them. If you search several threads in this section you will see tons of recommendations, so you have quite a bit of good films ahead of you.

Meanwhile check out Kihachi Okamoto's Sword of Doom.

Ok, I will watch that next. Yes, I actually had already drawn the similarity to wuxia/kung fu when comparing the first two films I watched (Zatoichi, Yojimbo) to Shoguns Assassin.. Although I'd still say wuxia films are still much more action oriented when compared to "jidai geki"?

I actually thoroughly enjoyed both styles of film, and have no preference from my very limited viewing of both. Judging from just the titles of many of the latter Zatoichi sequels, do they transition from jidai geki to chambara?

I'd like to collect some of these films, but it seems they are generally pricey when compared to classic HK movies. Anywhere I could find the Lone Wold and Cub flicks for a reasonable price?

Well, on to Sword of Doom!

[kaleyboy]

You should definitely check out the Nemuri Kyoshiro aka Sleepy Eyes Of Death series, starring the awsome Raizo Ichikawa.

[Vegeta84]

You're on Hulu?

Check out Hunter in the Dark. One of the best Japanese period pieces ever. Lots of sword play that's brutal and real.

One of my favorite movies of all time.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

All those are good suggestions. Go to youtube. Also go to your local library. Samurai flicks are considered high brow, especially Kurosawa. What country and city are 5 near?

[paimeifist]

I live in Virginia, US. Closest major city would be D.C.. Why do ya ask?

Yeah I can see how they're considered highbrow, but I enjoy them as much as the HK stuff that's generally looked at in a much different light, lol.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

There has to be a huge library of films in DC. Google it. Samurai 1,2, and 3 are classics as well. You can always get torrents. They have the blind swordsman collection online.

[paimeifist]

Oh, almost all of this stuff is on Hulu which is how I've been wtching it. It seems Hulu has all criterion releases..which includes a shitload of these samurai classics, lol.

So I just got through Sword of Doom...man it seems like all of these movies must be classics. Great movie, although it's very dark. I think I need to watch something more lighthearted now, haha. Is the lead from this the same guy who had the gun in Yojimbo? He seems to be a hell of an actor. How everything came full circle at the end of this was great. Although it would have been nice to see what came of the girl and the brother.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Even though I've only seen around a 100 I'm a huge fan of samurai movies. I like kung fu more but I give major respect to the samurai. Here's a few movies where you get the best of both worlds. We'll call it Japanese Fu.

(Shaolin) Master and the Kid- baby cart clone with Yueh Hua.

The Blind Swordsman's Revenge- Zatoichi clone.

Zatoichi Meets the One Armed Swordsman- Wang Yu vs. Zatoichi.

Ninja in the Dragon's Den- anyone who hasn't seen this I don't know how you live with yourself.

Killer Constable- check out this poster

I always thought Damian Lau would have been amazing in a samurai movie. I think the closest thing is What Price Survival. Not a great movie but worth watching if you're a fan of Japanese Fu.

[paimeifist]

MY BOY MORGOTH!

Rofl, baby cart clone with Yueh Hua, I have to see this. Killer Constable has been on my "to watch" list for a while, but its another movie that I have heard too much good about to watch a shit version of it.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Yeah Master and the Kid is must see must have. I read my review from 2006 and I said that it was good but I didn't know if I would ever watch it again. I've seen it at least 10 times since then and now that it's on my mind I'll have to revisit it soon.

[paimeifist]

Yeah I'll have to seek it out. Is there a decent release of Master and the Kid or am I just as well off to just watch it on youtube? I'm considering just getting that Wu Tang Iron Fist set.. I'm sure the PQ isn't great, but I'm sure it's also watchable, an there are many movies I've hear good about on it that I've yet to see.. Including Master and the Kid!

Watched Rashoman yesterday, I love the story (in a grove) and those that accompany it. Was interesting to see the differences from the book, and how such a short story can make a great feature length film. I think Kurosawas choice to use the setting of Rashomon for the story of "In a Grove" was brilliant, and fitting of the tone and mood of the movie. His few additions to the story were good as well, although I would not say they made it superior.

Hunter in the Dark next, thoughts to follow.

[paimeifist]

Hunter in the Dark was good, but seemed to be the lesser out of all the movies I've seen so far.. My main complaint is it is was just confusing to me, so many characters, so many sub plots! About an hour in I was able to start putting together. I feel maybe this will be better with repeated viewings. The action was direct and realistic which I liked, and it was also cool to see the distinct difference between the Samurai and the non-samurai.. Gomyos(I'm not familiar with the actors in these films yet) was awesome and had great presence..he was a straight powerhouse while hardly ever touching a weapon. Finale in the chicken coup was bad ass. This would be the closest thing to Wuxia for the Samurai films I have seen so far in my opinion. Overall it was good, but I feel it could have been great if it wasn't so damn confusing.

