Saw 7 Samurai, what next?

[Whtknt1066]

Hey guys, I just watched Akira Kurasawa's "7 Samurai" in anticipation of the new Ronin release, and I'm part way through Yojimbo. These movies are great and I'm very inspired, but here's my (typically gamer) conundrum-I don't want to paint my whole board black and white! In other words, I'm really inspired to start building and painting, but I don't have a good idea of the colors I should use. Are there any good modern(ish) Samurai movies I should watch for reference? And any good references at all for period costuming?

[HerbyF]

"Ran" is a really good movie too.

[Modhail]

IF you can find them, Taiga Drama has a lot of rather good historical drama series.
Kagemusha is nice too (anything Kurosawa actually...)

[Lowtardog]

13 assasins, however a late period film but the action is great.

Shogun TV series is great eye candy

[Mr Tough Guy]

Twilight Samurai
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0351817/
the Hidden Blade
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442286/
Hana
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464038/
13 Assassins (even better if you can find the japanese cut)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1436045/
Harakiri
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1728196/
Scabbard Samurai
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748278/

[Evilcartoonist]

Zatoichi (2003 version)

[Amalric]

Take a look at;
Heaven and Earth, a movie with lots of great battle scenes in glorious color.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099753/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Its a bit slow and narrated by Orson Wells, but the battles are 

I thought Ran was exquisitely beautiful, and in color, but rather slow.

Also look for Samurai reenactor pics online or look for books with color pics like;
http://www.amazon.com/Samurai-Europa-Militaria-Special-14/dp/186126335X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374647465&sr=1-1&keywords=europa+militaria+14
This is a great book that I've had for years waiting for me to start a Samurai project.

Good luck.

[Pijlie]

Samurai Banners is a must.

[starkadder]

Sanjuro as well. A sequel to Yojimbo and a hoot.

The Hidden Fortress. Great film by Kurosawa.

The men who tread on the tiger's tail. Early Kurosawa and essential to understanding his later films. It's a version of Benkei and Yoshitsune.

Kenji Mizoguchi's The Loyal 47 Ronin - a much more considered version from one of Kurosawa' major influences.

Samurai Pirate. Toshiro Mifune does trash. Very enjoyable but hugely awful.

Samurai Saga. Toshiro again but in a version of Cyrano de Bergerac. Good colour and costumery.

I know it's been mentioned already but the Twilight Samurai is a beautiful and heart-breaking film. It's one of my Top 10 of all time. A delicate little portrait of love and duty.



 

[Modhail]

Whoops, missed your question for period (costume) references...
Try these:
http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/ Mr. A.J. Bryant's personal armour, costume and historical Japanese interests site. (the clothing section is very bare bones, but the armour section is droolworthy, if wordy, in detail. He shows several established lacing colours patterns under the header "the odoshi".
And the Genji costume museum: They have nicely indexed images of "typical" period clothing, ordered by era.

[Donpimpom]

for color references Ran and Kagemusha are a must see, they display superb visuals.
First time i saw Ran i was shocked for weeks.
check a sneak peek

[Pentaro]

Hideo Gosha made some enjoyable, beautifully filmed samurai films in color:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064387/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0171812/

[rokurota]

Samurai Rebellion  (1967) Directed by Masaki Kobayashi and with the great Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061847/



And you can find some suggestion in my site.

Regards

[Whtknt1066]

Wow! Thanks guys! These are exactly what I've been looking for! I appreciate the help

[Evilcartoonist]

For color versions of unarmored samurai, here are a couple shots from Zatoichi (2003) followed by a shot from Harakiri (2011 remake of the original version. Both versions are excellent):