Samurai Movies, a list by Riz

7.8

/470900/

77

/10964/

76

/6551/

3.7

/167300/

66

/221/

Audience

83

/392699/

55

/44/

3.5

age 17+

Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.

67

6.7

/491936/

69

/20408/

64

/9270/

3.0

/310668/

71

/262/

Audience

69

/8565/

61

/46/

3.0

Wolverine faces his ultimate nemesis - and tests of his physical, emotional, and mortal limits - in a life-changing voyage to modern-day Japan.

92

8.6

/366692/

84

/4109/

84

/3322/

4.6

/207361/

100

/96/

Audience

97

/91378/

98

/7/

4.0

age 13+

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

91

8.6

/68598/

85

/1092/

84

/883/

4.7

/92374/

100

Audience

97

/6065/

85

/9/

4.0

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

86

8.1

/25490/

80

/436/

77

/292/

4.1

/8325/

99

/70/

Audience

94

/10763/

82

/25/

4.0

Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?

89

8.2

/180365/

79

/2273/

81

/2037/

4.2

/163128/

98

/62/

Audience

93

/48354/

98

/18/

4.0

age 15+

Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

89

8.2

/131308/

81

/1743/

81

/1335/

4.3

/104855/

96

/46/

Audience

96

/42527/

93

/16/

4.0

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

77

64

7.4

/2868/

73

/46/

65

/52/

3.8

/3592/

95

/21/

Audience

83

/470/

In Edo Japan, a kabuki actor seeks revenge against the three men who drove his parents to their deaths years ago.

89

8.3

/14081/

83

/202/

81

/203/

4.2

/13694/

100

/9/

Audience

93

/3653/

90

/9/

4.0

The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped away from her husband by the lord. The husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to get her back.

71

50

7.2

/1705/

66

/46/

67

/39/

3.6

/1798/

Audience

78

/737/

Blind masseur Zatoichi is nursed back to health by a young woman after he is shot by a gang member. Zatoichi, who had come to the village to repay a debt, now feels further indebted. He commits himself to use his amazing sword skills to help the young woman's father, whose river-crossing service is under attack by the same gang responsible for Zatoichi's wounds.

69

46

7.2

/1532/

67

/50/

66

/35/

3.4

/1584/

Audience

73

/1569/

Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman looking for her father, a village leader who has disappeared. As he helps her investigate the disappearance, Zatoichi also becomes involved with another young woman who is trying to help her brother, who has murdered someone at about the same time and place as the missing man was last seen.

73

53

7.3

/1831/

71

/47/

67

/40/

3.7

/2194/

Audience

83

/893/

Ichi travels to the village of Itakura to pay his respects at the grave of Kichizo, a man he killed two years ago. When some tax money is stolen while in transit to the governor he is accused and sets out to find the money and clear his name.

67

50

6.7

/1888/

67

/68/

64

/54/

3.5

/3402/

Audience

69

/496/

A giant stone statue comes to life to protect the residents of a small town against the depradations of an evil warlord.

76

61

7.4

/3174/

69

/44/

70

/69/

3.8

/2828/

Audience

91

/1254/

A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin.

73

55

7.2

/2015/

70

/64/

68

/41/

3.6

/2487/

Audience

83

/933/

After arriving in the town of Shimonita, Ichi finds that a price has been put on his head by a local yakuza boss. He's drawn into a trap, but after hearing of the slaying of a former love, Ichi furiously fights his way through the entire clan to face the killer, a hired ronin.

73

58

7.2

/2675/

69

/52/

70

/59/

3.8

/3221/

Audience

81

/775/

In 1701, Lord Takuminokami Asano has a feud with Lord Kira and he tries to kill Kira in the corridors of the Shogun's palace. The Shogun sentences Lord Asano to commit suppuku and deprives the palace and lands from his clan, but does not punish Lord Kira. Lord Asano's vassals leave the land and his samurais become ronin and want to seek revenge against the dishonor of their Lord. But their leader Kuranosuke Oishi asks the Shogun to restore the Asano clan with his brother Daigaku Asano. One year later, the Shogun refuses his request and Oishi and forty-six ronin revenge their Lord.

76

66

7.1

/4273/

72

/77/

72

/75/

3.6

/5705/

93

/14/

Audience

76

/626/

Japan, 1159. Moritō, a brave samurai, performs a heroic act by rescuing the lovely Kesa during a violent uprising. Moritō falls in love with her, but becomes distraught when he finds out that she is married.

74

57

7.3

/2376/

73

/72/

68

/58/

3.6

/3174/

Audience

84

/1175/

Wishing to find peace, Zatoichi travels to his old village but only finds trouble when he ends up in a love triangle and finds old scores have followed him home.

