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Chanbara!--Samurai action films!

Chanbara is the genre of Japanese swordfighting cinema, period action films starring samural warriors. Some of Japan's most noteworthy and acclaimed films, including much of the work of renowned directors like Akira Kurosawa. Chanbara has been influenced by, and in turn influenced, other film genres like the western, swashbucklers, gangster films and martial arts films.

User from Hamilton Public Library

15 items

  • Considered one of the greatest films of all time. Seven Samurai is the classic tale of seven wandering warriors coming to aid a poor, oppressed farming village from a gang of bandits. One of many classic pairings of legendary director Akira Kurosawa…
    DVD, 1998[Chicago] : Home Vision : Dist. by Public Media, [1998] — SEV
  • Based on the acclaimed manga series by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. A disgraced swordsman and his infant son undertake a bloody path of vengeance against those who dishonoured their name.
    DVD, 2004Port Washington, N.Y. : Koch Vision, 2004. — DVD LON
  • Kurosawa's classic tale, inspired by American westerns and film noir. A wandering swordsman comes to town, finding two competing crime lords have set up shop. By playing them against each other, he brings them into bloody conflict. The direct…
    DVD, 1999[Place of publication not identified] : Criterion Collection, 1999. — YOJ
  • A young woman uses all her talents to avenge the horrible crimes committed against her family. A major inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films.
    DVD, 2004Wilmington, NC : AnimEigo, 2004.
  • DVD, 2005Wilmington, NC : AnimEigo, [2005] — INC
  • DVD, 1998Wilmington, NC : AnimEigo, 1998. — DVD SAM
  • A petty lord's most skilled swordsman rebels when his master dishonours his family. Starring Toshiro Mifune.
    DVD, 2005Irvington, NY : Janus Films, [2005] — DVD SAM
  • The hidden fortress

    Kakushi-toride no san-akunin

    After a battle between two clans, two bumbling peasants are unwittingly drafted by the princess-heir of the losing side to smuggle her family's hidden treasure away to safety. A major influence on George Lucas' first Star Wars film.
    DVD, 2009New York : Criterion Collection : Janus Films, 2009. — DVD HID
  • The last film epic by legendary Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa. Ran adapts King Lear and the similar Japanese legend of the feudal lord Mori Motonari to the chanbara genre.
    DVD, 2003New York : Wellspring Media Inc., 2003. — RAN
  • This 1958 film is one of dozens of adaptations of the tale of the forty-seven ronin, the actual (but heavily romanticized) story of the loyal retainers of a lord maneuvered by a rival into committing ritual suicide. Rather than immediately join him…
    DVD, 2009Wilmington, NC : Distributed by AnimEigo, [2009] — DVD LOY
  • 47 ronin

    Shijūshichinin no shikaku

    A 1994 adaptation of the legend of the 47 Ronin.
    DVD, 2007Wilmington, NC : AnimEigo, 2007. — FOR
  • Legendary director Akira Kurosawa loosely adapts Shakespeare's MacBeth to the chanbara genre. Starring Toshiro Mifune.
    DVD, 2009Los Angeles, Calif. : Janus Films : Criterion Collection, [2009] — DVD THR
  • The first film in Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai trilogy, based on the novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, about the famous swordsman and author of The Book of Five Rings. Starring Toshiro Mifune.
    DVD, 1998[Chicago, Ill.] : Home Vision, 1998. — MUS
  • The second film in Inagaki's Samurai trilogy about the famous swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi. Starring Toshiro Mifune as Musashi.
    DVD, 1998Chatsworth, CA : Criterion Collection, 1998. — DUE
  • The final film in Inagaki's Samurai trilogy, starring Toshiro Mifune as the famous swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi.
    DVD, 1998Chatsworth, CA : Image Entertainment, 1998. — DUE