Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki • 1954 • Japan
Starring Toshiro Mifune, Rentaro Mikuni, Kuroemon Onoe
In the first part of the epic Samurai Trilogy, Toshiro Mifune thunders onto the screen as the iconic title character. When we meet him, Miyamoto is a wide-eyed romantic, dreaming of military glory in the civil war that is ravaging the seventeenth-century countryside. Twists of fate, however, turn him into a fugitive. But he is saved by a woman who loves him and a cunning priest who guides him to the samurai path. Though the opening installment of a series, this film, lushly photographed in color, stands on its own, and won an Academy Award for the best foreign-language film of 1955.
Up Next in Samurai
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The Tale of Zatoichi
ZATOICHI #1
Directed by Kenji Misumi • 1962 • JapanThe epic saga of Zatoichi begins. As tensions mount between rival yakuza clans, one boss hires a formidable but ailing ronin as his clan’s muscle, while the other employs a humble, moral blind masseur named Ichi. With its lightning-fast swordpl...
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The Sword of Doom
Directed by Kihachi Okamoto • 1966 • Japan
Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Toshiro MifuneTatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman plying his craft during the turbulent final days of shogunate rule in Japan, R...
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Samurai Rebellion
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi • 1967 • Japan
Starring Toshiro Mifune, Yoko Tsukasa, Go KatoToshiro Mifune stars as Isaburo Sasahara, an aging swordsman living a quiet life until his clan lord orders that his son marry the lord’s mistress, who has recently displeased the ruler. Reluctantly, fathe...
