List of All Samurai Cinema Movies

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Updated June 11, 2021 105.1K views122 items

A list of all the best Samurai movies ever made, many of which are streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Find these and other great movies that are currently streaming on the best action movie lists on Amazon Prime and Netflix, as well as the Best Foreign Films on Amazon Prime and the Best Foreign Films on Netflix.

 This Samurai movie list can be sorted by cast, year, director and more. This list of Samurai films also contains Samurai movie titles that can be clicked on for more information about the film. This Samurai films list can also be copied to start your own.

 For other interesting movie lists check out the cartoon movies, black comedy movies and romantic comedy movies lists.

Plenty of well-known directors have been associated with Samurai cinema films, including Kenji Mizoguchi and Hiroshi Inagaki.

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  • Seven Samurai

    Seven Samurai

    Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Eijirō Tōno
    • Released: 1954
    • Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
    In the heart of 1586 Japan, Seven Samurai unfolds. A rural village, terrorized by marauding bandits, recruits seven ronin - masterless samurai. Leading them is Kambei (Takashi Shimura), a seasoned warrior with a strategic mind. Among his team are personalities as diverse as Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), a boisterous yet compassionate soul, and Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi), the silent sword-master. Directed by Akira Kurosawa, this epic adventure-drama won several awards, including the Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival. A tale of courage and sacrifice, it's a pivotal entry in the cinematic world that transcends its genre.

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  • 13 Assassins

    13 Assassins

    Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya
    • Released: 2010
    • Directed by: Takashi Miike
    In this remake of a 1963 film based on historical events, Shinzaemon Shimada leads a team of assassins in 19th-century Japan to eliminate the ruthless Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira, who is wreaking havoc against his own people. Hired secretly by a government official hoping to end Matsudaira's reign of terror, Shimada recruits the best samurai in Japan and then sets a trap for the lord's large contingent of faithful bodyguards.

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  • Rashomon

    Rashomon

    Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Machiko Kyō
    • Released: 1950
    • Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
    Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese period drama film directed by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. It stars Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori and Takashi Shimura. The film is based on two stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa: "Rashomon", which provides the setting, and "In a Grove", which provides the characters and plot. The film is known for a plot device which involves various characters providing alternative, self-serving and contradictory versions of the same incident. The name of the film refers to the enormous city gate of Kyoto. The term Rashomon effect refers to real-world situations in which multiple eye-witness testimonies of an event contain conflicting information. Rashomon marked the entrance of Japanese film onto the world stage. It won several awards, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1951, and an Academy Honorary Award at the 24th Academy Awards in 1952, and is now considered one of the greatest films ever made.
  • Ran

    Ran

    Tatsuya Nakadai, Mieko Harada, Akira Terao
    • Released: 1985
    • Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
    At the age of seventy, after years of consolidating his empire, the Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) decides to abdicate and divide his domain amongst his three sons. Taro (Akira Terao), the eldest, will rule. Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu), his second son, and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu) will take command of the Second and Third Castles but are expected to obey and support their elder brother. Saburo defies the pledge of obedience and is banished.

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  • Yojimbo

    Yojimbo

    Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Tatsuya Nakadai
    • Released: 1961
    • Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
    Yojimbo is a 1961 jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of a rōnin, portrayed by Toshiro Mifune, who arrives in a small town where competing lords vie for supremacy. The two bosses each try to hire the newcomer as a bodyguard. Based on the success of Yojimbo, Kurosawa's next film, Sanjuro, was altered to feature a similar lead character.
  • Throne of Blood

    Throne of Blood

    Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Isuzu Yamada
    • Released: 1957
    • Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
    Throne of Blood is a 1957 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film transposes the plot of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth to feudal Japan, with stylistic elements drawn from Noh drama.