Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

I'm wondering what UY members think. I think so. Ever since I first saw it on PBS (KCET), I was really mezmorized!
So, do you guys think so or is there another samurai movie that's better or equal to it?

Thanks.

Here's a nice poster:

I have not seen enough Samurai films in my life, but from what I have seen, it's hard to imagine anything rivaling or exceeding Seven Samurai. It's definitely amongst my top ten films of all time.

That being said, I've heard great things about Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy, though I have not yet seen it.

Is Kurasawa's Ran considered a Samurai film? It's on my "to watch soon" list because I've heard some consider it to be Kurasawa's best work.

shaxper wrote:Is Kurasawa's Ran considered a Samurai film? It's on my "to watch soon" list because I've heard some consider it to be Kurasawa's best work.

Ran is awesome because of the cinematography. It's a samurai version of Shakespeare's King Lear. So it all depends how you watch it.

I think all things considered it would HAVE to be considered the best. There are plenty of other great Samurai films...but Seven Samurai has so many perfect scenes and has inspired so many films in the genre it deserves the title.

It's the most well balanced of any of the Samurai films I've seen... Ran is excellent but the mix of Shakespearean tragedy and Japanese drama is not to everyone's taste. (plus the movie IS a downer)

Yojimbo should be up there too, since it too has inspired many movies (Sukiyaki Western Django included - and THAT film by the way is pure insanity. )

I'm sure there are plenty of modern Samurai movies that I haven't seen...but the older classics deserve extra credit. They molded the genre.

Also any film that has Takashi Shimura AND Toshiro Mifune HAS to be the best

I have yet to see many more samurai movies to really be ablke to answer that more properly, but I know seven samurai and I like it very much...
I have always wanted to see yojimbo because I learned that it was a heavy inspiration for sergio leone's masterpeace fistful of dollars....(thats were it came from, not django...)

coolray85 wrote: I have always wanted to see yojimbo because I learned that it was a heavy inspiration for sergio leone's masterpeace fistful of dollars....(thats were it came from, not django...)

I watched Yojimbo for the first time last week. I really enjoyed it, but it's very different from Seven Samurai. The focus isn't artistic visuals and poignant drama; It's far more of an irreverent Western. Though it's exciting, funny, and has Mifune in the lead, it's really not in the same class.

Wasn't Yojimbo also the inspiration for Gen's character? Of course, Gen is a lot more attached to his money than "Sanjuro" was.

Stan himself I feel really ought to be telling you, that 'Yojimbo' was almost the basis for "Usagi" Yojimbo or something.

I for one, felt like Usagi was paying homage very much in the begining of his publication, sometimes almost with similar dialogue.

Please correct me if I am wrong..

Seven Samurai is definitely one of my favorite samurai films, and considering when it was made, it was sooo much better than everything else in the genre being produced at that time.

It took almost 10 years before any other directors came out with anything close, with Kobayashi's Hara Kiri and Samurai Rebellion being a couple of the few that even come close to being in the same class.

It wouldn't be too hard to make a case that Seven Samurai is the best Samurai movie ever made. I think it might capture the samurai ethos better than any film ever made. One moment in particular I'm thinking of that has always impressed me is the scene late in the film where Kambei (the leader) chews out Kikuchiyo (played by Toshiro Mifune) because he left his post in order to kill one of the bandits and take their gun.

Pretty much every samurai movie made by Kurosawa is a must-see. Another one I like a lot is Throne of Blood a fairly close adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Of course, you shouldn't just limit yourself to Kurosawa's samurai films. There are lots of other great ones out there such as Kihachi Okamoto's Sword of Doom and Kinji Fukasaku's Shogun's Shadow. Kinji Fukasaku's work is interesting partially because he was actually best-known as a maker of Yakuza movies with contemporary settings and apparently only came to Jidaigeki (period films) reluctantly. I think you could make a case for Fukasaku being sort of the Kurosawa of the b-movie world (and no, "b-movie" doesn't mean "B for Bad" like a lot of people think).

johnnyjagwani wrote:Stan himself I feel really ought to be telling you, that 'Yojimbo' was almost the basis for "Usagi" Yojimbo or something.

I for one, felt like Usagi was paying homage very much in the begining of his publication, sometimes almost with similar dialogue.

Please correct me if I am wrong..

Usagi's primary influence was Miyamoto Musashi, though I'm sure the concept of having Usagi work as a yojimbo drew influence from Yojimbo.

Yojimbo certainly adds an unforgettable twist to the Samurai genre that Stan has embraced in many of his stories and characters. They all believe in what's at the heart of the Samurai code, but they all believe in getting their differently.

something fun I stunbeled over once again during the easter holyday tv program was the 70s tv produced mini series shogun starring richard chamberlain.....and toshiro mifune as well...it is very neat to see that again after they sometime kicked it out of the yearly christmas tv program in germany;)...
and there was something odd about the episode I was watching recently:...now I know that lady tomoe ame is based on a female character of japanese history according tp stan, the only known to the record female samurai...whether she really did exist or was a fictious character in the end I don't recall right now....but in shogun there is this beautiful woman who teaches chamberlain's character the language and habbits of japan and she looks darn close to tomoe ame with her hair do and everything in her....she is also very loyal to cultural morals(doesn't do chamberlain...)...and their unfulfilled love interest although physical and mental attraction is similar to usagi and tomoe's relationship....
does anyone know better here?

I am at heart a Mifune fan, partly because of Usagi as Mifune was Musashi in the Samurai trilogy.

I love 7 Samurai, Kikuchiyo was a great character.

I've also seen Hidden Fortress, Red Beard, Throne of Blood (first one that got me hooked, weird movie), Stray Dog, Rikisha Man (great non-samurai movie), Yojimbo/Sanjuro and the Blind Swordsman /Yojimbo one...I forgot the actual title. I know I've seen more ...
Oh...Also seen Hell in the Pacific, great movie!!

I personally liked Rikisha Man the most...he really shined in that.

Konichiwa!! I'm a BIG Toshiro Mifune fan as well! My personal faves are:

Yojimbo
Sanjuro
Sword of Doom
Incident at Blood Pass
Zatoichi meets Yojimbo
Throne of Blood

I have a martial arts movies book that calls Mifune the "Japanese John Wayne". So, I guess what John Wayne was to the american western...Mifune was to the Japanese Samurai genre.
And I prefer samurai films to westerns any day

Abayo! .

You can't forget Rashomon that's pretty much started it all.

Konichiwa!! Isn't that the one based on Shakespeare's "King Lear"?