78

68

7.6

/3991/

72

/83/

74

/79/

3.9

/5678/

80

/5/

Audience

88

/312/

Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard, Sakura and Kikyo. The three outlaws find themselves in a battle to the death.

79

67

7.2

/2778/

76

/107/

69

/72/

3.6

/3885/

100

/5/

Audience

87

/1051/

Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love.

74

62

7.5

/6699/

75

/132/

72

/102/

3.7

/6674/

A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun, Japan's most powerful clan leader. He's also challenged to fight by the supremely confident and skillful Sasaki Kojiro. Takezo agrees to fight Kojiro in a year's time but rejects Shogun's patronage, choosing instead to live on the edge of a village, raising vegetables. He's followed there by Otsu and later by Akemi, both in love with him. The year ends as Takezo assists the villagers against a band of brigands. He seeks Otsu's forgiveness and accepts her love, then sets off across the water to Ganryu Island for his final contest.

75

66

7.3

/6961/

74

/134/

71

/101/

3.7

/7254/

Audience

85

/3486/

After years on the road establishing his reputation as Japan's greatest fencer, Takezo returns to Kyoto. Otsu waits for him, yet he has come not for her but to challenge the leader of the region's finest school of fencing. To prove his valor and skill, he walks deliberately into ambushes set up by the school's followers. While Otsu waits, Akemi also seeks him, expressing her desires directly. Meanwhile, Takezo is observed by Sasaki Kojiro, a brilliant young fighter, confident he can dethrone Takezo. After leaving Kyoto in triumph, Takezo declares his love for Otsu, but in a way that dishonors her and shames him. Once again, he leaves alone.

81

75

7.7

/8573/

76

/185/

74

/180/

4.0

/20070/

96

/25/

Audience

85

/887/

In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost. He encounters the two beautiful women in an eerie, beautiful scene. After spiritual purification, he meets the demon in a thrilling fight.

73

42

7.1

/1667/

73

/18/

70

/34/

3.5

/643/

Audience

84

/1364/

Following the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the shogunate despite the stammer and birthmark which undermine his respect. Iemitsu and his brother Tadanaga become bitter rivals for the shogunate, and the land is split into factions, eventually erupting into warfare. Iemitsu's mentor, his fencing instructor Yagyu, is fixated upon securing Iemitsu the shogunate and ends up betraying everyone, even his own family, in pursuit of the goal.

72

6.7

/19435/

70

/1315/

66

/509/

3.5

/18883/

87

/97/

Audience

70

/2385/

72

/26/

3.0

Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. The mission will change Manji in ways he could never imagine.

78

70

7.4

/10789/

75

/678/

76

/408/

3.6

/7126/

Audience

95

/19/

Before he was a protector, Kenshin was a fearsome assassin known as Battosai. But when he meets gentle Tomoe Yukishiro, a beautiful young woman who carries a huge burden in her heart, his life will change forever.

70

51

7.0

/1816/

70

/42/

67

/43/

3.7

/3078/

Audience

72

/223/

This horror tale relates the consequences of a Japanese legend which tells of a man who has to betray his wife in order to achieve power.

82

81

7.9

/21850/

77

/402/

76

/371/

4.1

/44535/

90

/20/

Audience

90

/5700/

While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi. The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai.

78

7.5

/51523/

75

/1082/

72

/814/

3.6

/17990/

87

/126/

Audience

88

/39495/

75

/33/

3.5

age 17+

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.

75

69

7.4

/9509/

74

/198/

71

/149/

3.6

/10769/

Audience

88

/3983/

Struggling to elevate himself from his low caste in 17th century Japan, Miyamoto trains to become a mighty samurai warrior.

68

62

6.8

/12942/

70

/271/

65

/148/

3.2

/1553/

Audience

76

/8694/

Even though Gennosuke and Oboro are from rival ninja villages, they are secretly in love. At an annual conference with the Lord, it is dictated that a competition--a fight to the death--will take place between the five best shinobi from each village. Gennosuke and Oboro's love is made even more impossible when they each got picked as the leader of the five to represent their respective villages.

88

8.2

/25804/

78

/385/

79

/514/

4.2

/36926/

100

/32/

Audience

93

/6920/

4.0

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

80

73

7.2

/10657/

74

/748/

76

/440/

3.5

/7153/

100

/5/

Audience

88

/18/

In 1879, Kenshin and his allies face their strongest enemy yet: his former brother-in-law Enishi Yukishiro and his minions, who've vowed their revenge.

58

52

6.1

/2737/

65

/242/

67

/111/

3.2

/2357/

20

/5/

Audience

72

/138/

In an era where aliens have invaded and taken over feudal Tokyo, a young samurai finds work however he can.

