Member Linn1 Posted July 6, 2007 Member Share Posted July 6, 2007 Post what you think are the best of the best. And please leave reasons so that everyone can know why you think so highly of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 These are (2) Great movies I like to say this is the New Wave of Japanese movies being made. Azumi: Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura of "Versus" fame, this action-packed movie is based on a highly popular manga serial by Yu Koyama. Like his stylish and gory previous film, it wastes no time in getting down to business. The movie gets rolling as soon as the band of ten Samurai in training, including Azumi (Aya Ueto), the only swordswoman among them, is subjected to its final test. Once again, Kitamura demonstrates his awesome skills into camera movements and fight choreography. The unlimited supply of stylistic action scenes and wild visual feast are enhanced by his leaping and pouncing camera, wirework and CGI special FX. At one time, the kick-azz heroine (in a cool, skin-tight "period" clothing) takes on as many as 200 foes. After the death of her mother, a young 9-year-old girl named Azumi is saved and adopted by Jiji (Yoshio Harada), a former Samurai master and general with the Imperial army. After ten years of training, Jiji gathers his ten students, nine males and one girl - Azumi, and tells them that all their lives they have been trained for one purpose - to carry out only one mission - maintain peace at all costs. Their mission is so important that he pairs them up with their favorite classmate, then tells them that, in order to be the greatest assassin, one must forget all ties and to do so would mean that they must kill even their loved one - their paired classmate. Azumi: 2 Death or Love Based on the popular manga by Koyama Yu, Azumi 2: Death or Love picks up where the last film left off, with the title character wandering around Japan with her good friend Nagara (Ishigaki Yuma, from Battle Royale II) in tow. But in her travels, Azumi's life is interrupted by violence once more. This time around, Azumi has found herself caught in the thick of some major internal strife within the Japanese government and is enlisted by a lord to dispose of a rival official, the evil Sanada Masayuki (Hira Mikijiro, from Suzuki Seijun's Pistol Opera). With no other choice left to her, Azumi must unsheathe her sword once more and mete out bloody retribution. But things get complicated when she meets up with a motley band of crooks that just so happen to have a member who bears an uncannily resemblance to Azumi's former best friend, Nachi (a returning Oguri Syun). Is there romance in the cards for Azumi or only death and destruction? Featuring Kuriyama Chiaki (late of Kill Bill and the original Battle Royale) in a supporting role, Azumi 2: Death or Love amounts to a highly entertaining, fight-filled popcorn flick that is sure to lure viewers both old and new! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Lone Wolf & Cub TV Series: OK I just finished watching the entire TV Series of LW&C Greatest Series that I've ever watch. My question to you is at the very end of the movie when Daigoro kills Retsudo he holds him and calls him Grandson. I was like WOW, I also have the entire Comic Book Series that I've only read 2 volumes so far but I had to look at the last volume and see the difference in the endings, and it was almost the same thing in Retsudo final words he said "Grandson of my Heart", did I miss anything here that wasn't his grandfather was it? Maybe you might have the answer to it. In the end it kinda made you feel sad because now Daigoro was all alone, but throughout the series he was being prepared for this day. I just didn't think it was going to end the way it did. I wouldn't exactly call it a Happy Ending. I would've still loved to have seen Wakayama Tomisaburo in the TV Series. But Nakamura did an Excellent job, at times watching his Sword Fighting skills I was like OK not bad but at other times I was amazed at the skill he had. This is a must own TV series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Without a Doubt the Greatest Samurai movie series ever made. He was Itto Ogami, a man who held himself to the harsh code of Bushido, entrusted by the Shogun with the gravest of responsibilities, that of official executioner. His flashing blade brought swift release to those ordered to commit Seppuku, ritual suicide - be they man, woman, or even child. He was Itto Ogami, falsly accused of treason by the evil Yagyu Clan, stripped of his position; his wife murdered by Yagyu assassins. He was Itto Ogami, a father who gave his infant son a terrible choice between a beautiful red ball and a sword. To choose the ball meant to join his mother in the Void, to choose the sword meant to join his father, now a Ronin, a samurai without a master, in a terrible journey that must end in revenge and death. Now Ogami and his son are no more, and through the countryside of Japan stalks The Lone Wolf and Cub! 500 gold pieces will buy his sword, but nothing can buy his honor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Katsu Shintaro stars as the lovable rogue Zato-ichi, the blind masseur whose senses are so finely tuned that lack of sight is the least of his problems. As he wanders around Japan, he's always blindly stumbling into situations that force him to unsheath his sword and lay into a bunch of no-good ruffians. He may not be able to see them coming, but he's usually the last thing they ever see... The entire series all 26 movies they just get better as they went along. Note: Zatoichi might be considered a Yakuza film series because in the Underworld Zatoichi is considered a Gangster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 This tale of betrayal and revenge features one of the greatest swordfights