Five Cool Samurai Movies
There are many things to enjoy from Samurai movies. The armors, the armies clashing with each other, all the drama and heroism…and blood , lots and lots of it.
From epic historical battles like Sekigahara, to the tales of Miyamoto Musashi and countless real or fictional ronin, the genre dedicated to the Samurai, still have many adepts back in Japan, with new titles every year and countless soap operas and shows dedicated to it. In the West, its influence is enormous, from the Cowboy flicks of the 70’s or the core of the Star wars saga, to Tarantino’s bloody festivals in the 90’s.
With over the top acting, over exaggerated moves, unrealistic wire action and very few authentic kenjutsu techniques put on display, the connection with real martial arts is weak, although the samurai movie genre has given birth to the cinematic art of ‘chambara’ or the art of cutting someone in two while 10 other opponents wait to attack until you are done.
From the legendary Kurosawa classics to some dreadful remakes ( Kimura Takuya as Miyamoto Musashi?!) there is plenty to enjoy and analyze, but for this post, we have narrowed it down to 5 Budo Cool Samurai movies that any martial artist must watch.
1- The Seven Samurai
It is probably the movie that set the (highest) standards for a samurai movie, or in a larger scale, the entire movie industry. From the basic plot, action sequences and to even the dialogue, the Seven Samurais have have influenced filmmakers from Quentin Tarantino to George Lucas.
The story is very basic, with a bunch of gangsters terrorizing a defenseless village, who decide to bring paid mercenaries to do the dirty job and get rid of the bad guys once and for all. The 7 create, share and execute a perfect defense plan like a Japanese electronic firm in the 80’s, allowing and encourage the villagers to take matters in to their own hands to protect their lands.
The acting, the music, but particularly the action scenes are flawless, especially the ones involving horses. The rawness of the fighting reminds us that the original martial arts, those used in real battles, were not pretty, as they were created and used to kill and not to be killed.
When you talk about samurai movies, you need to talk about the 7 Samurai, then you need to talk about Kurosawa, and when you talk Kurosawa, you need to talk Mifune. The legend of Mifune Toshiro started even before he was born, as the actor who best epitomizes the Quintesential Japanese warrior was actually born in China to Christian missionaries.
His role in this movie is a bit off of his traditional stoic persona, playing Kikuchiyo, a wild ronin with not much style and composure, but that gets the job done. According to Mifune, Kurosawa Akira gave him creative license to improvise actions in his performance.
Although he never had formal training in martial arts, Mifune was an expert performer, a master of motion and expression, allowing him to convince even real masters. The cinematic version of japanese swordsmanship has much to credit to Mifune, as he changed and set the bases to a more dramatic and realistic form of combat. It is told that he modified the size and grab of his sword, so that he could be faster and more impactful while performing to the camera.
Budo Cool moment:
While been attacked with a gun by the gangsters, one of the ronin decides to leave the trenches and walk directly into the source of the attack to the amazed eyes of the villagers, just to come back minutes later with the rifle in his hands, like if its nothing.
2- Zatoichi
The ultimate hero.
Honest, dignified, unpretentious.
A skilled masseur with perfect and deadly technique, and a sharp sword ready to use.
Oh, and he is blind.
One of the most popular martial arts movie and TV sagas, the story of this homeless, traveling hero has caught the heart of generations in Japan and beyond. The story has produced a total of 26 films from 1962 to 1989 and the TV series went from 1974 to 1979. The original series had a good pack of action, drama and comedy, but it was in 2003 when things reached a different level, when gangster comedian Kitano Takeshi decided to direct and portray the blind master himself.
‘Beat’ Takeshi, as he is known in Japan, seems to share multiple similarities to Zatoichi, a multifaceted artist, with a partial paralysis of the right-side of his face caused by a motorcycle accident, started as a Manzai performer, the traditional Japanese type of slapstick comedy, then turned into TV personality, painter and then transformed himself into an award winning movie director with ultra violet films like ‘Brother” or visual candies like Hanabi.
‘Beat’ Takeshi take on Zatoichi, keeps intact the basic recipe of the franchise, with a simple plot similar to The 7 samurais: the rural hero coming to the defense of peasants trying to fight local gangsters. Zatoichi slices his way around the movie, with amazing sword performances, culminating with an amazing duel against Ronin Hattori Gennosuke.
What separates this version from the previous Zatoichi movies, is the unique touch that Kitano incorporates, with amazing side characters with their own interesting stories, that easily could spin off into new series, and the addition of lots of Japanese physical comedy, of which just Kitano could have the audacity to add into a samurai classic. And tap dancing, by samurai.
Budo cool moment: Japanese humor at it’s best
3- Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance
The 70’s brought a different vibe into samurai drama and movies as Japan was starting to enjoy the fruits of an economic bubble and Yakuza and Superhero movies started to pull audiences away from the traditional action themes. And there was Bruce Lee and all the Hong Kong style of action movies.
