Member venom10463 Posted January 10, 2011 Member Share Posted January 10, 2011 With the huge selection of jidai-geki or chambara films. I wanna know what are some of y'all top 10 films of all time. I've been collecting samurai films since 2004 and I have as of yet to come across one I didn't like. So, I'll start off with the films I thoroughly enjoyed the most in no particular order. In addition, I'll count series and trilogy as one film. Yojimbo Sanjuro Sword of Doom Kill! Three Outlaw Samurai Nemuri Kyoshiro (Sleepy Eyes of Death) series Satan's Sword trilogy Samurai Vendetta Miyamoto Musashi series (Unforunately, I have as of yet to watch the 3 part Miyamoto Musashi films starring Toshiro Mifune. Yeah, I Know! ) Lone Wolf and Cub series Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venom10463 Posted January 10, 2011 Author Member Share Posted January 10, 2011 For those newly into samurai films, I would highly recommend checking out each films on my top 10 as well other people's top 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Whirlwind Posted January 11, 2011 Member Share Posted January 11, 2011 I've been watching quite a few Japanese films of late for a change of pace & plan on getting plenty more viewed soon as I've been slacking off. It's hard to make a top ten, I always forget some or change my mind but I rank these as some of the best I have seen: The Betrayal I Want To Die A Samurai Assassination Orders Inn Of Evil Shadow Hunters Sanjuro Harakiri Red Lion Shogun's Ninja Samurai Pirate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Michael L. Posted January 12, 2011 Member Share Posted January 12, 2011 (Unforunately, I have as of yet to watch the 3 part Miyamoto Musashi films starring Toshiro Mifune. Yeah, I Know! ) What?! Seriously? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venom10463 Posted January 13, 2011 Author Member Share Posted January 13, 2011 No need to worry anymore because I plan on picking them up real soon. Now, if only if I can find them some place cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venom10463 Posted January 13, 2011 Author Member Share Posted January 13, 2011 I've been watching quite a few Japanese films of late for a change of pace & plan on getting plenty more viewed soon as I've been slacking off. It's hard to make a top ten, I always forget some or change my mind but I rank these as some of the best I have seen: The Betrayal I Want To Die A Samurai Assassination Orders Inn Of Evil Shadow Hunters Sanjuro Harakiri Red Lion Shogun's Ninja Samurai Pirate Great selection, Whirlwind. I completely forgot about The Betrayal and Harakiri. Are you also Whirlwind on adc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Michael L. Posted January 14, 2011 Member Share Posted January 14, 2011 Amazon has the Criterion Collection boxset for $63 (and even cheaper from third parties or used), which isn't bad for Criterion DVDs. Don't be thrown off by the fact that the headline for the set dates it at 1967, though; they are of the '50s films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Whirlwind Posted January 14, 2011 Member Share Posted January 14, 2011 Great selection, Whirlwind. I completely forgot about The Betrayal and Harakiri. Are you also Whirlwind on adc? Yes, that's me Should have mentioned these as well, I always forget... Sword of the Beast Goyokin Sword Devil I watched Magic Serpent aka Battle of the Dragons recently which was very enjoyable. I don't mind a bit of fantasy in the samuari setting for a change like a huge dragon & toad going at it Anyone know of any similar style films? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jadedragon61 Posted January 21, 2011 Member Share Posted January 21, 2011 I got in on this late as I am not an expert herein (although I do have Kurosawa complete). Anyway, here are my five (with a couple of comments): Yojimbo: Mifune is so cool in this he's freezer-burn! Shogun Assassin: I've got the entire original series, but, honestly, I thought the US edited cut of two-in-one was better. Sanjuro Seven Samurai Miyamoto Musashi series While I was living in Japan I used to watch Aburenbo Shogun TV series, which, while basically the same story every week (incognito Shogun hears about criminals, incognito Shogun tracks down criminals, revealed Shogun kills them all) it was still friggin' great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member MarsHarmony Posted February 15, 2011 Member Share Posted February 15, 2011 I know that I am an old school fool, but I have lost track of how many times I have watched Seven Samurai. Toshiro Mifune - And I love Sanjuro Yojimbo Gate of Hell I also know that is no where near ten! Another great series of movies are the Zatoichi films starring Shintaro Katsu who is fantastic. There are some on Netflix, but only on disc. Hulu.com is streaming the following list, in descending order, of Zatoichi movies - for free (with only an occasional 60 seconds of commercials), and they are from the Criterion Collection, so they look great. Check it out! http://www.hulu.com/watch/128283/zatoichi-the-blind-swordsman-the-tale-of-zatoichi#s-p4-so-i0 Samaritan Zatoichi 1:22:53 12/28/1968 Zatoichi and the Fugitives 1:22:16 08/10/1968 Zatoichi Challenged 1:26:37 12/30/1967 Zatoichi's Cane Sword 1:33:07 01/03/1967 Zatoichi's Pilgrimage 1:22:30 08/13/1966 Zatoichi's Vengeance 1:22:47 05/03/1966 Zatoichi and the Chess Expert 1:27:24 12/24/1965 Zatoichi and the Doomed Man 1:17:30 09/18/1965 Zatoichi's Revenge 1:23:28 04/03/1965 The Adventures of Zatoichi 1:26:12 12/30/1964 Fight, Zatoichi, Fight 1:27:39 10/17/1964 Zatoichi's Flashing Sword 1:22:12 07/11/1964 Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold 1:22:27 03/14/1964 On the Road 1:27:49 11/30/1963 The Fugitive 1:26:11 08/10/1963 New Tale of Zatoichi 1:31:37 03/15/1963 The Tale of Zatoichi Continues 1:12:29 10/12/1962 The Tale of Zatoichi 1:36:15 04/18/1962 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member MarsHarmony Posted February 16, 2011 Member Share Posted February 16, 2011 Just an update - the Hulu.com "Zatoichi" collection may only be on the Hulu Plus option. But there is a free week trial