in motion picture history. It rivals SWORD OF DOOM in its intensity and duration. Ichikawa Raizo’s fighting in this film is far and away the best of his career. Betrayed by the elders of his clan, and blamed for a murder he did not commit, his unrelenting fury against those who falsely accused him comes to one of the most exciting conclusions ever filmed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 He is a mysterious stranger, the samurai with the strange, sleepy eyes. His mother Japanese; his father a foreigner; he has no past, he wants no future. He calls himself Nemuri Kyoshiro, but those who challenge him face his, "Full Moon Cut" Sword Style. To me this is the 2nd. Best Samurai series ever made next to the LW&C series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Kiichi (The Demon) Hogan is a bounty hunter trying to raise enough money to journey to Spain so he can avenge the murders of his parents by Gonzales, the Spaniard skilled in swordsmanship who also cut the young man's throat, thus robbing him of his voice forever. Wakayama Tomisaburo is at his best even more so then in the Lone Wolf series, for one thing you get to see him use his Hand to Hand combat more so then you did in the Lone Wolf series which to me was a totally different side of his skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Toshiro Mifune stars as Isaburo Sasahara, an aging swordsman living a quiet life until his clan lord orders that his son marry the lord’s mistress, who has recently displeased the ruler. Reluctantly, father and son take in the woman, and, to the family’s surprise, the young couple fall in love. But the lord soon reverses his decision and demands the mistress’s return. Against all expectations, Isaburo and his son refuse, risking the destruction of their entire family. Director Masaki Kobayashi’s Samurai Rebellion is the gripping story of a peaceful man who finally decides to take a stand against injustice. Great Movie what else is there to say about this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 In this pitch-black action comedy by Kihachi Okamoto, a pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin. Based on the same source novel as Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro, Kill! playfully tweaks samurai film convention, borrowing elements from established chanbara classics and seasoning them with a little Italian western. This is another Great movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 There are a lot of films made about this Character and there all good I really enjoyed the 2004' remake. The legendary One-Armed, One-Eyed Swordsman, Tange Sazen has long been a part of Japanese lore. While the story has been told many times. Conceived in 1927 as the hero in a serialized newspaper novel by Fubo Hayashi, Tange Sazen instantly became a cultural icon when the first of twelve movies were produced a year later. "Tange Sazen: Hyakuman Ryo no Tsubo" is a remake of a classic 1935 film of the same name by Sadao Yamanaka. Tange Sazen, the one-armd, one-eyed ex-samurai swordsman was one of the most popular characters of the era. This remake is helmed by freshman director Toshio Tsuda, starring Etsushi Toyokawa as Sazen and Emi Wakui as Ofuji, his quick-witted wife. This marks the 34th film in the series of Tange Sazen, and this comedy of errors involves an Urn that is worth a million Ryo! With a witty script that combines Hollywood style storytelling with classical Japanese humor, it is a treat for film fans that Tange Sazen has finally returned to our big screens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Former samurai Magobei is forced to return to his sword-dueling ways when the gang he once ran with puts an innocent woman in danger. Coming to this woman`s defense, Magobei is tortured and made to pay for abandoning his people in the past. Note: Tortured by his involvement in a past massacre, and determined to stop another, Magobei (Nakadai Tatsuya) is a conscience-stricken ronin in Gosha’s samurai masterpiece! Started as the fifth "Yojimbo", Mifune Toshiro walked out due to the extreme cold, and his inability to get along with director Gosha. Classic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Great movie non stop action! Japanese martial arts legends Sonny Chiba and Ken Ogata star as men on opposite ends of a government dispute in SHOGUN'S SHADOW. The shogun favors his younger son as his heir, but must concoct a way of eliminating his elder child Tachechiyo. He declares that Tachechiyo must travel to Edo for a special initiation rite, hoping that bandit leader Iba Shoemon (Chiba) will do away with him on the journey. Little does he realize that a team of skilled samurai with fondness for the boy, led by Igo Gyobu (Ogata), have decided to accompany him on the dangerous trip. Filled with swordfighting martial arts action and stunts coordinated by Chiba's own Japanese Action Club, SHOGUN'S SHADOW is an entertaining treat for fans of the genre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 The KILLERS MISSION - 1969 Original Title: Shokin Kasegi Cast: WAKAYAMA Tomisaburo, NOGAWA Yumiko, KATAOKA Chiezo Acting under the Shogun’s orders Shikoro Ichibei must try to stop the sale of modern Dutch guns to the revolutionary Satsuma Clan, so they cannot rise against the Shogunate and take over Japan. Ichibei has to go down to Satsuma on the island of Kyushyu where blends in by appearing to be a blind man. Great movie! Wakayama Tomisaburo is totally awesome in this movie as a Spy for the Shogun, when he pretends to be blind, it was like watching a scene from Zatoichi only his skill with a Sword is better than his Brothers This movie spawned 2 more sequels: pt.#2 "The Fort of Death" pt.