Live Action Chambara (Jidaigeki) DVD Thread

[Neo0tak0n]

With the lack of good anime, I have recently been getting into the old samurai films, but I still havn't seen enough nor have I seen the popular "classics" of this genre like Yojimbo or Ran. So the purpose of this thread is to bring awareness about this great genre. I'm not interested in any dubbed material. Subbed only.

What I have seen thus far:
Goyokin directed by Hideo Gosha and starring Tatsuya Nakadai
By far my favorite, the leading ronin Magobei is the most badass of samurai and watching this film you can clearly see it having influenced samurai anime like Ninja Scroll. Awesome action, music, and acting.

Shogun's Samurai: The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy directed by Kinji Fukasaku staring Sonny Chiba, Hiroyuki Sanada, Testuro Tanba, Toshiro Mifune, and Kinnosuke Yorozuya.
Big drama and intrigue here, though kinda complicated as I am not an expert in japanese history or the culture at the time and I am pretty sure I missed a few things because of that, but overall another great movie.

Zatoichi 26 directed/starring Shintaro Katsu
My first zatoichi movie (and Shintaro's last) so maybe my first impression should have been on a different movie in the series but I still liked it, though the action was ridiculous with zatoichi killing some 100 yakuza, heh.

Zatoichi directed/starring Takeshi Kitano
The newest zatoichi movie, didnt really understand all the dancing segments but still pretty good. But then I don't really have a lot to compare it too.

So, any more recommendations? Yojimbo and Kagemusha are currently top of my list for next to watch. How about the Miyamoto Musashi?

[Daishikaze]

I can recommend tons of films for you, especially if you don't mind fansubs.

First I'll address the films you listed.

Goyokin is one of Hideo Gosha's top films, Hitokiri also tops that list. Gosha is one of my absolute favorite directors, I hope more of his films become available in R1. I've been told that Toshiro Mifune was supposed to play Magobei originally, but there are two differing stories as to why he walked out. The first is that he couldn't stand the cold, and the second more likely story is that he had a falling out with Gosha like he did with Kurosawa. Nakadai was more than a good replacement, he is every bit as talented as Mifune, in fact I think he was better suited to this role in the first place personally.

Yagyu Conspiracy IMO, is Fukusaku's best work, end of story. People and rant at me about how BR is his best, I say Stuff it. Yagyu Conspiracy all the way.

Zatoichi 26 is definately Katsu's last hurrah in that famous role. 26 was really more of a Homage to the series as there were many scenes that were call backs to earlier films. It was basically the end of the series all together. Ichi vs. tons of Yakuza was a common thing, but considering that he was a master swordsman, and most Yakuza didn't even know how to wield a sword properly, its not so much of a stretch that he could handle them all.

Kitano's Zatoichi, did nothing for me. I always tell people to watch the Katsu films before seeing this one. because if they see this one first they may like it, then be disappointed that the older ones aren't the same way, and if they hate it, they won't bother with the older ones because they think they will be the same.

now some recommendations:

The Rebel Samurai: Sixties Swordplay collection which contains the following films:

KIRU! Directed by Kihachi Okamoto and Starring Tatsuya Nakadai: Based off of the same story that Kurosawa based Sanjuro off of. I think its more than abit darker than Sanjuro, but at the same time, it has its intentionally goofy moments, which are alot of fun. Nakadai is, once again, masterful in his role as usual.

Sword Of The Beast Directed by Hideo Gosha and starring Mikijiro Hira. Another fantastic Gosha film with some excellent fighting scenes. like with the other films in the set, this film shows the hypocritical two-faced nature of Samurai society. Its a very well crafted story, definately a triumph for Gosha.

Samurai Spy Directed by Masahiro Shinoda and starring Koji Takahashi. despite the title, this is actually a Ninja film, and quite an unusual one at that. Shinoda chooses to focus more on the political intrigue instead of Action in this one. Thats not to say there isn't any action, there is plenty of it. Shinoda weaves a cunning web of intrigue that can really confuse you if you aren't paying close attention to everything. a perfect addition to this set.

Samurai Rebellion Directed by Masaki Kobayashi and Starring Toshiro Mifune. This is a true cinematic masterpiece IMO, Kobayashi tells the story of a low level retainer who is forced to take the Lord's mistress into his household to marry his son. His son accepts and they soon fall in love. When the Lord's eldest son dies, the son he had with his mistress becomes his heir. To avoid Scandal he demands that they return his mistress to take her place as the Heir's mother once again. Mifune and his son refuse and choose to defy the clan. This film is really something special, one of Mifune's greatest performances if you ask me.

