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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
| Good Swordsmanship Movies? |
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I've been on a quest for good sword-fighting flicks lately. Mostly of the Japanese samurai variety, but I'd be interested in others. Anyway, of those I've seen recently, the new Zatoichi (by Takeshi Kitano) is fantastic - not as heavy-going as most of Kitano's stuff, but hugely entertaining without being dumb. Azumi (by the guy who made Versus) is quite good - total nonsense, but with great action scenes and bizarre characters - entertaining AND dumb, it's like an OTT live-action anime. I also saw Twilight Samurai - not really about the fighting, and not action-heavy at all, but it's a brilliant film. A safe bet for any Kurosawa fans, I'd say.
I've ordered the "Musashi Miyamoto" samurai trilogy, which I've heard is excellent, but it hasn't arrived yet, and I really want to get hold of the Lone Wolf and Cub (Babycart) movies. Leaving Japan, I also found Ridley Scott's The Duellists cheap on Ebay - that is on the way, along with Barry Lyndon (really don't know much about it, other than it looks lovely, and I do kinda like Kubrick).
What swordsmanship films would you recommend? I really prefer the more serious, realistic stuff, but I don't mind the odd OTT action-fest as long as the choreography and direction are good. There's a few specific films I'd like to find out about:
Rônin-gai (primarily the 1990 version, but the older ones would be of interest too);
"Three Outlaw Samurai," Goyokin, or Hitokiri by Hideo Gosha.
[edit]: oh yeah, Hitokiri is also known as "Tenchu!" [/edit]
Ages ago, I saw the video for Photek's "Two Swords Technique" which featured lots of amazing shots from what looked like a black & white samurai movie - now, I don't know if these were made just for the music video, but I suspect not as the main guy looked an awful lot like Toshiro Mifune, but I have no idea what the film (if it exists) could have been. Anyone shed any light on this?
Or any other sword-fighting recommendations, of any nationality. En garde!  |
Sun May 30, 2004 8:43 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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I've always been partial to the duel on the cliffs in The Princess Bride. 
The lightsaber battles in Star Wars... all of them are good (and getting better with each movie... probably the only thing that is).
I like the sword fighting in Gladiator... it's not showy, it's functional... like sword fighting should be.
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Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Mon May 31, 2004 6:59 am |
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RPG Frog
Blade Runner
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Posts: 748
Location: the Matrix |
Sword of Doom is probably the greatest sword movie ever!!! This is my fave Samurai movie of all time. It's only on VHS...don't buy garbage ebay bootlegs of it. It has some true swordsmanship scenes.
Musashi Trilogy is excellent. You should read the book it is based on by Eji Yoshikawa. His other book Taiko is excellent also.
All 5 Lone Wolf & Cub movies rule. Very unrealistic.
Zatoichis are cool...but not realistic in swordsmanship. There are 20 + movies in that series.
Seven Samurai has real swordsmanship. This is because he trained with Mr. Suguino.
Other movies you might enjoy are RAN, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Throne of Blood, Shogun:miniseries, Chushingura.
Also, if you can find it...BUDO-The Art of Killing has real martial-arts. It came out in 1980. It shows true Karate, Aikido, Judo, and Sword styles by the top masters of Japan at that time. This is nothing like what you will see on ESPN.
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Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities…there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars…Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand…to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet. - Robert E. Howard
Last edited by RPG Frog on Tue Jun 29, 2004 4:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Tue Jun 01, 2004 5:57 pm |
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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
You know, I've never seen The Princess Bride. Have heard lots of praise for it though...
I loved the lightsabre fights with Darth Maul, but they were so short and he was a ridiculously underused character. Shame.
