Ask John: What Are Some Good Samurai Films?

Question:
Are you a fan of live action samurai films from Japan? If so, what could you recommend to me and anyone else interested. I have seen the Lone Wolf and Cub live action series and loved it, so I was wondering if there are any other good ones you could recommend?

Answer:
I must admit that I haven’t seen nearly as many classic samurai films as I should have by this time, nor as many as I’d like to have seen. Therefore my recommendations will be highly subjective and may be ignorant of significant entries. The Toho Kozure Okami series (1972-1973) staring Tomisaburo Wakayama are largely an exception as they are much more straightforward action films than the typical “chambara” (swordplay) or “jidaigeki” (samurai drama) staples. If you’ve enjoyed the outrageous blood-letting of the Lone Wolf movies you’ll find more of the same, although in lesser quantity, mixed with a generous amount of sex in Katsu Shintaro’s three Hanzo the Razor movies (1978-79). Exciting action is also the norm in the long running and immensely popular Katsu Shintaro series of Zatoichi, the Blind Samurai films. The Zatoichi films have the slower, more methodical pace of traditional Japanese cinema but the frequent stunning action typical of Wakayama’s Lone Wolf films. These films are notable for Zatoichi’s shira-saiya sword cane and his virtually superhuman fast draw. In terms of more traditional offerings, of course, the grand-daddy of all samurai films and a must see for all cinemaphiles is Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954). The film is a masterpiece of period authenticity, military strategy, exceptional acting, strong direction and moving, rousing action/adventure. Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress (1958) is also an exciting masterpiece, again starring the late Toshiro Mifune in a film that George Lucas acknowledges was a major influence on the creation of Star Wars. Toshiro Mifune also starred in the Academy Award winning Samurai Trilogy (1954-56) directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, based on the life of Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings and one of Japan’s greatest historical samurai. Kihachi Okamoto’s 1966 Sword of Doom, again staring Toshiro Mifune as a wise older samurai that must impart wisdom to an blood thirsty younger warrior, is often cited as featuring some of the most superior cinematic swordplay of all of the classic Japanese samurai films.

Several other highly regarded classics that I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never seen include Hiroshi Inagaki’s Chusingura (1962) and Machibuse (1970), more commonly known as “Incident at Blood Pass”; Kihachi Okamoto’s Samurai Assassin (1964); and Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961) and its sequel Sanjuro (1962).

While not samurai films, two other recent films come to mind that maintain the action-oriented swordplay spirit of the Lone Wolf series. Ryuhei Kitamura’s action/horror film Versus (2000) is about as far from a classic samurai film as possible, but still features the chivalric code of samurai honor and flashbacks to feudal samurai era Japan, along with excessive John Woo style gunplay, heavily Highlander influenced homage and swordplay, bone breaking martial arts, Evil Dead style zombies with ultra-graphic excessive gore, and enough cinematic style for several American action movies. While Versus is unfortunately rather difficult to find a copy of, there’s little doubt that it will easily top a favorite films list of anyone that enjoyed the Tomisaburo Wakiyama “baby cart films.” It’s scheduled for theatrical wide release in France on February 20th and Japanese home video release in March. And while I haven’t seen it yet, advance word and publicity images from the brand new 2001 release of Shurayuki-hime look promising by way of contemporary chambara action. This brand new update of Kazuo Koike’s (Lone Wolf creator) 1973 female samurai film of the same name, known in America as Lady Snowblood, features action direction by Donnie Yen and is said to be extremely violent and bloody.