Kosugifan1 wrote:"Shogun's Samurai" is really cool when you have watched the "Yagyu Conspiracy" television series as well, which parts of tell the same story with a lot of the same actors (i.e. Sonny Chiba, etc.) playing the same roles. I am not sure if this version came first, or the television series, but there are some really interesting differances in the story from one version to the next.
All I can say is WOW,after watching this, true masterpiece on all levels, an epic tale with an all star cast, I mean how much more can one ask for!!! so many emotions and feeling are indeed brought forth in this mighty tale of "conspiracy" I can honestly say that this film has definitely entered in my own top hall of fame and only shows how important and brilliant Kinji Fukasaku really was!
Last Movies Watched / Discussion Thread
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 steve hubbell |
#21 | |||
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Posts: 265 01/06/09 10:10:15 |
http://usagiyojimbo.com - http://usagiyojimbo.fr - http://usagiyojimbo.pl |
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Kosugifan1 |
#22 | |||
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Posts: 95 01/06/09 12:47:13 |
steve hubbell wrote: That sounds very interesting, because I did not know of the TV series, I will indeed look into that at some point, and with it having some of the same actors only sparks my interest even more. I really love this story, a great period drama with some great twist!! |
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michaeltr |
#23 | |||
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Posts: 3589 01/06/09 16:44:04 Daimyo (Moderator) |
The film came first than the tv series .
The first 5 episodes of the TV Series covers the same ground as the film but the tv version is better ,it has more plot development ect . Fukusaku was the producer and directed ep 1 . Etsuko plays Akane the Yagyu sister in the tv series and has a much bigger role ,not only does she stay alive but the tv series even spawned a sequel Yagyu Abatare . |
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lobo67.thelatarniaforums |
#24 | |||
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Posts: 26 01/06/09 17:50:41 |
Well this post could be called the good and the bad.
1st is the good. Samurai 1, of the Samurai Trilogy. I haven't seen 2 or 3 yet, but this was very good. Very compelling. Good characters. Good photography, music, ect. Seems the older films are usually the best. Something happened after the 80's and films went to crap. I didn't like him SPOILER ALERT!!! leaving the girl behind... but I think, or hope, this romance will reconnect in the next film of the trilogy. Now the BAD, and I mean BAD. Kunoichi: Lady Ninja. It seemed every scene sucked worse than the one before it. It was totally dumb, the characters totally annoying, mainly the bad guys. Their hollerin' yells all the time, and super ugly faces in drag make up. Yeah, I know they are meant to be "demons", but it was a chore to watch this thing. Only thing worse is the second feature in the Box Set, but only because there is hardly any action in it at all. The girls in both films show some nudity, and arn't bad looking, but the action and is not "sexy" at all. This movie was terrible to me(Both). Carl |
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steve hubbell |
#25 | |||
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Posts: 266 01/06/09 19:17:44 |
michaeltr wrote:Actually, it spawned two sequels... Yagyu Jubei Abaretabi (26 episodes) and Yagyu Abare Tabi (also 26 episodes). Yagyu Ichizoku no Inbo (Yagyu Conspiracy) ran for 39 episodes. http://usagiyojimbo.com - http://usagiyojimbo.fr - http://usagiyojimbo.pl |
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Kosugifan1 |
#26 | |||
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Posts: 98 01/06/09 21:36:22 |
WOW, that is quite a bit of sequels indeed, I would like to check out the one with the relation to the film first and foremost, it would be great to watch the
story again in a bit of a different light & with a lot of the same cast being in it that would be really fun to watch.
