need help identifying a samurai movie

March 11, 2005 1:41 PM

A friend recently told me about an old samurai movie he saw in high school. All he can remember about it is the basic points of the plot. The main character is a guy whose clan is killed by a rival clan of samurai. From what my friend tells me, the movie mostly consists of the main character training and preparing himself to get revenge. In the end, he goes to the rival clan and kills all of them except for their leader. The leader, in turn, kills the main character. I know it's vague, but does this plot sound familiar to anyone? What is the movie called?
posted by joedan to media & arts (10 comments total)

I assume it's Japanese?
Any idea which decade it was made?
posted by hellbient at 1:51 PM on March 11, 2005

it is japanese. he has no idea what decade it was made in, other than "it was old."
posted by joedan at 2:04 PM on March 11, 2005

Is it black and white?
posted by sciurus at 3:31 PM on March 11, 2005

That sounds so familiar that I'm sure I've seen it, although I can't remember what it was called. The only time I've ever watched samurai movies, though, was when I took a course called "Constructing the Samurai" in ... maybe 1999 or 2000. You could maybe email the prof?
posted by uncleozzy at 4:13 PM on March 11, 2005

Is the samurai a rabbit?
posted by brownpau at 4:15 PM on March 11, 2005

Is this just a very subtle joke? This describes nearly every samurai flick.
posted by Evstar at 4:18 PM on March 11, 2005

scicurus: yes. black and white.

brownpau: not a rabbit.

evstar: no joke. admittedly my knowledge of samurai films is limited, but i know i've never seen one quite like this. when my friend was telling me about it he emphasized how the film centered on the main character training, so it builds up this expectation that he's going to go kick some ass, but then when it comes down to the final fight he gets killed. he described the ending as enjoyably disappointing. i guess that's why i want to track it down.
posted by joedan at 5:01 PM on March 11, 2005

In all honesty, there are a large number of samurai movies like this. With the emphasis on training, and many with the disappointing ending.

Now, if you know even one actor name, or any information like the clan names, then it might be trackable. Any more information at all could make this trackable.
posted by Saydur at 5:53 PM on March 11, 2005

Doubt this will help much, but when it comes to old samurai films, knowing who directed it can go a long way. Peace.
posted by Neosamurai85 at 6:32 PM on March 11, 2005

unfortunately, i don't have any more information than what i have already posted. that being the case, can anyone recommend a good movie in the samurai-trains-then-killed-at-the-end subgenre?
posted by joedan at 2:22 AM on March 12, 2005