The best Akiji Kobayashi’s action movies

Akiji Kobayashi

Akiji Kobayashi

06/09/1930- 27/08/1996
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Akiji Kobayashi’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Akiji Kobayashi.

Godzilla vs. Mothra

Godzilla vs. Mothra
6.1/10
Mothra's dark counterpart, Battra, emerges to eliminate humanity on behalf of the Earth. Two tiny fairies called the Cosmos offer their help by calling Mothra to battle the creature. Unfortunately a meteorite has awoken a hibernating Godzilla as a three way battle for the Earth begins.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
6.5/10
The Futurians, time-travelers from the 23rd century, arrive in Japan to warn them of the nation's destruction under Godzilla. They offer to help erase Godzilla from history by preventing his creation. With Godzilla seemingly gone, a new monster emerges as the Futurians' true intentions are revealed.

Harakiri

Harakiri
8.6/10
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx
7.9/10
  • Genre: ActionDrama
  • Release: 22/04/1972
  • Character: Ozunu Kurokuwa
In the second film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Ogami Itto battles a group of female ninja in the employ of the Yagyu clan and must assassinate a traitor who plans to sell his clan's secrets to the Shogunate.

Shogun Assassin

Shogun Assassin
7.3/10
  • Genre: Action
  • Release: 11/11/1980
  • Character: Master of Death (as Shoji Kobayashi)
A Shogun who grew paranoid as he became senile sent his ninjas to kill his samurai. They failed but did kill the samurai’s wife. The samurai swore to avenge the death of his wife and roams the countryside with his toddler son in search of vengeance.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance
7.7/10
  • Genre: ActionDrama
  • Release: 15/01/1972
  • Character: Narrator
In this first film of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, adapted from the manga by Kazuo Koike, we are told the story of the Lone Wolf and Cub's origin. Ogami Itto, the official Shogunate executioner, has been framed for disloyalty to the Shogunate by the Yagyu clan, against whom he now is waging a one-man war, along with his infant son, Daigoro.

Youth of the Beast

Youth of the Beast
7.3/10
When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence.

Kamen Rider V3: The Movie

Kamen Rider V3: The Movie
4.8/10
During a battle against Destron's forces, Shiro Kazami helps a priest who has been attacked by the evil organization's kaijin Hasami-Jaguar. Little does he know that the church where the priest resides is a front for a Destron hideout. After finding out the organization's latest motive, Kamen Rider V3, along with the Double Riders, must stop Destron from detonating a nuclear bomb in Tokyo.

Bakumatsu seishun graffiti: Ronin Sakamoto Ryoma

Bakumatsu seishun graffiti: Ronin Sakamoto Ryoma
6.8/10

Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice

Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice
6.6/10
Fearless Edo-period police inspector Hanzo Itami, nicknamed The Razor, has developed his own unique way of extracting information for his inquiries. His first adventure sees him investigating his superior officer's mistress, whom he suspects of having ties with a reputed criminal on the loose.

Akio Jissoji's Ultraman

Akio Jissoji's Ultraman
7.1/10
Akio Jissoji's Ultraman is a 1979 Japanese tokusatsu kaiju film directed by Akio Jissoji. It is a compilation film made up of scenes from Jissoji's episodes of the original Ultraman TV series.

Death Shadows

Death Shadows
6/10
  • Genre: Action
  • Release: 20/09/1986
Three men sentenced to death are spared and changed into “shadows executioners”, a group of ruthless ninja working for mysterious high ranking officials. During their investigation on some illegal business, one of them, called “Yazuke the Viper”, finds his abandoned daughter, Ocho, who has now become a mistress of Denzo, a smuggler. After Yazuke’s death, Ocho is also recruited as a “shadows executioner”, with the task of completing her father’s mission.

Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature

Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature
7.3/10
The film consists of re-edited material from the original television series Ultraman. Episodes 1, 8, 26, and 27 were used for the film. They were narrated by Hikari Urano as an "Ultraman Documentary". Allegedly only one new scene was shot, and that some parts of the movie where shot in black and white for unknown reasons. The movie screened at the same time as the Toho movie King Kong Escapes.

Kamen Rider X the Movie

Kamen Rider X the Movie
4.5/10
A little girl named Sayoko witnesses the murder of an Interpol agent by the G.O.D. kaijin Hercules. Keisuke Jin saves her before Hercules disposes of her. Sayoko tells Keisuke that G.O.D. is targeting an important official named Kibara. Kamen Rider X has his hands full when G.O.D abducts Kibara and takes Sayoko and her mother hostage.

Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle

Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle
A 1979 Japanese tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Tsuburaya Productions, consisting of re-edited material from the original television series Ultraman. Ultraman: The Great Decisive Battle was the 1st movie of the third Showa phase (Jissouji's Ultraman being first and Ultra Brothers vs. The Monster Army being second) and because of this Tsuburaya decided to make this a reunion of the last 12 Ultras (aside from Ultraman 80 which hadn't come out yet). Tsuburaya decided to give this a different tone than Jissouji's Ultraman, having more new scenes and appealing to the all-Ultra fan.

Daigoro vs. Goliath

Daigoro vs. Goliath
5/10
An inventor and his family try to raise funds to feed a giant monster named Daigoro so that he doesn't shrink. Meanwhile, a meteor lands into the sea bringing with it another giant monster named Goliath. Will Daigoro be able to stop Goliath?

Kamen Rider vs. Ambassador Hell

Kamen Rider vs. Ambassador Hell
5.8/10
Takeshi Hongo and FBI agent Kazuya Taki fake their deaths when they are attacked by Shocker soldiers during a motocross race. They disguise themselves as Shocker soldiers and infiltrate the main headquarters, but it doesn't take too long for Ambassador Hell to find their whereabouts and trap them. Before he detonates a bomb within the base, Ambassador Hell tells Kamen Rider 1 and Taki that Shocker is preparing a giant laser capable of destroying cities. Our two heroes must escape from the base's self-destruction and stop Shocker from arming their latest weapon. Not only that, they must rescue Tachibana and the racing club, who have been abducted by Shocker's minions.

All Together! Seven Kamen Riders!!

All Together! Seven Kamen Riders!!
6.6/10
The special opens with Tachibana Tōbei taking some children to a Kamen Rider roadshow. Just as he's reminiscing about all the heroic modified humans he's lived alongside- Ichigō, Nigō, V3, Riderman, X, Amazon, Stronger and Tackle- the first seven Riders gradually show up to greet him in their human guises, unrecognised by the crowds. When it's revealed that the kaijin onstage are 'real', not actors, the Riders henshin to save the crowd and Rider actors, uniting their power to defeat the Delzer Army's true leader, Great General Darkness in his hideout beneath the stadium.

Karate Cop

Karate Cop
6.3/10
A martial arts master/detective investigates a series of murders and helps a deaf bathhouse attendant, Hisako.

Kamen Rider Amazon

Kamen Rider Amazon
4.8/10
The Kamen Rider Amazon movie is a theatrical version of episode 16, Garander's Tokyo Sea of Flames Operation!!, depicting Gengoro Beastman's attempt to execute Garanda's Tokyo Sea of Flame plan.

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