...and yes Michael, I to thought Etsuko was killed off a bit to quick & abrupt!! I would have not minded her sticking around for a while as she is one of my favorite actors as well. |
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Kosugifan1 |
#27 | |||
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Posts: 120 06/18/09 04:42:54 |
Mikogami Trilogy Part 1 - The Trail of Blood
"Mikogami Trilogy" follows a Yakuza samurai whose attempt to escape the criminal organization is met with violent hostility from his fellow mobsters. When the samurai's family is butchered by the angry Yakuza, he pursues the path of limb-hacking, vengeful swordsman out for revenge. Yoshido Harada, Katsuo Nakamura, and Etsuko Ichihara star in this 70's Toho classic, think of a Yakuza Lone Wolf! some amazing swordplay one has to love! |
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paghat |
Jokichi of Mikogami | #28 | ||
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Posts: 208 06/18/09 13:46:08 |
I just love Yoshio Harada as Jokichi of Mikogami. I review the whole trilogy at length, part one on this page:
http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-jokichi1.html and it links to two more pages for the other episodes. For me Harada was the last of the truly classic jidai geki actors.
-paghat the ratgirl
--------- paghat's film reviews: www.weirdwildrealm.com books written or edited by me: www.violetbooks.com/CATALOGS/catalogfrontpage.html temperate gardening: www.paghat.com |
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Wave Tossed |
#29 | |||
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Posts: 1572 06/18/09 18:10:57 Loyal Retainer (Registered User) |
The last samurai/jidai-geki film I watched was the new ICHI, the blind swordswoman. I got a fan-subbed downloaded copy from a friend. From some comments here,
I thought that it was going to be completely over-the-top. However, when I watched the film, it wasn't "over-the-top" at all, it was fairly
traditional. OK, the idea of a blind swords-person (man or woman) is a bit of a fantasy. The most realistic film I've ever seen about a blind swords-person
was LOVE AND HONOR, which was about a samurai blinded while tasting food for his lord, and the samurai was accidentally poisoned.
At any rate, I did enjoy ICHI. |
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paghat |
#30 | |||
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Posts: 209 06/19/09 12:46:59 |
As for SHOGUN'S SAMURAI, i remember the first time i saw it, at Toyo Cinema in Seattle where it premiered to a packed house of mostly Japanese Americans.
The ending with Kinnosuke's "it's a dream!" hysterics stopped my breathing, it was so effing intense. I've written about the film here:
http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-shogunssamurai.html I kept the Premier ad all these years and used it as one of the illustrations.
-paghat the ratgirl
--------- paghat's film reviews: www.weirdwildrealm.com books written or edited by me: www.violetbooks.com/CATALOGS/catalogfrontpage.html temperate gardening: www.paghat.com |
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Wave Tossed |
#31 | |||
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Posts: 1573 06/23/09 19:43:10 Loyal Retainer (Registered User) |
I really loved "Shogun's Samurai." Unfortunately, I lent my copy to a neighbor who moved away and never returned my copy.
I guess I'll have to get another copy. 
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Marlon |
Army of Darkness | #32 | ||
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Posts: 42 07/04/09 04:33:14 |
Sarutobi Sasuke 3 Film ended by the half of the story.
i hate this. |
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Kosugifan1 |
#33 | |||
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Posts: 123 07/11/09 21:11:13 |
For sure,Yoshio Harada is such a fine actor great screen presence, whether he is playing the role of a master swordsman or a anxious & curious newspaper
publisher!! he is just awesome!
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paghat |
#34 | |||
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Posts: 213 07/12/09 17:12:04 |
Yoshio Harada = Awesome, absolutely correct, no matter what he does. He has more charisma sitting still than most actors have jumping all over the place.
