# samurai



## Hanzo04 (Jul 6, 2004)

what are some really good samurai movies besides "the last samurai"?


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## auxprix (Jul 6, 2004)

Anything by Kurosawa that has Samurai is bound to be good. They are classics. Don't expect amazing martial arts sequences. Their strength is in the story. Just about every famous kurosawa flick has been the inspiration for some big american films.  Here are a few examples:

The Seven Samurai = Macnificent 7, a bug's life
Sanjuro = Fist full of dollars, last man standing
The Hidden Fortress = Star wars trillogy.

I haven't seen it, but I hear good things about Shogun as well.


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## MA-Caver (Jul 6, 2004)

auxprix said:
			
		

> Anything by Kurosawa that has Samurai is bound to be good. They are classics. Don't expect amazing martial arts sequences. Their strength is in the story. Just about every famous kurosawa flick has been the inspiration for some big american films.  Here are a few examples:
> 
> The Seven Samurai = Macnificent 7, a bug's life
> Rashomon (sp?) = Fist full of dollars, last man standing
> ...



Shogun was good but the book was better. Shogun also was written/filmed from an "outsider's point of view". 
Definitely anything Kurosawa made regarding the 16-18th century Japan is worth seeing. 
Ran, Red Beard, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and there was a trilogy based on the life of 
a ronin samurai... shoot what's his name... grr grr supposedly the greatest swordsman of all time, those and the aforementioned films (above).  
Go down to your public library if they have a media dept. and rent your heart out... you'll love 'em. They are as authentic as you can get.


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## captnigh (Jul 6, 2004)

Samurai parts 1-3 are supposed to be based on a dramatization of Musashi's life written by a guy named Tokitsu, I think.....
Kurosawa is the best - 
Seven Samurai and Throne of Blood (based on Macbeth) are my favorites....
Zatoichi flicks are good, and the guy from Zatoichi is also in a series called Lion and Cub that is supposed to be awesome - - -  really graphic....
I just got Lion and Cub, so you'll have to get back with me to find out if they are any good...........


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## MA-Caver (Jul 6, 2004)

captnigh said:
			
		

> Samurai parts 1-3 are supposed to be based on a dramatization of Musashi's life written by a guy named Tokitsu, I think.....
> Kurosawa is the best -
> Seven Samurai and Throne of Blood (based on Macbeth) are my favorites....
> Zatoichi flicks are good, and the guy from Zatoichi is also in a series called Lion and Cub that is supposed to be awesome - - -  really graphic....
> I just got Lion and Cub, so you'll have to get back with me to find out if they are any good...........


*Thank you!* _Miyamoto Musashi _ *that's* the name I was thinking of. geez  
Ya let us know about Lion and Cub... is that based on the Lone-wolf and Cub just by a different name?


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## captnigh (Jul 7, 2004)

MACaver said:
			
		

> *Thank you!* _Miyamoto Musashi _*that's* the name I was thinking of. geez
> Ya let us know about Lion and Cub... is that based on the Lone-wolf and Cub just by a different name?


I just looked at the DVDs and it is Lone Wolf and Cub....
NOT Lion and Cub....
I'm a dork...
But I am eager to watch them.  One of my instructors loaned them to me and said they are very graphic...
Have you seen them?  Are they good?....


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## Enson (Jul 7, 2004)

i personally like movies with toshiro mefune (spelling). good samurai actor. but for modern movies you have to go with "the hunted" (not the one with benicio del toro but with the highlander guy) and "the challenge." both great movies. there was one also called "ghost warrior". it was about this samurai who got frozen in the past and they found him and brought him back to present times.


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## Genin Andrew (Jul 30, 2004)

I will be another to vouch for "Seven Samurai",now that i have bought it and seen it i can say that it is a top quality movie! Especcially since it was made in the 50's.It is a fairly long movie but its a great story so i recommend that.

Has anyone got any more info on "Shogun" or the "samurai" series? What are your thoughts?


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## MA-Caver (Jul 30, 2004)

Genin Andrew said:
			
		

> I will be another to vouch for "Seven Samurai",now that i have bought it and seen it i can say that it is a top quality movie! Especcially since it was made in the 50's.It is a fairly long movie but its a great story so i recommend that.
> 
> Has anyone got any more info on "Shogun" or the "samurai" series? What are your thoughts?



Toshirô Mifune starred in both Shogun and the Samurai series to great effect as Mifune is one of the greatest actors of all time IMO :asian: 
Shogun was a Richard (Thornbirds) Chamberlain vehicle based on James Clavell's novel of the same name. John Reys Davies (Gimli: LOTR, and Sallah: Indiana Jones movies) is also in this mini-series for Tee-vee. Very good but not as bloody by today's standards. Mini-series means like a 10 hour show that was cut down to two hours for a movie version. 

The Samurai series was good imo, some great fight/swords scenes in it and though slow in some places has some good elements. Three parts with the last being a climatic battle between the best of the best of the best. 
It's also in color which was fairly new back in 1954.


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## Genin Andrew (Jul 30, 2004)

Thats some good input,cheers for that :asian:


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## Shogun (Jul 30, 2004)

> I haven't seen it, but I hear good things about Shogun as well.


Yeah, I'm pretty cool. lol.

seriously though, Shogun is a good movie. it is like "last Samurai" and kinda like Dances with Wolves, but.....different.


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## Cryozombie (Jul 30, 2004)

Chushingura, Samurai I II III, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Heaven and Earth (the Japanese movie, not the american one), Ran, and for good Ninja flicks check out Shinobi-no-mono, and Zoku Shinobi-no-mono.


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## Chrono (Jul 30, 2004)

captnigh said:
			
		

> Samurai parts 1-3 are supposed to be based on a dramatization of Musashi's life written by a guy named Tokitsu, I think.....


 Eiji Yoshikawa wrote the book.


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