This was kind of a weird movie. If you’re familiar with both Yojimbo and the Zatoichi story, then you can probably figure out what the movie is.
Yojimbo is a classic Samurai film written and directed by the great Akira Kurosawa. A story that has been used for other films like Last Man Standing and A Fistful of Dollars. It’s in the Criterion Collection and is a must-see for any fan of the Samurai genre.
Zatoichi is the classic character of a blind swordsman. There are many, many movies out there about this character. I saw 
Zatôichi from 2003 and really enjoyed it.
I wouldn’t rank this movie as a favorite by any means. I also wouldn’t urge you to rush out there and rent it. Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo is interesting because both stories are meshed, but that’s about it. I don’t know how interesting it would be if you weren’t already familiar with what this movie is based off of.
Rating: 
If you’ve seen Kill Bill, than you probable remember in part 2 where BB wants to watch a video before going to bed. The video she wants to watch is Shogun Assassin. In my latest quest to see some of the samurai movies Tarantino loves so dearly, I also put this one on the list just because it’s referenced in the movie.
The whole film is narrated by a small boy talking about his father. His father used to work for the shogun, but his father became too powerful and the shogun became afraid. The shogun then tried to kill him but his plans went awry and he then made an enemy of his most powerful servant. The samurai then took to the roads with his small son. The shogun sent groups after groups of assassins and ninjas after this man, but nobody seems to be able to kill him. This guy makes Chuck Norris and Rambo look like girly-men.
This whole movie is in english so there’s no subtitles to deal with if that bothers you. It’s also short and sweet - kinda like Replacement Killers. If you liked Kill Bill, you’ll probably like this one too.
Another Criterion Collection member, yes, I’m on a kick. This film is set in feudal Japan and involves a woman and her daughter-in-law trying to eek out a living in a swamp. The husban/son has gone off to war with a friend and was supposedly killed on the way home. The son’s friend starts hanging around and soon starts making his move on his buddy’s wife.
The mother-in-law becomes jealous and afraid that her daughter-in-law will leave her and tries to come up with way to scare her into staying. The two of them have been living by killing worn-out soldiers in the grass fields and selling their armor and weapons for food. Without her daughter-in-law, the old woman won’t be able to keep this up by herself. The old woman eventually kills a samurai wearing a mask. She decides to take the mask along with his other possessions and starts wearing the mask to scare her daughter-in-law in the grass fields. The daughter-in-law takes her for a demon and is temporarily scared into staying away from her newfound lover. However, the tables are eventually turned as the old woman finds it hard to remove the mask.
If you’ve seen Last Man Standing or A Fistful of Dollars and liked them, you need to see this movie. Yojimbo is where the original story came from. Essentially a man-for-hire comes to town where two factions are fueding. He plays both sides and they eventually kill each other off.
If you’re into samurai movies, westerns or classic films, this needs to be on your list of films to see. This is another film directed by the legendary director Akira Kurosawa and also happens to be in the Criterion Collection.
If you didn’t know, I’ve been on a samurai movie kick lately. I’ve been watching a lot of movies that influenced Quentin Tarantino in his films Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2. It’s been an interesting ride to say the least. The Hidden Fortress is another film directed by the legendary director Akira Kurosawa and also happens to be in the Criterion Collection.
The plot details the escape of Princess Yuki (Misa Uehara) and General Rokurota Makabe (Toshirô Mifune) after their clan has been decimated by a neighboring clan. Along the way, they run into two greedy peasants who are on a search for legendary gold that was hidden somewhere in the burned out castle. The peasants lend some Three Stooges-esque comedy to the film as the princess and general try to make them cooperate. I may be exagerating on this, but it also seems like the two peasants are made to be bumbling fools just because they’re peasants. I don’t know if this is made to fit with the time period the film was made or maybe it’s this way just because. The more “noble” characters in the story do seem to be the ones making all the decisions, have all the wit and able to be capable leaders.
All in all, I think this was another decent film. Not amazing or awesome, just good. I gave it a 3/5 on netflix. Worth watching if you consider yourself a movie fan.
This is the second installment of the Samurai Trilogy and I’d have to say I liked this a little bit more than the first. Towards the end all I could think of is Kill Bill: Vol. 1. I know that Quentin Tarantino is a big asian film buff and I would be surprised if this wasn’t one of his influences. At one point you have Takezo challenging someone to a duel. Instead of facing Takezo, his 80 minions plot and plan an ambush to try and kill him. Surprisingly enough, Takezo outwits them and kills many of them with his sword. At one point he even has two swords. Sound familiar? I’m looking forward to part three.
In my neverending quest to try and culture myself on good film, I’ve started watching what is known as the “Samurai Trilogy” here in the states. These are three films by Hiroshi Inagaki that were made in the mid 1950’s about a man wanting to become a samurai warrior set a few hundred years ago.
I really enjoy watching older films sometimes because I can definitely see the transition from the stage and theater to the silver screen. Scenes are shot differently, actors do and say certain things, sets and positioning are a little different, etc. This is the era where there used to be an intermission in the middle of the movie. Can you imagine that happening today? Not likely. Didn’t even happen during the Lord of the Ring movies and those were pretty long.
I can definitely see most people not getting into a movie like this because it’s not full of the action and lacks many characteristics of a modern film. I’d say it’s worth sticking through though. Defintely a good conversation piece if nothing else.
If you’re looking for something fun and a little “out there”, this might be the movie for you. Picture this - The Russians have dropped the bomb on the US. The last stronghold of freedom and America just happens to be Las Vegas. The president is none other than THE KING, Elvis Presley. So 40 or so years later the king has died and they are looking for a new, hip musician to rule. This is where Buddy comes in. Besides being able to play a mean six string guitar, he also happens to be a samurai warrior.
So yeah, this sounds a little weird, but it’s worth checking out if you consider yourself a movie buff.
I put this movie on my netflix list because of it being mentioned in Kill Bill: Vol 2 by B.B. Kiddo as the movie she wanted to watch with her mom before going to sleep. This movie just so happens to star Sonny Chiba. Being uncultured on asian films, I had never really heard of this guy before and decided I needed to see some films that made him famous. Let’s just say I was in no way dissapointed. Sonny played the character of Yagyu Jubei or Jubei Yagyu as he would be called in the US(they put their last names first). This guy was one serious bad mother - and no, I’m not talking about Shaft. He reminded me a bit of Ujio from The Last Samurai, or actually I should say I feel like Ujio was based off of Jubei.
If you’re into samurai movies at all, this has got to be a must-see. I’m no expert myself, but I’m trying to see a few here and there. This one is basically about two sons battling each other to become Shogun after their father’s death. Full of battles, deceit, trickery and politics, this movie is sure to keep your attention.
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