Other recommendations:

Zatoichi 1-25: One of the best film series of all time, not a bad entry in the lot. Some may be better than others, but each film never drops below as certain standard of quality. Shintaro Katsu truely was Ichi, no one else will ever portray that charactor half as well as he did. #14 in the series hasn't been licensed yet, its not clear why as far as I know. Hopefully they will get it soon.

Zatoichi TV Every bit as good as the films, some episodes were even better. Volume 4 just came out recently, so you have quite a few episode available at the moment.

Makai Tensho: Samurai Reincarnation: Another Fukusaku/Chiba film. Chiba returns to his role of Yagyu Jubei in this supernatural samurai tale. Amakusa Shiro Tokisada has returned from the dead to take revenge on the Tokugawa for slaughtering the christians who once followed him. Amakusa turns to the devil to aid him in his quest, and begins reviving the dead. Yagyu Jubei is the only man who can stop him. This film definately influenced the creation of Samurai Showdown, its obvious. There is tons of great action from Chiba and his JAC.

Shogun's Shadow: the 1989 action extravaganza that starred Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba and Ken Ogata. Ogata plays a bodyguard for the Shogun's eldest son and heir. After an attempt on the heir's life, his father orders that he return to Edo by an unreasonable time, and Ogata and his rag-tag bunch have to try their best to get him there in time. Meanwhile the Shogun's right hand man is plotting to kill the heir before he can arrive. This film is like a live action anime in alot of respects, as there are some OOT moments never done in a film like this before. Chiba's JAC pull out all the stops to show us some amazing realistic fight scenes.

Anything by Kurosawa that should go without saying, but I have to make sure.

Lone Wolf and Cub 1-6 An awesome adaptation of Kazuo Koike's most famous manga. Wakayama Tomisaburo plays Ogami Itto, the Shogun's official second. When the Ura-Yagyu set him up for treason and kill his wife, he and his baby son flee Edo and set out on the road of revenge. Itto becomes the assassin known only as Lone Wolf and Cub, who will take a job to kill anyone, but they must meet his price and tell him all the circumstances behind the job. a Great series with some fantastic action. Wakayama Tomisaburo is widely believed the be the best on-screen swordsman in Japanese cinema history (his brother, Shintaro Katsu is pretty close too ).

Lady Snowblood Based off of another hit manga by Kazuo Koike. Its the story of Oyuki, a woman who was born for one purpose, revenge. After he husband an son were murder by a group of con-men (and a woman too) and being raped, Oyuki's mother is put in jail after finally killing one of her assailants. Knowing she can never get out to complete her revenge, she starts screwing all the male guards until she becomes pregnant. She dies after Oyuki is born, and Oyuki is brought to a temple and raised by an Old monk who had once been a samurai, and one of her mother's cell mates. The Old Monk trains her to kill, never letting her forget her purpose in life. Now fully grown, Oyuki sets out to kill the remaining three. This is the film that inspired Kill Bill, and IMO is a much much better film. There is a sequel, but its no where near as good as this one.

Anything by Inagaki Chushingura, Musashi trilogy, Machibuse, anything by Hiroshi Inagaki


There alot alot more, but these are fansubs, if you want I can PM you the links where you can buy them:

Kiba Okaminosuke (Samurai Wolf) 1 & 2: More Gosha goodness. These short films are action packed, with damn good stories. They have a very spaghetti western feel to them, right down to the soundtracks.

Tange Sazan: The Secret of the Urn: Hideo Gosha's rendition of this classic story, and possibly the best adaptation so far. Kinnosuke Nakamura plays Tange Sazan, a one-eyed, one-armed Swordsman, who got that way when his clan betrayed him after they sent him to kill a spy. A High Government official is determined to see the Yagyu Clan destroyed financially by having them pay for the restoration of the Toshogo Shrine. The Clan leader finds out that the location of 1 million ryo is hidden inside an Urn that was given to the clan by Tokugawa Ieyasu. When the urn is in transite, their convoy is attacked by the official's men. Amid the struggle the Urn falls into Sazan's hands, who refuses to give it to either side. Now the Official and Yagyu Genzaburo are desperately searching all over Edo for him. Will Sazan help the Official or the Yagyu? If you want to find out, you better grab this film.

Sword Devil: Kenji Misumi directs the great Raizo Ichikawa in this one. This one is hard for me to explain, so I won't try. Its a great Swordplay film with some good intrigue, one of Misumi's and Ichikawa's best collaborations.

