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I had the recent fortune of being able to grab a torrent for a movie I used to own on VHS -- Sword of Doom. Not the best of the genre, but an excellent film nonetheless. After watching that again, I got an itch for more. I've of course seen all of the classic Kurosawa period pieces and just finished watching the remake of Zatoichi (a good film except for the sudden transformation into a tap-dancing musical for the last 10 minutes).
Any of you out there have some further suggestions?
Zak
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sure,
twilight samurai, hidden blade, and love and honor - a trilogy
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the Samurai Trilogy, with Toshiro Mifune, is great. Other great Mifune samurai movies are: Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress, Ran, Throne of Blood, and Samurai Rebellion.
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These 3 offer a brilliant change of pace from the genius of Kurosawa:
Harakiri--Masaki Kobayashi
When the Last Sword Is Drawn--Yojiro Takita
The 47 Ronin: Parts 1 & 2--Kenji Mizoguchi
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Yes! Those are also great. On another note, Ghost Dog, an American food, is an awesome movie which brings the samurai flavor into a modern American context. Also, Samurai Rebellion (Mifune/Kobayashi) is good.
Last edited by Kaz (2009-01-06 15:24:29)
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Just encountered a high quality samurai film by Oscar winner Takita Yojiro, entitled 'When the Last Sword Is Drawn' (2003). Not a glimmer of shakuhachi or komuso so far, but very interesting story (a sort of take-off on the apparent bumpkin country samurai who can actually cut anyone to ribbons, and switches from past Edo period to early 20th century Tokyo, with many flashbacks woven into the Edo period part, so it can be tricky to follow--was for me, anyway), first-rate art direction, very good acting/excellent casting.
I'm watching it online on Hulu. Available to US users only, I believe. Make sure you toggle the English closed-captions for subtitles.
http://www.hulu.com/when-the-last-sword-is-drawn
Last edited by edosan (2009-09-11 00:44:32)
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Thanks for the tip, edosan. Since I'm on the other side of the planet, Hulu wouldn't work for me. Luckily, I found the film on www.mininova.org, so I should be able to watch it tomorrow on my day off
Zak
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Edosan love the movie so far(half way thru). Anymore flicks along that type that you could suggest?
Thanks
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I waited a long time to get my hands on Ran. Although it was stunning, it was painfully long, especially the later "mad king" scenes.
My top 3 are Zatoichi, Sanjuro, and When the Last Sword is Drawn.
I have a particular affinity for samurai flicks, as a student of Yoshinkan Aikido.
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Throne of Blood is good too. It is a Japanese MacBeth.
7 Samurai is good. Yojimbo is roughly the Japanese version of Fistfull of Dollars, although I don't know which was made first. 7 Samurai spawned Magnificent Seven in the US. Apparently there are lots of parallels between some samurai flicks and westerns.
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I just watched the first in what I gather is a series, maybe of four?
Sleepy Eyes of Death: The Chinese Jade.
I would not say it's a must see, by any means. But I'll probably check
out at least one more in the series, and maybe continue on.
If anyone has seen the series and wants to pipe in, please do.
I found Harakiri to be an interesting film. Saw it in a film theater, which
added to the experience. Big screen and big sound, black and white I
think. Crowd was into it, everyone totally engrossed.
- Mike
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I recently watched, Kiru and , Ronin Gai. I thought they were both pretty good.
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Don't know if it's been mentioned elsewhere, but I'd recommend 'Hanzo the Razor', a very eccentric three-parter. Should be available via BitTorrent. Samurai, not Ninja, although there are a few of those creeping around in the background from time to time.
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edosan wrote:
Don't know if it's been mentioned elsewhere, but I'd recommend 'Hanzo the Razor' . . .
OK, who wants to explain to ed just how he could have determined how many people have already mentioned this?
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rpowers wrote:
edosan wrote:
Don't know if it's been mentioned elsewhere, but I'd recommend 'Hanzo the Razor' . . .
OK, who wants to explain to ed just how he could have determined how many people have already mentioned this?
Too Effing Lazy
...and for the record, it was mentioned only one other time.
Last edited by edosan (2009-10-08 01:26:03)
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