Cinema Chanbara
by Samurai-Noir | created - 17 Feb 2014 | updated - 13 Apr 2021 | Public1960s samurai cinema in all its monochromatic grandeur.
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1. Onibaba (1964)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Two women kill samurai and sell their belongings for a living. While one of them is having an affair with their neighbor, the other woman meets a mysterious samurai wearing a bizarre mask.
Director: Kaneto Shindô | Stars: Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Satô, Jûkichi Uno
Votes: 21,863
2. The Sword of Doom (1966)
Not Rated | 120 min | Action, Drama
Through his unconscionable actions against others, a sociopath samurai builds a trail of vendettas that follow him closely.
Director: Kihachi Okamoto | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Yûzô Kayama, Yôko Naitô
Votes: 12,076
3. Black Cat (1968)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Horror
Two women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.
Director: Kaneto Shindô | Stars: Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Satô, Rokkô Toura
Votes: 8,579
4. Yojimbo (1961)
Not Rated | 110 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tôno, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa
Votes: 131,378
5. Sanjuro (1962)
Not Rated | 96 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen trying to save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yûnosuke Itô
Votes: 41,136
6. The Betrayal (1966)
87 min | Action, Drama
A naively honorable samurai comes to the bitter realization that his devotion to moral samurai principles makes him an oddity among his peers and a very vulnerable oddity in consequence.
Director: Tokuzô Tanaka | Stars: Raizô Ichikawa, Kaoru Yachigusa, Shiho Fujimura, Ichirô Nakatani
Votes: 304
7. Samurai Wolf II (1967)
72 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Kiba is caught in the intrigue between a crooked goldmine owner, a cynical, betrayed swordsman, a manipulative lady and an arrogant dojo master.
Director: Hideo Gosha | Stars: Isao Natsuyagi, Ichirô Nakatani, Bin Amatsu, Yûko Kusunoki
Votes: 499
8. Samurai Wolf (1966)
75 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A charismatic ronin gets snared into a conflict between officials at a waystation, and gains the enmity of a group of thugs.
Director: Hideo Gosha | Stars: Isao Natsuyagi, Ryôhei Uchida, Junko Miyazono, Tatsuo Endô
Votes: 775
9. Harakiri (1962)
Not Rated | 133 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
When a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba
Votes: 68,689
10. Kill! (1968)
Not Rated | 115 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
Two ronin - an ex-samurai and an ex-farmer - get caught up in a local official's complex game of murder and betrayal.
Director: Kihachi Okamoto | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Etsushi Takahashi, Yuriko Hoshi, Tadao Nakamaru
Votes: 3,178
11. Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)
Not Rated | 94 min | Action, Drama
When poor peasants kidnap a magistrate's daughter to coerce him into reducing their unfair taxes, a wandering ronin decides to give them some help.
Director: Hideo Gosha | Stars: Tetsurô Tanba, Isamu Nagato, Mikijirô Hira, Miyuki Kuwano
Votes: 3,993
12. Sword of the Beast (1965)
Not Rated | 85 min | Action, Drama
After killing a counselor of his clan, a fugitive samurai befriends a couple poaching the shogun's gold in the mountains.
Director: Hideo Gosha | Stars: Mikijirô Hira, Gô Katô, Shima Iwashita, Toshie Kimura
Votes: 3,092
13. Assassination (1964)
104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In 1863, when Americans warships approach Japan, a enigmatic ronin becomes a important figure in a complex game of power between the Shogunate and the empire.
Director: Masahiro Shinoda | Stars: Tetsurô Tanba, Shima Iwashita, Eiji Okada, Isao Kimura
Votes: 969
14. Samurai Spy (1965)
Not Rated | 99 min | Action, Drama
The legendary samurai Sasuke Sarutobi gets caught in a web of political intrigue, deception and espionage during the early 17th century.
Director: Masahiro Shinoda | Stars: Hiroshi Aoyama, Jun Hamamura, Osamu Hitomi, Minoru Hodaka
Votes: 1,860
15. Samurai Assassin (I) (1965)
122 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
February 17 to March 3, 1860, inside Edo castle. A group of assassins wait by Sakurada Gate to kill the lord of the House of Ii, a powerful man in the Tokugawa government, which has ruled ... See full summary »
Director: Kihachi Okamoto | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Keiju Kobayashi, Michiyo Aratama, Yûnosuke Itô
Votes: 2,508
16. 13 Assassins (1963)
Not Rated | 125 min | Adventure, Action
A group of samurai plan to assassinate a sadistic feudal lord.
Director: Eiichi Kudô | Stars: Takayuki Akutagawa, Chiezô Kataoka, Kôtarô Satomi, Ryôhei Uchida
Votes: 1,045
17. The Third Shadow Warrior (1963)
104 min | Action, Drama
A warlords' retainer offers a farmer the chance to become a samurai, but he is instead forced to serve as a double of the warlord at expense of his freedom.
Director: Umetsugu Inoue | Stars: Raizô Ichikawa, Hizuru Takachiho, Masayo Banri, Katsuhiko Kobayashi
Votes: 262
18. The Great Killing (1964)
Not Rated | 118 min | Action, Drama
A Shogunate Elder connives to rule Japan by making his puppet, the Shogun's brother Tsunashige, the next Shogun. The best strategist in Japan, Yamaga, leads a plot to stop the Elder, but ... See full summary »
Director: Eiichi Kudô | Stars: Takayuki Akutagawa, Kôtarô Satomi, Chôichirô Kawarasaki, Mikijirô Hira
Votes: 395
19. Samurai from Nowhere (1964)
93 min | Action, Adventure
The adventures of a ronin, a samurai without a feudal lord, trying to achieve safety in a neighbouring domain.
Director: Seiichirô Uchikawa | Stars: Isamu Nagato, Tetsurô Tanba, Shima Iwashita, Chieko Baishô
Votes: 179
20. Samurai Rebellion (1967)
Not Rated | 128 min | Drama
The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped away from her husband by the lord. The husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to get her back.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Yôko Tsukasa, Gô Katô, Tatsuyoshi Ehara
Votes: 14,095
21. Revenge (1964)
Not Rated | 104 min | Action, Drama
After killing a high-ranking officer in an illegal duel, a low-ranking samurai is declared insane and challenged to a fixed duel by the vengeful clan to which his dead opponent belonged to.
Director: Tadashi Imai | Stars: Kinnosuke Nakamura, Tetsurô Tanba, Yoshiko Mita, Takahiro Tamura
Votes: 519
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