Harakiri (1962), The Twilight Samurai (2002), The Sword of Doom (1966), Mishima (1985), The Last Samurai (2003), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011), Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai (1963) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Bushido movies.
Storyline: Peace in 17th-century Japan causes the Shogunate's breakup of warrior clans, throwing thousands of samurai out of work and into poverty. An honorable end to such fate under the samurai code is ritual suicide, or hara-kiri (self-inflicted disembowelment). An elder warrior, Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) seeks admittance to the house of a feudal lord to commit the act. There, he learns of the fate of his son-in-law, a young samurai who sought work at the house but was instead barbarically forced to commit traditional hara-kiri in an excruciating manner with a dull bamboo blade. In flashbacks the samurai tells the tragic story of his son-in-law, and how he was forced to sell his real sword to support his sick wife and child. Tsugumo thus sets in motion a tense showdown of revenge against the house.
Plot Keywords: honor, revenge, moral dilemma, ritual, tragedy, sacrifice, social criticism ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In the 19th century a woman (Rie Miyazawa) helps a widowed samurai (Hiroyuki Sanada) who must kill a rebellious swordsman.
Plot Keywords: historical drama, family, romance, social class, honor, loyalty, poverty ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Ryunosuke is a sociopathic samurai without compassion or scruples. When he is scheduled for an exhibition match at his fencing school, the wife of his opponent begs Ryunosuke to throw the match, offering her own virtue in trade. Ryunosuke accepts her offer, but kills her husband in the match. Over time, Ryunosuke is pursued by the brother of the man he killed. The brother trains with the master fencer Shimada. In the meantime, however, Ryunosuke earns the enmity of the band of assassins he runs with, and it becomes a question of who shall face him in final conflict.—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>
Plot Keywords: revenge, violence, moral decay, assassin, psychological conflict, film noir, fate ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese author Yukio Mishima. Three of the segments parallel events in Mishima's life with his novels (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Runaway Horses), while the fourth depicts the actual events of the 25th Nov. 1970, "The Last Day".—Nick Lopez <ntlopez@fas.harvard.edu>
Plot Keywords: biography, drama, art, japan, writer, literature, director ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In the 1870s, Captain Nathan Algren, a cynical veteran of the American Civil war who will work for anyone, is hired by Americans who want lucrative contracts with the Emperor of Japan to train the peasant conscripts for the first standing imperial army in modern warfare using firearms. The imperial Omura cabinet's first priority is to repress a rebellion of traditionalist Samurai -hereditary warriors- who remain devoted to the sacred dynasty but reject the Westernizing policy and even refuse firearms. Yet when his ill-prepared superior force sets out too soon, their panic allows the sword-wielding samurai to crush them. Badly wounded Algren's courageous stand makes the samurai leader Katsumoto spare his life; once nursed to health he learns to know and respect the old Japanese way, and participates as advisor in Katsumoto's failed attempt to save the Bushido tradition, but Omura gets repressive laws enacted- he must now choose to honor his loyalty to one of the embittered sides when ...
Plot Keywords: history, war, japanese culture, tradition vs modernity, honor, sacrifice, loyalty ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A hitman who lives by the code of the samurai, works for the mafia and finds himself in their crosshairs when his recent job doesn't go according to plan. Now he must find a way to defend himself and his honor while retaining the code he lives by.
Plot Keywords: gangster, assassin, loneliness, honor, new york, violence, loyalty ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A tale of revenge, honor and disgrace, centering on a poverty-stricken samurai who discovers the fate of his ronin son-in-law, setting in motion a tense showdown of vengeance against the house of a feudal lord.
Plot Keywords: revenge, honor, tragedy, moral dilemma, family, loyalty, sacrifice ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: After a salary-man's fiancée attempts suicide, he remembers his gruesome family history, which sees his ancestors sacrificing themselves for the sake of their cruel lords, and realizes that he's about to repeat their mistakes.
Plot Keywords: historical drama, loyalty, honor, violence, moral dilemma, black and white, ethics ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. The mission will change Manji in ways he could never imagine - the 100th film by master director Takashi Miike.
Plot Keywords: action, revenge, fantasy, gory, swordplay, japan, manga adaptation ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Nick Parker was a Vietnam vet who was blinded during the war. He was found by one of the local tribes, who taught him to enhance his remaining senses and to expertly wield a sword. On his return to the United States, he goes to visit an old Army buddy, Frank Devereaux, but discovers that he and his wife are divorced, and Frank no longer lives there. What they don't know is that Devereaux was playing in a crooked casino in Reno and accumulated a large debt. The casino boss is willing to forgive his debt if he does something for him: Devereaux is a chemist, and they want him to make designer drugs. In order to make sure he does it, they try to kidnap his son. But Nick is there, and Nick saves the boy. Thus begins a road trip to Vegas to protect the boy and save his friend, with the boss' henchmen in pursuit.
Plot Keywords: action, adventure, crime, revenge, violence, 1980s, american film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: While hunting in the forest, Lord Asano of Ako and his samurai find a young half-breed and take him with them to live in the castle. Several years later, Lord Asano holds a tournament to welcome the Shogun to Ako. The night after the tournament, Lord Asano is bewitched into hurting Lord Kira of Nagato, and is punished into committing seppuku by the Shogun. Realizing that it was a Lord Kira's evil plot, the samurais and the half-breed sets out for revenge against the Shogun's order.
Plot Keywords: revenge, loyalty, japan, history, action, fantasy, adventure ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: When George Tanner (Brian Keith) does business with the high-ranking Yakuza Tono, Tono kidnaps his daughter, and George summons his old friend Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum) to Japan to investigate. Harry starts by visiting his old flame, Eiko (Kishi Keiko), and enlists her brother, Ken (Takakura Ken), to help him search. Together, they find the girl, but Ken wounds one of Tono's men and is subsequently marked for death by the Yakuza. Wracked with guilt, Kilmer tries to exonerate Ken.
Plot Keywords: japan, crime, action, revenge, drama, violence, american film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: When a young soldier in Vietnam gets dumped by his girlfriend back home, he and his best friend decide to go AWOL and return to the States to win her back.
Plot Keywords: war, love, history, drama, japan, loyalty, honor ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: On a planet where humans must scavenge the post-apocalyptic barren wasteland, Hirokin, a reluctant samurai with a dark past sets off on a mission to fulfill his destiny. Having fought to the death to save his wife and son from the planet's evil dictator, Griffin, and his elite army of warriors, the lone samurai is left for dead in the vast desert. Armed with his samurai blade Hirokin is forced to choose between avenging the murder of his family and fighting for the freedom of his people. As he goes into war he'll discover a shocking revelation about his family leaving revenge running through his veins.—Elizabeth Obermeier, Marketing Manager
Plot Keywords: action, adventure, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, swordplay, hero's journey, revenge ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: While wandering through the wilds of Japan with his 3-year-old son, Daigoro, (Akihiro Tomikawa), assassin-for-hire Ogami Itto (Tomisaburô Wakayama) finds his next assignment -- he's hired to kill a merchant intent on revealing corporate secrets. On Ogami's tail, however, is a trio of female ninjas who have been sent to kill him and his son. When Ogami is wounded in battle, the toddler rises to the occasion and helps nurse his father back to health in time for a second sword fight.
Plot Keywords: revenge, violence, action, swordplay, bloody, epic, adventure ...
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