@kengo, what a coincidence! After posting the other night, I searched imdb and the like for movies, found Sword of Doom and bought it (it's out on DVD now too). Quite looking forward to that one after reading some reviews (I almost feel like I need to half-cover my eyes when I'm reading imdb reviews, they are so often full of spoilers with no warnings). And I have the Kurosawa films you mentioned & love them all, except I haven't watched Throne of Blood yet. Hadn't heard of the last 2 you mentioned - the documentary sounds great, as for Chushingura... do you know what year it is from or who directed it? Looking it up on imdb, there's a few matches.
Have you seen the new Zatoichi? I wouldn't know about the realism and it is as concerned with character and story as it is with the action (so not packed with fight scenes), but it is very entertaining and well made.
Cheers for the suggestions, guys. Have at you! |
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Tue Jun 01, 2004 7:02 pm |
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Wulf
The Shepherd
Joined: 20 Sep 2003
Posts: 2312
Location: North/West.England |
On reading this thread, i find i am completetly out of touch/with these titles, on the surface i'm not an avid follower, but hey, somewhere inside me is a secret admiration for good sword/sequences, good story ties with the swordplay is even better, so the one that caught my eye was a few years ago, i don't even know the name of the film, i saw only about half of it, but it was good and very "deep" the only thing i remember was it starred, of all people Bert Lancaster, he was a samurai master, i hadn't seen him in such a part before, if i new what the title was i would definately search for it, would anyone know of it?  |
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Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:56 pm |
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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
That sounds interesting, but a quick look on imdb didn't reveal the title to me. I could easily have missed it, as old Burt acted in a hell of a lot of movies. Plus, I got sidetracked into reading the user comments for Ulzana's Raid, one of my favourite westerns (not a sword-fighting film).
Between my hit-and-miss searching and kengo's advice, I've seen a few good ones lately, mostly Japanese. The aforementioned Sword Of Doom is excellent. I finally got around to watching Throne Of Blood, and it's incredible! Blew me away. Hidden Fortress, too, which was a blast. I saw Musa (aka Musa: The Warrior), which was decent - a bit "Hollywood" in places, but still good. It's essentially Saving Private Ryan in 14th Century China/Korea. And I eventually saw all of the Musashi Miyamoto trilogy, which was great. I think the 2nd is my favourite (the scene where Musashi uses the marshy ground to force his opponents' positioning is superb, as is the opening duel with the kusari-gama (sp?) weilder).
I saw a film called Three Outlaw Samurai, the debut feature of Hideo Gosha (who was apparently the first ever Japanese director to move from TV to feature films), and it's brilliant, especially for a first film. I'm on the lookout for two of his others of high repute: Tenchu! (aka Hitokiri, I think), and Goyokin. Unfortunately, I think the latter is only available on DVD in France (no English subs). Keep an eye out for these, Kengo, on the strength of Three Outlaw Samurai I think they might be your kind of film. Hard to find, though. And I bought the recommended version of Chushingura (the one with Toshiro Mifune) and have watched half - thoroughly enjoying it so far.
I'd recommend all of the above to... erm... probably anyone who clicked on this topic, I guess. I also saw Lady Snowblood recently, supposedly a big Kill Bill influence - great story, but a hit-and-miss film, IMO. Some bits are excellent, others are kind of trashy. Not entirely to my taste, but certainly worth a look. I have the sequel lying around as well, but it hasn't made its way to the DVD player yet.
Oh yeah, The Duellists was very good too - some of the non-fighting content was a bit weak, but it looks absolutely stunning (best-looking Ridley Scott film - even better-looking than Blade Runner? Maybe) and every one of the many fight scenes is superb. Respect to Harvey Keitel, he never handled a sword before making this film, but he is (as usual) totally convincing.
Erm... 'tis but a scratch! |
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Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:33 pm |
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|comy|
Eager Tradesman
Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Posts: 42
Location: Slovenia |
I would recommend to you Berserk. ( anime ) The story takes place in sort of medieval times, with lots of cool sword-fights, the atmosphere is somewhat dark. I loved it. Two thumbs up !
The next one is Rurouni Kenshin OVA
This is also an anime, which is also a historic-swordfight-drama. Excellent fights, grasping story, but it is very intelligently made. One of my favourite movies !