for that, and you could probably watch several of them before you canceled it. There are not a lot of action sequences, but they are intense and quick. What is really great about the Zatoichi films is the storyline and the great acting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Michael L. Posted February 17, 2011 Member Share Posted February 17, 2011 Zatoichi films are on Hulu for free in standard def with commercials. The Zatoichi TV show is on Joost.com for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member MarsHarmony Posted February 26, 2011 Member Share Posted February 26, 2011 I just finished watching all 18 Zatoichi films on Hulu plus., and every single one of them was terrific. The cinematography is stunning, the music is outstanding, and as the films progressed, there was more and more swordplay action. Zatoichi is a character that is easy to spend hours and hours of time with because of well written character and the compelling and brilliant performance by Shintaro Katsu. I know I will enjoy them again and again. Classic classic classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMK Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 To this day, I have not seen a single Zatoichi movie. When I do finally get around to seeing them, do I need to begin with the first one, or can I view them in any order? What do you guys recommend? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member MarsHarmony Posted February 27, 2011 Member Share Posted February 27, 2011 To this day, I have not seen a single Zatoichi movie. When I do finally get around to seeing them, do I need to begin with the first one, or can I view them in any order? What do you guys recommend? Thanks! Abbot, what ever order you decided to watch them in, I think you would still derive great enjoyment from them. However, the first three are fairly sequential, and the majority of the rest of the films often reference something that has happened in a previous story, and I am glad that I was able to watch them in order of their release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member MarsHarmony Posted June 13, 2011 Member Share Posted June 13, 2011 I watched 4 films that HanzoBankai recommended, all of which are available to watch online, including almost all of the Zatoichi films, in the Critertion Collection on Hulu- Three Outlaw Samurai - 1964 (oddly, Hulu has it listed as from 1968) starring Tetsuro Tanba, and it was fantastic. Just two years after that release, Chang Cheh reworked the story (although it was almost the same) into The Magnificent Trio (1966) with Wang Yu, Lo Lieh and Cheng Lui. Tetsuro Tanba would later work with Chang Cheh on both The Water Margin (1972) and All Men Are Brothers (1975). There's serendipity for you. [bBvideo 620,385]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDy04W28wNc[/bBvideo] Sword of the Beast (1965) was also most excellent. [bBvideo 620,385]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne4VqHQciSQ[/bBvideo] and The Sword of Doom (1965) which left me wanting a few story lines wrapped up, but Tatsuya Nakadai gives such an outstanding performance that I had to get over my wanting more. Balistik94 did a super job making this teaser for Sword of Doom - [bBvideo 620,385] [/bBvideo] AND If you have not seen Kill! (1968) - wow, it was just great! A fabulous retelling of the Sanjuro story. One of my new favorites for sure. [bBvideo 620,385]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX1obRvUM2M&feature=related[/bBvideo] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venom10463 Posted July 27, 2015 Author Member Share Posted July 27, 2015 I watched 4 films that HanzoBankai recommended, all of which are available to watch online, including almost all of the Zatoichi films, in the Critertion Collection on Hulu- Three Outlaw Samurai - 1964 (oddly, Hulu has it listed as from 1968) starring Tetsuro Tanba, and it was fantastic. Just two years after that release, Chang Cheh reworked the story (although it was almost the same) into The Magnificent Trio (1966) with Wang Yu, Lo Lieh and Cheng Lui. Tetsuro Tanba would later work with Chang Cheh on both The Water Margin (1972) and All Men Are Brothers (1975). There's serendipity for you. [bBvideo 620,385]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDy04W28wNc[/bBvideo] Sword of the Beast (1965) was also most excellent. [bBvideo 620,385]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne4VqHQciSQ[/bBvideo] and The Sword of Doom (1965) which left me wanting a few story lines wrapped up, but Tatsuya Nakadai gives such an outstanding performance that I had to get over my wanting more. Balistik94 did a super job making this teaser for Sword of Doom - [bBvideo 620,385] [/bBvideo] AND If you have not seen Kill! (1968) - wow, it was just great! A fabulous retelling of the Sanjuro story. One of my new favorites for sure. [bBvideo 620,385]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX1obRvUM2M&feature=related[/bBvideo] MarsHarmony, for a different retelling of Sword of Doom, I'd recommend you checking out Satan's Sword trilogy starring the great Ichikawa Raizo and Souls in the Moonlight trilogy starring Kataoka Chiezo. If you need help tracking them down, pm me and I'll send them to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted July 27, 2015 Member Share Posted July 27, 2015 While I am maybe not the most qualified to comment here, I can say my favorite of the few I have seen is easily Sword of the Beast.. While I realize it may not be as great as the best that Kurosawa had to offer, it's just one of the films that I really connect with. Even so, it is still a grade A classic, and a really great movie. The only other film I have seen from Hideo Gosha is Hunter in the Dark, which was decent, but I wasnt a huge fan of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venom10463 Posted July 31, 2015 Author Member Share Posted July 31, 2015 Sword of beast is a favorite of mine. I prefer jidai-geki films that are predominantly outdoors in the country, I like to observe the beautiful scenery. Have you seen three outlaw samurai and kill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.