Fuminori Ôhashi
2021用心棒
Akira Kurosawa
Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
Akira Kurosawa
Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai
Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
Sanjuro
Throne of Blood
Akira Kurosawa
Toshirō Mifune, Isuzu Yamada
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
Throne of Blood
隠し砦の三悪人
Akira Kurosawa
Toshirō Mifune, Minoru Chiaki
Japanese peasants Matashichi and Tahei try and fail to make a profit from a tribal war. They find a man and woman whom they believe are simple tribe members hiding in a fortress. Although the peasants don't know that Rokurota is a general and Yuki is a princess, the peasants agree to accompany the pair to safety in return for gold. Along the way, the general must prove his expertise in battle while also hiding his identity.
The Hidden Fortress
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
Hiroshi Inagaki
Toshirō Mifune, Koji Tsuruta
A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun, Japan's most powerful clan leader. He's also challenged to fight by the supremely confident and skillful Sasaki Kojiro. Takezo agrees to fight Kojiro in a year's time but rejects Shogun's patronage, choosing instead to live on the edge of a village, raising vegetables. He's followed there by Otsu and later by Akemi, both in love with him. The year ends as Takezo assists the villagers against a band of brigands. He seeks Otsu's forgiveness and accepts her love, then sets off across the water to Ganryu Island for his final contest.
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
Yagyû bugeichô
Hiroshi Inagaki
Toshirō Mifune, Koji Tsuruta
In the Tokugawa Era, the clan of Lord Yagyu has hidden away three scrolls containing clan secrets which, if revealed, would cause revolution and disaster for the clan. The information is divided among the three scrolls, all of which must be possessed for the secrets to be understood. When Princess Yuhime steals the scrolls, Tasaburo, a samurai with magical powers, and his brother Senshiro are sent to retrieve them.
Yagyu Secret Scrolls
江戸に現れたキングコング
Sôya Kumagai
Eizaburo Matsumoto, Fuminori Ôhashi
A lost film considered one of Japan's first Tokusatsu films. The effects were done by Fuminori Ohashi, who claims to have been a modeling consultant for Godzilla 1954 (this claim is disputed by modeler Eizo Kaimai and art staff member Shinji Hiruma). The film's synopsis published in the March 1938 issue of Kinema Junpo indicates that the "Kong" featured in this film was not actually a giant monster.
The King Kong That Appeared in Edo
幻の怪獣アゴン
Tokuo Mine, Fuminori Ôhashi
Shinji Hirota, Asao Matsumoto
A re-edit of the 1964 Agon miniseries created by screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa, who wrote the majority of the original Showa Godzilla films. It was released by Toho Video in the 1980s and on dvd in 2005.
Phantom Monster Agon
