Samurai Cinema...

[Robert Wetherelt]

Yo' : How many of you out there have gotten into Samurai movies because of Usagi? After having gotten hooked on the rabbit ronin I decided to look into the films that may have inspired Sakai-sensei. And there are a ton of 'em! So far I have collected 25 of these cool films. Most of them are from a company called Criterion. They're a little pricie,but, are worth it. Some of them include ; Yojimbo,Sanjuro,Sword of Doom,Sword of the Beast, the Lone Wolf & Cub series, Samurai Assassin,some Zatoichi films,Shogun Assassin,Samurai Rebellion and my latest find, Samurai Fiction. Not all of the above mentioned flicks are from the same company,but , are representative of the choice that is out there. I heartly recomend that if you haven't seen any of these movies that you do. These films have made me appreciate Usagi Yojimbo even more. So, give 'em a watch. Abayo!

[estee]

You can't go wrong whenever Toshiro Mifune picks up a sword. He was cool before anyone. Before James Dean. Before Marlon Brando. Toshiro was da man. On screen he broke every rule, lived fast, died young and left a good looking corpse. He was the first heartbreaker, lifetaker, baby.

I could go on, but that would be sqaure, man.

[Robert Wetherelt]

Yep...Mifune-sama was the best. Some people call him the Japanese John Wayne. He was for samurai movies what John Wayne was for the western. He was the ultimate samurai! Yojimbo and Sanjuro being my altime favorites. And its nice to hear from a fellow canadian!

[Stan Sakai]

Mifune was also the first choice for Obi Wan Kanobi. Too bad he turned it down.

[Robert Wetherelt]

Mifune Toshiro as Obi Wan Kenobi?!!! How COOL would that have been!!! I've always regarded the Jedi as Sci-Fi samurai! Subarashi!!!!

[estee]

Actually its good that Toshiro wasn't Obi Wan...cuz I can't see him losing to Vader.

Toshiro would curbstomp his asthmatic butt in heartbeat.

[Robert Wetherelt]

Yeah...I hear ya!!! Mifune Toshiro with a Lightsabre...hmmmm.

[Feadraug]

Mifune Toshiro as Obi Wan Kenobi?!!! How COOL would that have been!!! I've always regarded the Jedi as Sci-Fi samurai! Subarashi!!!!

Well, George Lucas never hid the fact that Jedi knights are so based on samurai and the code of Bushido, though they have some influence from Middle Age knights as well. But I've thought as them more as samurai than Western knights too.

And I remember that in the Star Wars: A new hope manga (yes, there's a SW manga), the author was going to give Obi-Wan a jingasa as a reference to the possibility of Toshiro Mifune being Obi-Wan, but finally removed it. I saw it and I must say it added a nice oriental touch to old Ben Kenobi. xD (Bad thing I don't have any images around now ^^U)

[Mayhem]

Indeed... you wonder how different the film might have been had Mifune played the part. On the other hand, the guy brought in to do the job worked out rather well I think

(even though he sadly resented the part in his later years)

[aki_san]

Mifune Toshiro as Obi Wan Kenobi?!!! How COOL would that have been!!! I've always regarded the Jedi as Sci-Fi samurai! Subarashi!!!!

From what I understand, Star Wars is loosely based on a Kurosawa film called "The Hidden Fortress'.

From the IMDB-
Trivia: In an interview for the Criterion collection DVD, George Lucas stated that while this film is a story about a princess and her protectors that this was not the primary element that he employed in Star Wars. He stated that he was more concerned with the way that Hidden Fortress is told through the eyes of two lesser characters. In Hidden Fortress it is the two thieves; in Star Wars it is C3PO and R2D2. In both films the comical interplay between the two characters is a major theme.

[Robert Wetherelt]

Yo' : I just picked up a film called "Goyokin". It stars Nakadai Taysuya in a role originally presented to Mifune Toshiro as a "Yojimbo" flick. But...Mifune-sama turned it down as it was to be filmed in the dead of winter and he didn't want to work in that kind of cold. I must say that Nakadai-sama is excellent in this role! A real MUST HAVE for all chambara film buffs!

[Steve Hubbell]

Goyokin is excellent, and if you enjoyed it, definitely check out any of the other samurai films directed by Hideo Gosha (i.e. The Sword of the Beast (Criterian), Three Outlaw Samurai, Samurai Wolf I and II, etc)

Another project Hideo Gosha was involved in, Shintaro Katsu (Zatoichi) produced, and Wakayama Tomisaburo (Lone Wolf and Cub) starred in was the 1970's television series "The mute Samurai" which is slowly being released with subtitles through "unofficial" sources.

What with the recent release of the DVD sets of the Zatoichi television series, maybe this series will eventually get an official release as well.

[Fanfan]

A very interesting japanese movie database :
http://www.sarudama.com/history/

more films on the main page :
http://www.sarudama.com/movies/

the folklore section is very interesting, you should have a look too !

[Robert Wetherelt]

I just picked up 3 more flicks. 1.) "Kill(Kiru)", 2.)"Incident at Blood Pass"( Mifune-sama's last appearance as the "Yojimbo" character.) and 3.) "Zatoichi meets Yojimbo". All cool films.

[Bryan Stone]

Usagi introduced me to samurai flicks in a round about way. He was the first samurai character I remember seeing as a child so that sparked an interest that led to literature and movies but it wasn't until much later that I got into the Usagi comics.