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Miniatures Adventure => Adventures in the Far East => Topic started by: Terrible Tim on October 08, 2006, 03:49:39 AM
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What is everyones favourite Samurai movie? I personally like The seven Samurai and Yojimbo.
TT.
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Thats not my topic. I hope I dont hurt someones feelings when I say that I only know Seven Samurai, Ran and Last Samurai. I liked all but I liked 7 Samurai the most, so thats my favourite Samurai Movie !
Björn
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Ran and Throne of Blood for me.
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like Drisoles, I must admit, I'm not really a samurai expert. I saw 7 Samurai many years ago and I liked it. Then i saw another good samurai film but i can't remember the title. That's all, sorry :oops:
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I like Zatoichi, all of them are very good, there's 42, the newest one is an attempt to keep the series going and is a good place to start if you're interested.
http://www.zatoichi.co.uk/
Ambush at Blood Pass is a particular favourite of mine, this one really shows the similarity between chambara films and westerns and it features Yojimbo.
The babycart series is full of ninjas and blood so I watch it a lot :) The series is based on the Lone Wolf and cub manga. The last film in the series is very entertaining and has Lone Wolf fighting from a tobogan as it rushes down an icy mountain.
Hidden Fortress is the Kurosawa film that Star Wars is based on (and has Matakishi in it)
Sony Chiba did a series of films featuring Jubei Yagyu who fights demons and suchlike, excellent fighting in these.
Red Lion is a Toshiro Mifune film that shows how the Daimyos oppressed the common people. It's very good.
Sword of Doom has just been reissued in a special edition. It features Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai in a tale about a long running feud between two masters.
Samurai Trilogy is a set of films based on the life of Musashi myamoto, the man who wrote the Book of Five Rings. The three films star Toshiro Mifune of course.
There are many more but those are my starting recommendations.
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Thanks for the info. I will keep an eye out for those movies. I agree that baby cart is a classic series and well worth watching.
TT.
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Zatoichi (the last of that name in german movie theatres) was a big disappointment and just another variation of the Yojimbo-theme. For me it's Kurosawa (my favourite director together with John Ford and Fritz Lang). 7 Samurai, Throne of Blood (Schloß im Spinnwebwald for german readers), Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Sanhuro, Ran, Rashomon, Kagemusha.
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lone wolf and cub, azumi, zatoichi and shogun assasin for cheeseness
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the seven samurai for me I love that moive.
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Hidden Fortress is the Kurosawa film that Star Wars is based on (and has Matakishi in it)
In the subtitles on my DVD, they spell it Matashichi. But I guess it could be one of those things like the strange variations in names you see on Arabic road signs, where there is no official way to render it into the Latin alphabet, so you spell it how you like.
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Hidden Fortress is the Kurosawa film that Star Wars is based on (and has Matakishi in it).
While George Lucas has indeed claimed that Star Wars is based on Hidden Fortress (and flattered himself by the comparison), the only real similarity is a scene of two dunderheads arguing as they walk through a rocky, barren landscape... :(
Nice list Matakishi.
I also enjoyed the recent Samurai Fiction (although it is a rather modern hipster Samurai movie starring a Japanese pop star and produced by MTV Japan).
Still, nothing tops Seven Samurai! :love: :love: :love: :love: :love:
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I have to say the Seven Samurai for a Japanese classic and the last Samurai for a good representation from hollywood. An outsider would bte Rising Sun awestern with Charles Bronson who has to escort a samurai on a death mission to retrieve a lost presentation sword.
@Matakishi, haven`t seen the Musashi films but read the books a long time ago, will have to keep an eye out for them. Are they deep and meaningful and full of philosophy like the books?
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7 Samurai
Shogun Assasin
Yojimbo
Kagemusha
Ran
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Matakishi, haven`t seen the Musashi films but read the books a long time ago, will have to keep an eye out for them. Are they deep and meaningful and full of philosophy like the books?
What? no, are you mad? He killed people for a living and was very, very good at it. No matter what philosophical gloss he put on it in his writings his life revolved around slaughtering others.
The films are full of blood, other people's mostly until the end (oops! Spoiler) :lol:
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Matakishi, haven`t seen the Musashi films but read the books a long time ago, will have to keep an eye out for them. Are they deep and meaningful and full of philosophy like the books?
What? no, are you mad? He killed people for a living and was very, very good at it. No matter what philosophical gloss he put on it in his writings his life revolved around slaughtering others.
The films are full of blood, other people's mostly until the end (oops! Spoiler) :lol:
Ooh will definately have to have a butchers at that then.