72

52

7.5

/1883/

68

/47/

68

/41/

3.7

/1780/

Audience

78

/1108/

Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman returning home with her baby. When gangsters mistake her for Zatoichi and kill her, Zatoichi determines to escort the baby to its father. He gains the reluctant help of a young pick pocket and together they travel to find the baby's father. But they do not reckon on the father's reaction to their arrival, nor on their own growing feelings for the child.

72

49

6.5

/1306/

64

/58/

73

/51/

3.6

/4333/

100

/11/

Audience

62

/8/

In Edo period Japan, a lone ronin spends time in a village helping the farmers tend to their land. To keep his sword skills sharp, he spars daily with a farmer's son. Meanwhile, the nation is in the midst of major unrest with civil war on the horizon. One day, a group of outlaw ronin enters the village.

75

45

7.4

/956/

71

/19/

74

/30/

3.7

/1409/

Audience

86

/120/

Tragicomic road movie set during the Edo period. It follows a samurai, his two servants – including spear-carrier Genpachi – and the various people they meet on their journey, including a policeman in pursuit of a thief, a young child and a woman who is to be sold into prostitution.

76

43

7.2

/1326/

69

/26/

71

/28/

3.8

/2156/

Audience

92

/20/

Saheji, a man-about-town, gets stuck at a high-class brothel when he can’t pay the bill. He makes the best of his situation by performing various tasks amidst the tumult of the end of the shogunate—but always by making sure to get a “commission” for his troubles.

68

44

6.9

/1365/

68

/38/

69

/36/

3.3

/1491/

Audience

72

/811/

Blind swordsman Zatoichi, jailed briefly, is implored by another prisoner to aid him in proving his innocence of a crime for which he is sentenced to death. Zatoichi is reluctant to get involved, because he knows how often such involvement has led to trouble in the past. But events conspire to thrust him repeatedly into involvement, and gradually he comes to believe in the man's innocence and determines to free him.

75

54

7.4

/2507/

71

/32/

72

/46/

3.8

/1358/

Audience

83

/1359/

Japan, 1860. The men of the Mito clan, victims of the Ansei purge, anxiously prowl around the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle with the intention of assassinating Naosuke Ii of Hikone, tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate and responsible for their misfortune.

70

46

7.3

/1593/

66

/45/

65

/31/

3.6

/1528/

Audience

74

/881/

Zatoichi makes friends with a dangerous chess player, while fending off angry yakuza and bloodthirsty relatives out for revenge, and trying to save a sick child. Meanwhile, his luck with dice is turning.

70

45

7.3

/1521/

68

/40/

66

/34/

3.6

/1479/

Audience

73

/882/

Itinerant masseur and master swordsman, the blind Zatoichi, is near the village of his teacher, Hikonoichi, so he decides to visit. He learns of Hikonoichi's recent robbery and murder and the imprisonment of his virginal daughter, Osayo, in a brothel. Through friendship with Denroku, a local dice thrower and devoted father, Ichi uncovers an unholy alliance between the governor and the area strongman: among their scams is falsifying tax records to put farmers in debt, then forcing their daughters into prostitution at the boss's brothel. With help from Denroku's daughter, Otsuru, Ichi comforts Osayo until he can provoke showdowns with the villains and their henchmen.

73

46

7.4

/1398/

70

/37/

71

/33/

3.6

/1276/

Audience

79

/662/

Zatoichi comes upon the town of Tonda, overrun by gangsters. Using one of his favorite techniques, Zatoichi proceeds to win 8 ryo in a rigged gambling game. Of course, the local gangsters attempt to kill him, and the adventure begins. It turns out a blacksmith named Senzo examines Zatoichi's cane sword, and discovers it to be forged by his old mentor. Senzo discovers the sword is at the end of its usefulness and will break when it is used next.

70

44

7.2

/1207/

68

/39/

70

/37/

3.6

/1318/

Audience

70

/642/

Zatoichi's trek through 88 temples to atone for his violent past is interrupted as he stumbles into a village terrorized by a violent yakuza boss.

79

76

7.7

/8874/

78

/280/

74

/206/

3.8

/15034/

83

/12/

Audience

90

/222/

In this first film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, adapted from the manga by Kazuo Koike, we are told the story of the Lone Wolf and Cub's origin. Ogami Itto, the official Shogunate executioner, has been framed for disloyalty to the Shogunate by the Yagyu clan, against whom he now is waging a one-man war, along with his infant son, Daigoro.

70

58

7.3

/4298/

74

/130/

71

/108/

3.7

/5582/

Audience

58

/31/

In the sixth and final film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, the final conflict between Ogami Itto and the Yagyu clan is carried out.

76

68

7.5

/4958/

74

/141/

72

/123/

3.7

/6702/

Audience

88

/3090/

In the fourth film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto is hired to kill a tattooed female assassin and battles Retsudo, head of the Yagyu clan, and his son Gunbei.

76

62

7.4

/5359/

75

/109/

75

/92/

3.6

/1195/