-paghat the ratgirl
--------- paghat's film reviews: www.weirdwildrealm.com books written or edited by me: www.violetbooks.com/CATALOGS/catalogfrontpage.html temperate gardening: www.paghat.com |
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steve hubbell |
#35 | |||
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Posts: 294 07/13/09 19:14:39 |
I recently watched the first season of Shadow Warriors, bought off Amazon for about $12 new. Enjoyed watching it enough to order the original movie directed by
Kudo Eiichi and the New Shadow Warriors 1 & 2 directed by Takeshi Miyasaka from CK. Watched the Kudo film and enjoyed it, but not as much as the Sonny
Chiba television episodes. The scenes with the ninja fights in the woods just seemed kind of weird, like watching some strange midnight rugby game or
something. Started to watch the first of the New Shadow Warriors DVD but gave up because the movie had severe picture problems with the digital image
dissolving constantly into little squares, etc.... Sent CK an email some time ago concerning it but have not heard anything back.
http://usagiyojimbo.com - http://usagiyojimbo.fr - http://usagiyojimbo.pl |
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krainville |
#36 | |||
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Posts: 84 07/23/09 11:13:58 |
The 'Shadow Warriors' film is, bar none, the WEIRDEST ninja movie I've ever seen. I love it, but I watch it with my head turned sideways like a
confused dog. The outright football game, that tar-covered guy... it's just strange all around. Even the posters and ads were bizarre - with the football
padded ninja wearing white hockey masks under their hoods, in front of a tin foil background. Damn peculiar.
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Kosugifan1 |
#37 | |||
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Posts: 125 07/23/09 12:05:25 |
LOL....and people though I was crazy when I said there is a shinobi football game in the woods in that film...
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Wave Tossed |
#38 | |||
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Posts: 1575 07/25/09 09:04:24 Loyal Retainer (Registered User) |
krainville wrote:Actually, there is a sort of "samurai football game" in both versions of Gosha's Tange Sazen film. The samurai are all tossing the 1,000,000 ryo jar all around. Sorry, I've been absent of lately. Unfortunately at my job, they have completely blocked the Ninja Dojo forum from their internet. Not sure why; the message said something about "pornography" and related items. I don't know if it's the "exploitation" forum that is causing the block. Or if it's something in the new advertisements. Though my job doesn't block Ebay or other commercial selling sites. So I don't know what it is.
At any rate, the last two films I watched were both very interesting. One was called (in English), "Zatoichi's Cane Sword." This film got into the background of the sword that Zatoichi had been carrying inside his cane. It had been made by a swordsmith whom Zatoichi befriends. The swordsmith warns Zatoichi that the sword is wearing out and will crack the next time it is used. So Zatoichi decides to give up swordfighting and just be a masseur. But of course we know that this is Zatoichi, so we know the actual chances of that happening. A corrupt official wants to buy a fine sword from the swordsmith. The swordsmith had told Zatoichi that he had "put his heart into" this sword. There are a bunch of bad yakuza-types, the swordsmith delivers the sword to the official and then gets murdered. Zatoichi goes leaping into the fray against all of these bad guys. I'll stop here so as to not "spoil" the ending. The other film is "Zatoichi and the Fire Festival" with Nakadai Tatsuya playing a crazed, jealous ronin who goes after Zatoichi. The Nakadai character is convinced that Zatoichi had slept with his wife, though Zatoichi had only helped her out. Nakadai is great at playing crazed ronin. Even Hanshiro in "Seppuku" was a bit crazed at the end. Nakadai also can play crazed yakuza as well, as he does in "Yojimbo." The plot was the usual, Zatoichi gets the bad guys and of course the crazed ronin. But it was very well done. |
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michaeltr |
#39 | |||
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Posts: 3668 07/27/09 14:07:59 Daimyo (Moderator) |
"FIRE FESTIVAL "i think is my personal fave of the whole series .
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Kosugifan1 |
#40 | |||
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Posts: 131 08/03/09 14:03:48 |
paghat wrote:now that I think about it, was his last appearance in Azumi II?? a few recently watched films for me: Enter The Ninja (still fun, tons of laughs & tons of great action, well at least Sho's parts... 
Castle Of Owls (Brilliant on all levels, pure masterpiece!!Otomo Ryutaro is superb on so many levels. The Third Ninja (This has to be my favorite Shinobi film as of now, plenty of close runner ups, but this story is just awe inspiring!! great acting, aces all across the board!! |
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