[stills]

I liked the Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi

[Takuma]

Hunter in the Dark was good, but seemed to be the lesser out of all the movies I've seen so far.. My main complaint is it is was just confusing to me, so many characters, so many sub plots! About an hour in I was able to start putting together. I feel maybe this will be better with repeated viewings. The action was direct and realistic which I liked, and it was also cool to see the distinct difference between the Samurai and the non-samurai.. Gomyos(I'm not familiar with the actors in these films yet) was awesome and had great presence..he was a straight powerhouse while hardly ever touching a weapon. Finale in the chicken coup was bad ass. This would be the closest thing to Wuxia for the Samurai films I have seen so far in my opinion. Overall it was good, but I feel it could have been great if it wasn't so damn confusing.

I would kinda agree with you. Basically Hideo Gosha's career had three phases:

The first phase was from 1964-1974 when he was making absolutely fantastic samurai, yakuza and noir films one after another. Hitokiri is probably the best, but I think you'll appreciate it more if you leave it for later. Goyokin, Three Outlaw Samurai, and Samurai Wolf 1 & 2 are all terrific. Violent Streets and Cash Calls Hell are brilliant crime films from the same period (some of the best ever made in Japan). All of these films are 100% men's cinema, from themes to contents to characters.

The second phase was from 1978 to 1979, which saw him returning with messy, but entertaining, realistic and somewhat sleazy samurai pics.

The third and final phase was from 1982 to 1992 which marks his women's cinema period. A couple of exceptions aside all of these films focused on women. They are more melodramatic and less interesting dramas (though with plenty of boobs), but there are a couple of good ones, like Tracked (crime), Oar (drama), and Onimasa (yakuza).

[paimeifist]

I would kinda agree with you. Basically Hideo Gosha's career had three phases:

The first phase was from 1964-1974 when he was making absolutely fantastic samurai, yakuza and noir films one after another. Hitokiri is probably the best, but I think you'll appreciate it more if you leave it for later. Goyokin, Three Outlaw Samurai, and Samurai Wolf 1 & 2 are all terrific. Violent Streets and Cash Calls Hell are brilliant crime films from the same period (some of the best ever made in Japan). All of these films are 100% men's cinema, from themes to contents to characters.

The second phase was from 1978 to 1979, which saw him returning with messy, but entertaining, realistic and somewhat sleazy samurai pics.

The third and final phase was from 1982 to 1992 which marks his women's cinema period. A couple of exceptions aside all of these films focused on women. They are more melodramatic and less interesting dramas (though with plenty of boobs), but there are a couple of good ones, like Tracked (crime), Oar (drama), and Onimasa (yakuza).

I think I will watch one of those three films soon than. Yeah, it was funny, the first fifteen minutes of Hunter in the Dark, I could have sworn it was going to be a sleazefest, but there weren't many signs of it after that.

[kaleyboy]

I would kinda agree with you. Basically Hideo Gosha's career had three phases:

The first phase was from 1964-1974 when he was making absolutely fantastic samurai, yakuza and noir films one after another. Hitokiri is probably the best, but I think you'll appreciate it more if you leave it for later. Goyokin, Three Outlaw Samurai, and Samurai Wolf 1 & 2 are all terrific. Violent Streets and Cash Calls Hell are brilliant crime films from the same period (some of the best ever made in Japan). All of these films are 100% men's cinema, from themes to contents to characters.

The second phase was from 1978 to 1979, which saw him returning with messy, but entertaining, realistic and somewhat sleazy samurai pics.

The third and final phase was from 1982 to 1992 which marks his women's cinema period. A couple of exceptions aside all of these films focused on women. They are more melodramatic and less interesting dramas (though with plenty of boobs), but there are a couple of good ones, like Tracked (crime), Oar (drama), and Onimasa (yakuza).

I recently watched Death Shadow and it was greatly entertaining.

[paimeifist]

Kaley, I've debating on ordering the first animeigo set of the Sleepys Eyes of Death films, it is $30 on animeigo at the moment, and knowing their history, there's no telling how long the movies will be available from them, and It seems like a good price. What do you think?

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Seven Samurai, and then work your way up. If you skip Seven Samurai then don't bother watching Samurai movies. It begins and ends with Seven Samurai.