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now as the lights go down
deeper now it seems than long before
there are no noises here
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Sat Jul 03, 2004 5:36 pm |
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Wulf
The Shepherd
Joined: 20 Sep 2003
Posts: 2312
Location: North/West.England |
As mentioned previously, i've little knowledge on the samurai films, i also had no luck in finding Burts unknown film.
I have to admit that searching for samurai topics has got me somewhat curious/interested, many of the "samurai" led films seem to be searching for something deeper than nostalgia, something more like authenticity or "we can make a more authentic film than the previous" ? - i not sure, however i did find a site with good detailed info' . bibliography, web-ring (forum) and other original subjects of the Japanese way's.
http://www.sengoku.com/store.html
a very interesting topic., one i could definately get into.  |
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Wed Jul 07, 2004 11:00 pm |
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piln
High Emperor
Joined: 22 May 2003
Posts: 906
Location: Leeds, UK |
I've encountered a similar way of thinking with regards to kung-fu films - most of my mates who are into these films are primarily interested in the range of moves & styles on show and aren't really interested in the quality of plot, acting, etc. For me, the quality of the film is more important, but I do still enjoy poor/average films to a certain extent, if they have some dazzling action sequences (eg, all the Jackie Chan films I've seen in the last few years - except The Tuxedo, that was just terrible). Of course, it's great when both aspects are strong - like in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
All of the samurai flicks I've watched recently have been what I was looking for - ie, great films that just happened to depict lots of swordsmanship in a suitable way (realistic and believable for the most part, OTT and exhilerating in the case of Azumi). Lucky, I guess, as I am sure there are plenty of movies out there that are authentic swordsmanship showcases, but poor films.
I tracked down a copy of my favourite old-school martial arts flick the other day - The Magnificent Butcher, starring Sammo Hung. I reckon anyone who likes stuff like Mr.Vampire, Iron Monkey, etc. will enjoy this one.
Strangely I seem to have forgotten a film that fits in quite well with this topic - Hero (Chinese movie starring Jet Li, made quite recently - 2000-2002 - but I'm not sure if it's had a US/UK release yet). It's perhaps a bit pretentious and overly grand in places, but it's still a really good film - with some great fight scenes! Apparently there's a sequel called "House of Flying Daggers" which I'm quite looking forward to.
Pen & paper samurai roleplaying, eh? I would have been into that during my p&p days. What I long for now is a game with the tense, lethal combat of Bushido Blade, but in an adventure/CRPG structure. But it seems the Bushido Blade way has been abandoned now, in favour of more traditional - but totally unrealistic - mechanics. |
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Fri Jul 09, 2004 10:31 pm |
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Beliarsclew
Victim Of The Greed
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 581
Location: Jordan-Middle East |
Nope!
Hercules is good, dragon heart isn't bad, balde is great, samuri is good and gothic is da best..
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<Sigh>.Time.Passes.Quickly. </Sigh> |
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Mon Jul 12, 2004 8:48 pm |
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X-dANGEr
Unknown Destiny
Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 2383
Location: The X place |
i think blade is a great swordmanship movie.
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Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:51 am |
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Gig
Southern Spirit
Joined: 20 Feb 2002
Posts: 3226
Location: NFG Headquarters |
The 1938 classic "The Adventures of Robin Hood". I'm still in awe of the final climactic sword battle between Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone. I've never seen a better sword fighting film--even though lot's of films today have good sword fights. Even television for that matter--"Highlander" had some very spectacular and stunning weapon choreography. |
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Sat Jul 17, 2004 3:39 pm |
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Beliarsclew
Victim Of The Greed
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 581
Location: Jordan-Middle East |
I think that "Troy" is a great sword-fighting movie ZORO is great and the three muskteers isn't bad. 
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<Sigh>.Time.Passes.Quickly. </Sigh> |
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Sun Jul 18, 2004 9:32 pm |
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