Jidaigeki or as the medieval period movie genre is known in Japan needed their own hero, an icon that could attract young and old, with action and drama, and the answer came in the shape of Ogami Ittō, which along his three-year-old son, Daigorō, had the mission of revenge…and conquer the hearts of generations.
Originally a best seller comic comic by Kazuo Koike, the story follows the misadventures of a disgraced ronin who wonders the countryside with a sword in one hand, and a baby stroller in the other, working as a paid assassin and planning his revenge from those who framed him.
First published in 1970, the story became a film two years later with Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance starring Wakayama Tomisaburo , who also happened to portray Zatoichi in a couple of the original versions and went to star in more than 500 movies from which many are action packed films due his solid martial arts background.
isaburo was born into a Kabuki family, and spend most of his young life traveling around Japan performing along his father, but by the age of 13 he decided to give up acting and began to study judo, eventually achieving the rank of 4th dan black belt . He’s credited to have studied many martial arts including kenpō, iaidō, kendo, and bōjutsu which combined with his kabuki background gave him a performing edge on the screen.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance with its basic plot, uncalled nudity, and cheap visual effects is far from been a piece or art, but more a guilty pleasure like most martial art movies particularly from the 70s.
Budo cool moment:
Next time you think baby sitting is not cool, refer to any scene of Ogami, as he cuts enemies while carrying his baby on the back.
4-After the Rain (雨あがる Ame agaru)
Not all Samurai movies need to be a blood fest, with angry man trying to cut each other in half, and Ame Agari or After the Rain is a beautiful example of this. Based on Kurosawa Akira’ last scripts and directed by his long time assistant Koizumi Takashi, this movie is based once again on the tales of a Masterless warrior but with a very different personality than Ronin stories and with a very different motivation to fight.
Misawa Ihei is a mature ronin that suddenly finds himself and
trapped inside a small traditional hotel with his wife when the local river floods. To pass the time and ease the growing tension along other stranded travelers, he decides to invite everyone to enjoy a feast, just to realize that he doesn’t have enough money to pay for it (been there, done that). So the best solution a cashless swordsman can think of is to challenge the local lord’s warriors for money. Ihei's fighting skills impress Lord Shigeaki (played by Mifune Toshiro’s son Mifune Shiro), who offers him a position as fencing master in his court after successfully beating all his opponents. Ihei gratefully accepts, to later being challenged to a duel against the Lord himself.
It would be difficult to consider After the Rain an action movie, as it’s more of a human melodrama, with a slow pace and visual beauty than the usual samurai bloodbath, but what makes the movie worth it for martial arts fans is the combat performance by musician turned actor Terao Akira. A household name in Japanese entertainment world but with no formal martial arts training, his spotless action scenes shouldn’t come as a surprise as probably the fact that he worked in 2 Kurosawa movies in the past contributed on his sword performance.
The most attractive element of the movie is Misawa Ihei’s anti-hero persona. Rather than a typical pugnacious ronin looking for trouble, Misawa is the embodiment of Budo, keeping his composure while trouble, confident yet not pretentious. Fighting the last resort.
Budo cool moment:
After being beaten by Misawa in one to one test duels, a group of resentful guards try to lay an ambush and get their honor back, but the only thing the get a masterclass of unarmed hand combat, with a tragic example of how to apply deflecting techniques.
5- When the Last Sword Is Drawn
Japanese psyche is full of heroic stories of rebel individuals (ronin) or heroic small groups that will go to incredible extents to fight for their cause and probably the most celebrated example of this is the Shinsengumi.
This legendary combat forced was originally created at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate to protect the military government representatives in Kyoto. Like many historical figures around the world , the Shinsengumi’s role has been over romanticized in Japan, seen as the last loyal samurais fighting for the establishment when Japan was in the verge of opening to the West, they have become role models of loyalty, extreme sacrifice and group mentality, qualities highly appreciated in Japanese society.
The movie is the recollection by two men of the last days of Kanichiro Yoshimura, a small town samurai forced by poverty to leave his family and move to Kyoto where he ends up joining the Shinengumi. Unfortunately he joins when the group and general Status quo they represent is in process of disappearing.
When the last sword is Drawn, is inspired on a novel by Jiro Asada and is loosely based on the the actual historical events, but gives an idea of the traumatic transformation that Japan was heading towards, the end of a way of living, a code of conduct and values of the samurai was put in doubt due world sociopolitical changes and technology.
It is hard to say that the movie is a great example of samurai action, although there are a couple of nice scenes, it is obvious that Sakai Kiichi and Sato Koichi, popular actors in Japan, followed a standard chambara training, the real attraction of the movie is the exposure to the Samurai code of life, the sacrifice on every single action, their do AND die attitude that has mold the modern Japanese society
Budo cool moment:
Guns. The samurai didn’t disappear because of the political changes, they disappeared because of guns. The final battle against the Emperor’s troops, shows the anachronism that Samurai fighting arts were becoming, and the clash against the ugly reality. No that cool actually.