Chuji The Gambler: Toshiro Mifune stars in this portrayal of Kunisada Chuji, Japan's very own Robin Hood. This is probably the best adaptation of the story, Mifune kicks *** as always, and the supporting cast holds up their end beautifully

Kisaragi Sword: Another complicated film to explain, It has an all-star cast featuring the incomparable Ichikawa Utaemon. When a group of officials plot to kill the Shogun Yoshimune, its up to a rag tag band made up of a thief, a Sword instructor, a ronin, an Official, and a clan Lord to stop the plan from coming to fruition. Thats just a basic outline. This is a wonderful film, Made me want to see more of Ichikawa Utaemon thats for sure.

Rise Against the Sword: Toshiro Mifune plays Abare Goemon, the leader of the seven farming clans of Kaga, who stood against the oppressive samurai in the sengoku period. Lord Asakura, impressed with Goemon's prowess as a leader, tries to get him to join up with his clan to battle to Enjoji Clan. Goemon refuses to align himself with samurai, so Asakura plots to destroy him and his seven clans. Mifune gives a hell of a performance as the wild and unpredictable Goemon. The ending does require that you know your history though, which is both good and bad.


Thats enough for now, I'll post more later.

[Neo0tak0n]

Thank you very much! One hell of a list! I was not even aware that there were fansub groups doing these types of films.

Definitely eager to get my collection going.

[Daishikaze]

Yeah there are 2 major guys you should deal with when it comes to Fansubs, Merlin and Cannibal King. Most other guys on the net who claim to have subbed the films themselves are usually trying to pass off Merlin's and CK's work as their own. There is one other guy who is great, but he only sells periodically, and I haven't gotten a notice from him in awhile, so maybe he decided to pack it in.

Merlin is great, but he can be expensive, CK's work is comparable to Merlin's, but he doesn't have anywhere near as many films as Merlin has, or so I'm told. But CK's prices are alot easier to deal with. Much of Merlin's catalog is not up on his site, but if you email him he'll send you a list of everything he has.

I'll PM you the links to their sites.

More recommendations:

Hibotan Bakuto AKA Red Peony Gambler: a tremendous period Yakuza film series staring the beautiful Junko Fuji as Red Peony Oryu. there are 8 of these films, CK has 4 available right now, and by the end of the year he should have almost all of them completed. Junko Fuji is fantastic in this series, and Wakayama Tomisaburo is hilarious as the bumbling Boss Kumatora, which is not something I was used to seeing after seeing him in LW&C.

Takeda Shingen: A TV Movie made by TOEI for TBS. Koji Yakusho Plays Takeda Shingen, a famous Warlord during Japans turbulent Sengoku Period. its a 4 hour epic and its worth watching every minute of it. Both CK and Merlin have this one.

Thirteen Assassins: this is another great film by Eiichi Kudo, about a group of Samurai who must kill a notoriously cruel lord in order to keep him from bringing further scandal to his brother, the Shogun. This film has a Seven Samurai quality to it, in that these 13 men must ambush and defeat the lord's 53-person procession before he reaches the safety of this home. It seems impossible, but the way they deal with the situation is ingenius.

Akai Kageboshi AKA Red Shadow: A Ninja film from TOEI studios at the height of their popularity. Kind of a cross between old style and New Style Ninja films, in that there are some nice little tricks and effects, but there is also some realistic action as well. Jushiro Konoe and Hashizo Okawa really impressed me here, as did Ryutaro Otomo.

Festival Of Swordsman: Ryutaro Otomo impresses me more in this one. There is a similar plot element to Akai Kageboshi, but its not a big deal IMO. Some nice action, especially when Wakayama Tomisaburo unsheaths his sword. I actually like this film more than Akai Kageboshi, but both are worth owning if you ask me.

You can find all of these on CK's site, plus many more. I have some other films on the way, I'll let you know about them when they get here.

[Daishikaze]

So did you grab anything new lately?

I got:

Assassination Orders Directed by Eiichi Kudo and Starring Hideki Takahashi and Isao Natsuyagi. Takahashi plays a ronin who stumbles upon a plan to kill the Princess of the Numata Clan to make the younger daughter the heir so the Chamberlain can control the clan through her. The Ronin gets mixed up with the rebels who want to protect the princess, and be winds up being the only one left who can save her. Meanwhile his old friend is part of the group that wants to kill her, Can he protect her without killing his friend?

Its a TV movie from the early 80s, an quite a good one, its pretty serious, but it does have its amusing moments too.


Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees:Directed by Masahiro Shinoda and Starring Wakayama Tomisaburo. its Based on a novel and play by Ango Sakaguchi, it's a moral tale about a bandit who kidnaps a beautiful woman and keeps her captive. She, in turn, subjugates her captor with her own desires, making him bring her severed human heads simply to satisfy a whim.

Its strange and kinda spooky, but very very good. We don't get to see Wakayama's amazing sword skills in this one, but thats ok, His acting more than makes up for it.