#3 Doesn't have an English Title It also spawned a TV series called the "Bounty Hunter" starring Wakayama Tomisaburo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stuntman Jules Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 Not a huge fan of most samurai films, but here are my desert island ones: LONE WOLF AND CUB: BABY CART AT THE RIVER STYX (SHOGUN ASSASSIN)- Like if Sergio Leone and Chang Cheh went to Japan and made a movie together. 80 minutes of cinematic ecstasy. YOJIMBO- A masterpiece, plain and simple. SEVEN SAMURAI- Another masterpiece, Japan's LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. CREST OF BETRAYAL- Fukasaku's best samurai/horror film, a brilliant mix of the Chushingura and Yotsuya legends. LONE WOLF AND CUB: BABY CART IN PERIL- The bloodiest and most exploitative of the LONE WOLF films, brilliant! KWAIDAN- Slow moving, lovely and lush with the prettiest cinematography in any film. LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI- Fukasaku samurai fantasy. More zany fun than anything. LADY SNOWBLOOD- Superb, bloody period revenge flick. SAMURAI REINCARNATION- Another horror/fantasy Fukasaku samurai film with more badass rolled into two hours than nearly any other film I can think of. SHOGUN'S SAMURAI: THE YAGYU CLAN CONSPIRACY- Another Kinji Fukasaku film. Very similar to his yakuza epics in theme, but instead of yakuza clans backstabbing each for supremacy, we've got samurai clans doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strutr74 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Too many to choose from. All time Fave SAMURAI REBELLION dig INCIDENT AT BLOOD PASS I think I might be the only one who thinks LWAC is WAY over rated. I do dig the films, but (imo) there are much better movies out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aliu321 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 1. Seppuku / Harakiri (Masaki Kobayashi) My personal favorite. The direction and acting are virtually flawless. This film deplicts the best and worst of human nature ... one of the best film ever made. 2. Hitokiri / Tenchu (Hideo Gosha) 3. Sword of Doom (Kihachi Okamoto) and one more recent ... 4. Twilight Samurai (Yoji Yamada) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SleepyEyes1289 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 These are some of my Favorites in no particular order -The Adventures Of Nemuri Kyoshiro 1-12(Sleepy Eyes of Death) Kyoshiro (Ichikawa Raizo) is a very twisted character and throughtout the series you begin to understand why. Great swordplay makes it a great series... -Yagyu Bugeicho 1-5...Starring Konoe Jushiro. I think Konoe Jushiro is a great actor and swordsman and is very beleivable as the legendary Yagyu Jubie...Great Swordplay from Konoe Especially at the end of Number 3 Valley of Outlaws when he takes on a ton of guys and uses two swords... -Zatoichi I think this goes without saying a great character by Katsu and throughout the movies you actually think he is blind. When he pulls out his cane sword I cant describe it -Lone Wolf and Cub : Tomisubaro Wakiyama is in a class of his own when he has a sword...Amazing Films... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chen Zhen Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 hey daisho, are the sleepy eyes films as bloddy as lone wolf and cub? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 14, 2007 Share Posted July 14, 2007 Chen there really not that bloody but the story and Sword action in some of the movies are just great. My 2nd. all time favorite series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest POGO Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 *Yojimbo The very first piece of Japanese cinema I was introduced to at 9 years old. Being someone whom enjoys watching, talking about and looking up facts about films this introduced me to the Jidai Geki movies as well as the works of Akira Kurosawa. I was also introduced to my favorite Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune and second favorite Tatsuya Nakadai. Mr. Mifune played the role of the nameless ronin brilliantly. Though his swordplay might have not looked all that believe all the time in the movie, he still look great. The little comical gestures he was able to do really made this movie great. This is my favorite Toshiro Mifune movie, "The Bad Sleep Well" being the second, but it's just something about this movie, I've always have and will love. *Harakiri The story was very clever and well thought out. This is by far one of the most realistic samurai films I've ever seen. Tatsuya Nakadai's performance was both touching as a caring father, father-in-law and grandfather. But he is just as vicious as a ronin on a mission to regain the honor of his daughter, son-in-law and grandchild. *Kill! (Kiru) It's just something about the way Nakadai plays Genta, the ronin turned yakuza that was very cool. From what I've read this was taken from the same story also used in "Sanjuro", but I know I'm not really explaining my love for this film but it's just something about it. The way Genta is gambling with that priest or him trying to help Tabata try and "kill" him. Or his interaction with that last surviving yakuza family member whom eventually refers to Genta as big brother. One of my favorites. *Seven Samurai One of the finest pieces of cinema I've ever seen. The direction, the cast, the dialogue. The scenes where sometimes there is no sound heard is masterful. One of the only other directors about to draw out good scenes with no sound involved is Takeshi Kitano. Seven Samurai was always be one of if not the most superior samurai film in my eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WJKovacs Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 SWORD OF DOOM - TWILIGHT SAMURAI - THE HIDDEN BLADE - HARAKIRI - THE SAMURAI TRILOGY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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