The Shogun’s Guard, Shinsengumi

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.

Runtime

1h 56m

Director

Takeshi Kitano

Cast

Tadanobu Asano

A warrior-in-training and his bumbling friends go in pursuit of a stolen sword.

Runtime

1h 51m

Director

Hiroyuki Nakano

Cast

Morio Kazama, Tomoyasu Hotei, Tamaki Ogawa

In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

Runtime

1h 36m

Director

Akira Kurosawa

Cast

Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi

Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.

Runtime

2h 8m

Director

Takashi Miike

Cast

Kazuya Nakayama, Kaori Momoi, Ryuhei Matsuda

Zatoichi is sworn to protect the life of a young girl and without any real allies finds himself in the middle of a bloody turf war.

Runtime

1h 27m

Director

Kimiyoshi Yasuda

Cast

Shintarō Katsu, Shiho Fujimura, Ryūzō Shimada