General discussion about Usagi Yojimbo, the comics, the stories, the characters, collectibles, TV appearances, Stan Sakai, Space Usagi, Nilson & Hermy, and all other related topics.
Robert Wetherelt wrote:Konichiwa!! Isn't that the one based on Shakespeare's "King Lear"?
No. That was RAN. Excellent film.
Rashomon was famous for being one of the first films to use flashbacks to use tell the same story from different perspectives (Like Pulp Fiction). And it had amazing camera work. Great film.
As an FYI...I own the Seven Samurai Criterion Collection DVD and it has an excellent audio commentary by a Japanese Historian.
He explains each scene of how it relates to Japan's culture, actors/directors biography and of course the samurai.
A couple commentaries that stood out was the famous Japanese saying: "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down"...another commentary was the part of stunts: They didn't have computerized special effects back in the day so when they made the scene of one of the bad guys getting hit with an arrow, they actually put a piece of wood onto the guys chest and hoping the marksman would hit the exact same spot...on a moving target!!!!
I highly recommend picking up the DVD and listening through the commentary.
Thanks Maka for setting me straight on "Ran". I knew that it was a one word title,but, got them mixed up.
It's the one with Tatsuya Nakadai as the King Lear character. A wonderful performance! He also gives a masterful performance in the film "Sword of Doom". He and Mifune-sama appeared in a lot of films together over the years. They played off against each other quite well.
I'm sorry...I've tried twice to watch this film,but,I just couldn't get into it. It starts off too slow for me.But...it is part of my samurai film collection. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to get through it,but, not right now.
I get about 45 minutes into it before I usually give up on it. My favorite has always been "Yojimbo". With "Sanjuro" a close second.
I love Ran... and Seven Samurai (and many other Kurosawa flicks, of which Ikiru is my favorite). I think Criterion's Seven Samurai DVD is my all-time favorite DVD release: all the featurettes, the commentaries, ect. I think when I first got it I justed watched that set all week!
Seven Samurai is probably the most famous samurai movie and deservedly so. Excellent, excellent film.
My other choices:
Mifune's Samurai Trilogy is very good.
The Lone Wolf & Cub movies are excellent.
For modern movies, 2002's Twilight Samurai is good for depicting the everyday life and trials of a samurai and his family instead of just focusing on battle scenes.
An odd choice, but I love it regardless, and that is The Hunted with Christopher Lambert. He plays an American on a business trip to Japan who becomes embroiled in a long-standing blood feud between a samurai clan and a ninja clan.
Also, the anime Samurai 7, based on the Seven Samurai movie, is great too.