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If you can't find the Samurai Trilogy under that title, you might try looking for them under their individual names:
Samurai 1: Miyamoto Musashi
Samurai 2: Duel at Ganryu Island
Samurai 3: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
Another good period Kurosawa/Mifune film (often overshadowed by Seven Samurai/Yojimbo/Sanjuro/Hidden Fortress/Throne of Blood/etc.) is Redbeard (about the apprenticeship of a callow young doctor in feudal Japan to a gruff-but-wise older sensei (Mifune)).
Not a Samurai movie by any stretch of the imagination, but everyone probably owes it to themselves to see Kurosawa's other masterpiece Ikiru.
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7 Samurai classic, does Kill Bill count? and Hari kari was a great one I always remembered that final fight scene wow!
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Here are some others that I rate highly, not all Samurai but in the same vein:
Bang Rajan, Bichunmoo, Hanzo (3 films), Musa, Warriors of Heaven and earth
(http://www.invelos.com/mpimages/50/5030305510190.4f.jpg) (http://www.invelos.com/mpimages/47/4717415880207.21f.jpg) (http://www.invelos.com/mpimages/03/037429205624f.jpg) (http://www.invelos.com/mpimages/48/4893524191042.18f.jpg) (http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTMxMjQ2MzI3MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjM2NjYyMQ@@._V1._SY140_SX100_.jpg)
There are three Hanzo movies, based on a manga by Kazuo Koike who created Lone Wolf and Cub. They're not for everybody and contain some strong stuff but the setting, stories and cinematography are top notch.
I've avoided mentioning any Chinese films because there are so many worthy ones, maybe I should start a new topic, especially since Black Hat Miniatures are producing such a great range of mythical Chinese figures.
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There are some fav's:
Ran
Shogun (Not pure Samurai, but japanese live)
7 Sam's
kagemusha
Last Samurai (not but, but more Hollywoodstyle)
Akira Kurusawa in generell
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Akira Kurusawa in generell
Kurusawa is a genius!
Seven Samurai! And it's western spin off The Magnificant Seven!
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I like "Heaven and Earth".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x64xMOywqZY
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I'm echoing Matakishi a bit but here's some of my favs.
Zatoichi. I have 26 of these films and have watched all of them multiple times, the best.
The samurai trilogy is very good too. I actually got my girlfriend to watch the first one in the series and she ended up watching the others too. (she doesn't normal like "my" films.)
What? no, are you mad? He killed people for a living and was very, very good at it. No matter what philosophical gloss he put on it in his writings his life revolved around slaughtering others.
Miyamoto had over 50 duels, most didn't end in the death of his opponent. I don't believe he slaughtered anybody. He dueled and won. No slaughter :) His books is very interesting if you want an insight into the mind of a warrior.
All the lone Wolf films are great but the later ones are such a hoot. I got a boxed set of these films a few years back.. worth every penny. Wild..
Haven't seen the Hanzo films yet but really want to. This thread reminded me about them.... :)
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Shinobi is a great ninja film, really fantastic visuals
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Threadomancy!
Sword of doom is particularly good.
Shinobi is excellent, the old B&W one, (there may be a modern one that I don't know about.
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All Kurosawa movies are pretty much must see, of course. Then there are the Lone Wolf filmatisations, I just love the comic.
But I have to say one of my all time favourites is Seppuku (also known as Harakiri). Very powerful and moving, and the swordplay is very nice.
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the modern shinobi is excellent too
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ON a related note is Ninja Scrolls, definately the best Samurai cartoon, its fantastic art work and great pacing. As I say its animation not live action but I would reccomend it to anyone who likes the Kurosawa films. Its very different but good!
Also, Moon Warriors if you are after a much more Kunk Fu take on the whole subject, a very funny and well made film for its time.
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Thanks for the great thread here, I just ordered some of the titles mentioned with my usual order of japanese movies. I am really looking forward to the samurai trilogy.
I couldn't find heaven and earth, I only get some korean movie and the famous vietnam war movie from oliver stone.
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The Korean movie is the one.
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not old but recent that are extremely good...
When the last sword is drawn
The Twilight Samurai
The Hidden Blade
Gohatto
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My 3 favorites are already mentioned. Ran, 7 Samurai, & Rising Sun. The cross over to western is great. I also really like the Jackie Chan cross over westerns. This is a great thread. I now have a new list of movies to look out for. Chinese & Korean martial movies are some thing to look out for too.
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Has to be Kagemusha for me, with Ran a close second.
For Chinese movies, The Warlords starring Jet Li is an excellent movie, as is Red Cliff 1 & 2. Assembly, about the Chinese civil war is also a visually stunning as well as an intensely moving film.
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The Seven Samurai is not only the best samurai movie, but my all-time favorite movie. I also prefer Sanjuro to Yojimbo. Hard to go wrong with Kurosawa.