The best Mikijiro Hira’s action movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Mikijiro Hira’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 Mikijiro Hira.
13 Assassins
7.5/10
A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.
Goemon
6.6/10
Follow the infamous ninja bandit named Ishikawa Goemon (Yosuke Eguchi) in an epic story. One night while looting treasure from Nanban (Southern Barbarians), Goemon finds a mysterious box hidden inside a secret grave. A forgotten relic from the past containing untold powers.
Azumi 2: Death or Love
6.2/10
Young assassins Azumi and Nagara continue their mission to prevent a civil war. In their hunt for Masayuki Sanada, who is protected by both an army and a dangerous clan, they meet Ginkaku, a person who shows a remarking resemblance with former friend Nachi.
Three Outlaw Samurai
7.6/10
Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard, Sakura and Kikyo. The three outlaws find themselves in a battle to the death.
Sword of the Beast
7.5/10
Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Gosha's Sword of the Beast chronicles the flight of the low-level swordsman Gennosuke, who kills one of his ministers as part of a reform plot. His former comrades then turn on him, and this betrayal so shakes his sense of honor that he decides to live in the wild, like an animal. There he joins up with a motley group who are illegally mining the shogun’s gold, and, with the aid of another swordsman, gets a chance not just at survival but to recover his name and honor.
Pistol Opera
6.3/10
An assassin fends off numerous attacks from her comrades, who are trying to move up in rank by killing off the competition.
Adventures of Zatoichi
7.2/10
Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman looking for her father, a village leader who has disappeared. As he helps her investigate the disappearance, Zatoichi also becomes involved with another young woman who is trying to help her brother, who has murdered someone at about the same time and place as the missing man was last seen.
Cash Calls Hell
7.4/10
Before leaving prison, Oida uncomfortably enters into an agreement with his cell mate: in exchange for a half-share of 30,000,000 yen, he is to assassinate three strangers given to him on a list. However, upon meeting his first potential victim, Oida has second thoughts. Yet, even as he tries to back out, the body count starts climbing. Oida must now try to alert the people on his list of their impending danger, and find out why they are being targeted in the first place.
Ninja Kids!!!
5.8/10
The film stars Seishiro Kato as Rantaro who is sent to a ninja training school by his parents. During the summer, their teacher is invaded by a group of rival ninjas culminating in a race to ring a bell on top of a mountain.
Miyamoto Musashi: Birth of Two Sword Style
6.8/10
In the third installment of Yoshikawa's novel Musashi, things continue from the 2nd film at the end of battle, where Miyamoto continues on a mission of learning; with the introduction of his arch-rival Sasaki Kojiro; and lastly the large cast of characters rendezvouses for a fateful finale.
Miyamoto Musashi: The Duel at Ichijo Temple
7.2/10
In the fourth installment, Musashi's potentially greatest opponent Kojiro jumps in and out of the story at the oddest and most coincidental moments. As his great love Otsu has succumbed to madness. Musashi then sets off to beat the functionaries of a treacherous clan in an arranged duel. 73 against one. Boastful Kojiro watches, secure in the knowledge that only he is a worthy opponent.
Mask of the Moon
Young swordsman, Tsukigata Hanpeita, longs for the day when rival clans cease their struggles for power and put an end to meaningless feudal wars. When he is appointed to oversee the Choshu Clan, he takes it upon himself to work towards the peace that he has dreamed about. With his affectionate personality and compassion for life, Hanpeita’s popularity grows among the people, making him a threat to those thirsty for conflict and power. A betrayal by those closest to him leaves Hanpeita caught in a trap that could ultimately cost him his life.
Sword of Destiny
7.1/10
A samurai seeks revenge for the death of his master.
20 Duels of Young Shingo - Part 2
The second film in the 20 Duels of Young Shingo trilogy directed by Sadatsugu Matsuda.
League of Gangsters
6.5/10
A yakuza man is released from prison after serving a long sentence. He immediately sets about creating a new gang and attempts to pull off a huge ransom score.
The Great Duel
7.3/10
A cynical samurai is left as the sole survivor to fulfil a plot to assassinate the puppet of a villain intent on usurping the shogunate in the 17th century.
A Shogunate Elder connives to rule Japan by making his puppet, the Shogun's brother Tsunashige, the next Shogun. The best strategist in Japan, Yamaga, leads a plot to stop the Elder, but his cabal is betrayed and most of the conspirators are captured and tortured.
The Shootout
5.3/10
A run-in with the police once again puts three former reformatory inmates on the wrong side of the law. Their situation becomes increasingly desperate as events spin out of control, culminating in an audacious hijack at sea...
A Legend of Turmoil
6.8/10
A story about the development of a bright and strong yakuza. Otaki is an old-fashioned respectful yakuza who tries to protect his small yakuza family. When his boss gets shot, he decides to go after the plotters.
Sasuke and His Comedians
6.3/10
Osaka in the early 1600s, aftermath of the historical Battle of Sekigahara; a group of orphan children are wandering through the battlefield scavenging for armour when they encounter a young boy named Sasuke with magical powers he says came from a meteor that crashed onto the Earth…
The Legend of Zipang
5.9/10
Veteran director Kaizo Hayashi made this post-modern samurai action adventure saga. The film centers on Jigoku-gokuraku-maru (Masahiro Takashima), a samurai on the lam. One bounty hunter hoping to collect the sizeable reward is Teppo Oyuri (Narumi Yasuda), a comely lass who is an ace shot with her pearl-laden pistol. Before she can set her sights on Jigoku-gokuraku-maru, he is attacked by a hoard of sword-wielding thugs also hoping to collect the reward. He dispatches them with bloody aplomb. Later, Jigoku-gokuraku- maru and Teppo Oyuri -- who has fallen for the master swordsman in spite of herself -- ventures to Zipingu -- the Land of Gold -- in search of a magical gold sword.
