The top 15 best samurai movies of all time
13-15. The Samurai trilogy: Miyamoto Musashi (1954), Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955), Duel on Ganryu Island (1956) This is a 3-film series about the life of Miyamoto Musashi, a famous Japanese swordsman (played by Toshiro Mifune) who is considered the greatest samurai and most skilled swordsmen in history. What I loved about this movie is how it clearly shows the distinction between the non-samurai and the samurai - not only in skill, but in courage, strength and honor. Mifune portrays this perfectly as the restless orphan grows into a man.
12. Samurai Assassin (1965) This is an inspiring move about Tsuruchiyo Niiro (played by Mifune), an ambitious samurai who recognizes an opportunity and lets nothing get in the way of achieving his goal.
11. Love and Honor (2006) I have yet to see this movie, but I am guessing it will be worthy of the list since it is directed by Yoji Yamada and it recently tied a record at the Japan Academy Awards with nominations in 12 out of 15 categories. It would have had 13, but Takuya Kimura rejected his nomination for best actor because he didn’t want to put himself “in a position of competing with other actors for the prize.�
10. Chushingura (1962) Referred to as the “Gone with the Wind of Japanese cinema,” this is a great movie based on the famous Japanese historic tale of the loyal 47 samurai. If you want to truly understand the samurai spirit, especially its emphasis on loyalty - watch this movie. 
9. Ran (1985) Kurosawa’s loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, and his last epic samurai movie (and most expensive), is beautifully filmed with great battle scenes. The film used approximately 1400 extras (each in a suit of armor) and 200 horses.
8. The Hidden Blade (2004) Yoji Yamada’s second samurai movie was nominated for 11 Japanese Academy Awards. There is little swordplay, but it is a thoughtful, well directed drama about several samurai during a time of change in the ruling and class structures of Japan.
7. Yojimbo (1961) Remade as the spaghetti western A Fistful of Dollars with Clint Eastwood, this is one of the Kurosawa-Mifune classics. Toshiro Mifune plays a crafty ronin who comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other.
6. Samurai Rebellion (1967) Directed by the less well known Masaki Kobayashi, this samurai movie does a great job at depicting the struggle between the individual and society. The mother of a feudal lord’s only heir is kidnapped away from her husband by the lord. The husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to get her back.
5. Sanjuro (1962) This sequel to Yojimbo is one of the lesser-known films of Kurosawa and Mifune, but just as good. As always, Mifune is perfect and Kurosawa directs my very favorite fight scene ever.
4. Throne of Blood (1957) Regarded as one of Kurosawa’s best films, this one uses the plot of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth in a samurai setting. The famous arrow scene at the end was in fact done with real arrows - the arrows hitting the wall were not done with special effects, but choreographed with archers.
3. Twilight Samurai (2002) Like Yamada’s The Hidden Blade, this film has few fight scenes and is different from many other samurai-themed films in that it concentrates on showing the main character’s everyday struggles instead of focusing on battles. It is still great and won an unprecedented 12 Japanese Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.
2. The Seven Samurai (1954) This well known Kurosawa film is not only a great samurai movie, but is usually regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. It was remade as the western The Magnificent Seven.
1. Harakiri (1962) This movie won the Special Jury Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1963 and is my favorite samurai film. Actor Nakadai and director Kobayashi are perfect together and their long-term collaboration is often compared to the working relationship between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune.
