Not Your Typical Samurai Film

So you've seen all the Kurosawa samurai films and still want more? You've watched Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai trilogy and Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri, and want to know where else to turn? Lucky for you, there are seemingly more Japanese samurai movies than there are stars in the sky. Here are but 13 of some of my favorites, some better known and some well obscure.

Shogun's Samurai: The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy (1978)
Kinji Fukasaku expands the popular TV show into a full-length movie. Stars Sonny Chiba as the titular, eye-patched Yagyu Jubei. Epic and all-encompassing.

Izo (2004)
Takashi Miike enters the world of the samurai with this fever-dream of a movie. Historical figure Izo Takada tumbles through space and time with but one desire: to kill. Exhausting and incredible.

When The Last Sword Is Drawn (2003)
Yojiro Takita's deconstructionist take on the samurai genre sneaks up on you and before you know it, you're completely captivated.

The Sword Of Doom (1965)
Oh man. Pure samurai nihilism. Or is that existentialism? A Sisyphean exercise that would have made Sartre proud.

The Hidden Blade (2004)
The second of Yoji Yamada's samurai films based on the novels of Shuhei Fujisawa, The Hidden Blade is less about chanbara (although there is masterful swordplay) and more about finding your place in society.

Goyokin (1969)
Hideo Gosha takes the chanbara to a frozen winter along the Japan Sea and creates one of the most serene Westerns ever made. That it's also a samurai film is beside the point.

Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)
Gosha's breakthrough film saw his hit TV series redrawn for the big screen. It's Seven Samurai minus four.

Gojoe (2000)
Sogo Ishii casts his eye back to the early, post-Heian days of the samurai with Gojoe, a mythic battle between a monk with a shameful past and deposed clan members. Truly cosmic.

Incident At Blood Pass (1970)
Toshiro Mifune reprises his Yojimbo role one last time for director Inagaki Hiroshi. Solid samurai action.

Azumi (2003)
Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus) injects a bit of wuxia into chanbara with Azumi, his "hot girl" samurai film. How much you'll love it depends on how hot you think Aya Ueto is.

Chushingura (1962)
The story of the loyal 47 ronin is one every Japanese citizen knows, and it makes for great samurai drama. In this version, Inagaki Hiroshi delivers a Technicolor masterpiece to rival Gone With The Wind for epicness.

Echo Of Destiny: Shadow Warriors 2 (1972)
More spaghetti western than anything else, this second film in the Shadow Warriors series find our trio of ninja-killing ronin escorting a cannon to a nihilistic conclusion. The best film Sergio Leone never made.

Hanzo The Razor: The Snare (1973)
Equal parts samurai, blaxploitation and loose cannon cop film (ala Dirty Harry), The Snare finds Edo-era samurai cop Hanzo (Zatoichi himself, Shintaro Katsu) investigating demonic abortion ceremonies. Bonus: written and directed by Yasuzo Masumura (Blind Beast).