Top 10 Samurai Movies

Based on the popular manga series, “Lone Wolf and Cub,” the wandering samurai Ogami Ittō returns to the big screen pushing a baby and stroller looking for work. Hired by a lord to prevent intelligence from falling into the hands of a rival clan, Ogami must defeat the clan’s five deadly assassins to complete his mission. With a dramatic soundtrack, over-the-top scenarios and exaggerated kill scenes, “Lone Wolf and Cub”’s a grindhouse-like guilty pleasure that never fails to make the cut.

Shedding light on the samurai myth, this 2002 movie tells the poignant story of the samurai with nickname that means Twilight, because at dusk he leaves the other samurai to attend to his family. Following his wife’s death, he becomes sole caretaker to his children and senile mother. As a low level samurai, he knows that others in the clan are materially better off than him, which highlights the limiting classist society at play in Japan. As such, disheveled and in debt, the warrior ultimately refuses to marry the woman he loves. Behind all the movie’s impressive swordplay, “The Twilight Samurai” is also celebrated for its commentary on Japanese society and its endearing tale of father and children.

In Akira Kurosawa’s reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” General Taketori Washizu is told by a witch in an enchanted forest of his imminent rise to power. The prophecy comes true, and, spurred on by his conniving wife, Lady Washizu, he heads down a bloodied path of treachery, madness and murder. Bleak, shadowy and unsettling, this samurai drama sees Kurosawa expertly tackle the deeply complex topics of insanity, paranoia and hubris.

The life of a samurai is one of submission to one’s lord. But when Isaburo’s lord goes too far, the samurai rebels! When his lord forces Isaburo’s son to marry his concubine, they eventually fall in love and bear a daughter. However, she also previously bore the son of her lord, who has become next in line for succession following a death in the lord’s family. After she refuses to heed the lord’s summoning for her return, it’s up to Isaburo to take up the sword against his master’s will. Demonstrating Japan’s unjust feudal practices on ordinary individuals, “Samurai Rebellion” is a rallying cry against the country’s hierarchical society as well as an award-winning samurai flick.

In Edo-period Japan, a government official secretly hires 13 samurai for a suicide mission to assassinate Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira, whose insatiable lust and madness was spreading across the country. Loosely based on historic events, “13 Assassins” may be the debut samurai epic for the notorious shock cinema director, Takashi Miike, but it also introduces his familiar brand of outrageousness and sadistic tropes. It turns the genre on its head by ingeniously portraying the noble samurai obsession with violence and death as just another fetish.

Based on the popular novels of Eiji Yoshikawa, this film trilogy tells the tales of real-life master swordsman and ronin, Musashi Miyoamoto. How can we best explain its cinematic treatment? Imagine Rocky Balboa meets Gone with the Wind. Audiences journey through this adaptation into Musashi’s life and his many trials and duels against several adversaries. The “Samurai Trilogy” is a classic demonstration of traditional, deep, nostalgic and romantic samurai cinema, with the first installment winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Set in 19th century Japan, this film sees the Tokugawa government’s isolationist policy coming to an end when American battleships sail into port. Turmoil ensues and causes splintering samurai factions, as well as questions about Japan’s future. To prove to his father that he’s a samurai and to learn his true lineage, Niiro must assassinate the official who’s causing all the turmoil. A pessimistic, suspense thriller with overtones of fatalism and legendary past Kurosawa cast members, “Samurai Assassin” is a gripping Japanese drama that builds upon historical events.

When aging ronin Tsugumo requests the right to perform his own ritual disembowelment, known as seppuku, from feudal lord, Saito, his request is refused. The lord’s reasoning for this is the story of Chijiwa Motome, another ronin who Saito believed tried to defraud his clan of customary monetary dispensation by faking the bloody act. Tsugumo counters with his life story and reveals how Saito mistook the tragedy behind both his and Motome’s tales. An anti-war masterpiece, “Harakiri” rips apart the over-glorification of the bushido honor code, and exposes its hypocrisy, senseless murders, and its exploitation of the human condition.

This is probably Toshiro Mifune’s greatest achievement when it comes to samurai flicks. When a drifting ronin shows up in a town that’s torn apart by warring gangs, he’s hired by the townspeople to be its bodyguard, ie: the titular yojimbo. He craftily pits the two gangs against each other until they’re drawn into a high noon showdown that aims to once and for all free the townsfolk from the gangsters’ terrible reign. Inspiring a sequel called “Sanjuro,” as well as Sergio Leone’s “A Fistful of Dollars,” this was truly one of director Akira Kurosawa’s milestone samurai films.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:
- “The Last Samurai” (2003)
- “The Sword of Doom” (1966)
- “When the Last Sword Is Drawn” (2003)

When seven penniless ronins are hired to defend a poor village from marauding bandits, ronins and villagers must put aside their prejudices to face a common threat. Stripping away the glory and honor for which the samurai genre is usually known, this Kurosawa adventure flick features battle scenes that are often inglorious and stark. It also focuses on how these ronins, villagers and bandits found themselves living lives plagued by poverty, violence and scavenging. Inspiring countless major motion pictures like “The Magnificent Seven,” with its narrative and technical innovations, there’s no question that “Seven Samurai” is a timeless masterpiece.

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