Favorite Samurai Movies

They go here.

The 7 Samurai
Ran
Yojimbo

Permalink Reply by jonn on April 14, 2008 at 9:56am: IFC has been playing them on Saturdays at 8 AM and then replaying around 1:30 PM here (Eastern Time). 47 Ronin was on this weekend.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by pterosaur on April 15, 2008 at 8:43am: I saw that 47 Ronin was on but the NHL Playoffs were on at the same time. Next time, maybe they'll schedule their samurai movies around the playoffs, more specifically, around my viewing needs. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Criss on April 15, 2008 at 6:36pm: Goddamned Canadiens!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mr. Fankles on April 21, 2008 at 7:25am: Well I've got 47 Ronin at home now. Will probably watch it tomorrow. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mr. Fankles on April 22, 2008 at 9:56pm: ...and was a bit disappointed...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Danny on April 22, 2008 at 7:49pm: I haven't been into this genre for too long, but my favorite movie (samurai and in general) is The Sword of Doom. Nobody plays evil like Tatsuya Nakadai, and the movie itself was just amazing in my opinion. I wish they had got around to finishing the last two installments of the supposed-to-be trilogy, the first movie ends pretty abruptly and leaves a lot of questions for people like me who haven't read the books.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Criss on April 22, 2008 at 8:14pm: THere are two older versions of this same trilogy. THe first one I can't recall off the top of my head (Swords in Moonlight, maybe?) because...well, because I bought the second one.

Its called Satan's Sword and its a trilogy that stars Raizo Ichikawa in the same Ryonnosuke role that Nakadai plays in Sword of Doom.

I shelled out a pretty penny for the set, btu since SOD is my favorite samurai film as well, I just had to treat myself. Its got nothing like the amazing cinematography of SOD, though. And Nakadai is wonderfully evil, too...a little over the top compared to Raizo's more subdued performance.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Danny on April 22, 2008 at 10:46pm: After reading your reply I thought you might have been referring to Sword of the Beast, which I haven't seen but came across one day on the Criterion Collection website and always wondered about. I did a little more research and found Souls in the Moonlight tied to a SOD review, so I guess that's what you're talking about. They mention Satan's Sword in the Moonlight review, as well, so now I'm heading off to queue these movies if possible. If not, there's a great video store here in Seattle that pretty much has every freaking movie you can think of, I may have to check there.

Thanks, by the way!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Criss on April 23, 2008 at 6:16am: Souls In Moonligt, right. I knew it was something like that, though I've never seen it. A lot of jidai-geki purists like that one the best for keeping with the original content.

Sword of the Beast is one that kept puttign me to sleep. Directed by the great Hideo Gosha, its got some ups and downs...but I can't properly talk abotu it becuase I missed large chunks every time I tried to watch it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by pterosaur on April 28, 2008 at 12:51pm: I liked Sword of the Beast but, you're right, it does get a little draggy. It's not one of my favorite samurai movies but it's pretty good.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Danny on April 22, 2008 at 9:38pm: Also, what do people think of the Lone Wolf & Cub series? I rented Samurai Assassin 1, and later on read that the three Samurai Assassin movies are just slimmed down versions of the complete series. Am I better off watching the entire series or are the three movies good enough?; ▶ Reply to This