The best Toshirō Mifune’s movies

Toshirō Mifune

Toshirō Mifune

01/04/1920- 24/12/1997
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Toshirō Mifune’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 Toshirō Mifune.
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Seven Samurai

Seven Samurai
8.6/10
  • Genre: ActionDrama
  • Release: 26/04/1954
  • Character: Kikuchiyo
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

Midway

Midway
6.7/10
This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.

1941

1941
5.8/10
  • Genre: ActionComedyWar
  • Release: 14/12/1979
  • Character: Cmdr. Akiro Mitamura
In the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, panic grips California, where a military officer leads a mob chasing a Japanese sub.

High and Low

High and Low
8.4/10
An executive of a shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped and held for ransom.

Yojimbo

Yojimbo
8.2/10
  • Genre: DramaThriller
  • Release: 25/04/1961
  • Character: Sanjuro Kuwabatake / The Samurai
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.

Red Sun

Red Sun
6.8/10
  • Genre: Western
  • Release: 15/09/1971
  • Character: Kuroda Jubei
In 1870, Japanese ambassador Sakaguchi and his entourage travel by train to Washington to deliver a valuable sword to the President of the United States, a gift from the Emperor of Japan. On board the same train are two robbers, Link and Gauche, ready to make their move…

The Hidden Fortress

The Hidden Fortress
8.1/10
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.

Rashomon

Rashomon
8.2/10
Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Stray Dog

Stray Dog
7.8/10
A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

Charles Bronson: The Spirit of Masculinity

Charles Bronson: The Spirit of Masculinity
7/10
With his grizzled moustache and chiselled features, Charles Bronson is the embodiment of a slightly archaic, brooding and almost reactionary virility. But who is he really? Often hired to play marginalised Native American or Mexican characters before he was typecast as the image of a lone killer, Bronson was a major figure in the popular cinema of the 1960s and 70s and his stony-faced, physical acting and career are worthy of a second look.

Red Beard

Red Beard
8.3/10
  • Genre: Drama
  • Release: 03/04/1965
  • Character: Dr. Kyojio Niide ("Red Beard")
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.

Throne of Blood

Throne of Blood
8/10
  • Genre: DramaHistory
  • Release: 15/01/1957
  • Character: Taketori Washizu
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.

Shogun

Shogun
7.9/10
An English navigator becomes both pawn and player in the deadly political games in feudal Japan.

Grand Prix

Grand Prix
7.2/10
  • Genre: ActionDrama
  • Release: 21/12/1966
  • Character: Izo Yamura
The story tells about the confrontation of four first-class racers of Formula 1. Each of the competitors had their own additional motivation to become a champion. Their world is a risk and extreme, fast driving on the highway. The taste of adrenaline is what race lovers live. Outside of competition, they all experience personal dramas and upheavals, and the more important the desired title becomes for them.

Sanjuro

Sanjuro
8/10
  • Genre: ActionComedyDrama
  • Release: 01/01/1962
  • Character: Sanjûrô Tsubaki / The ronin
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.

Japanese Godfather: Conclusion

Japanese Godfather: Conclusion
6.7/10
  • Genre: CrimeDrama
  • Release: 09/09/1978
  • Character: Kosuke Oishi
The three-film saga comes to a conclusion as three leaders of the underworld battle it out to determine who will become Don of Japan.

Hell in the Pacific

Hell in the Pacific
7.3/10
  • Genre: DramaWar
  • Release: 19/12/1968
  • Character: Captain Tsuruhiko Kuroda
During World War II, a shot-down American pilot and a marooned Japanese navy captain find themselves stranded on the same small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. Following war logic, each time the crafty Japanese devises something useful, he guards it to deny its use to the Yank, who then steals it, its proceeds or the idea and/or ruins it. Yet each gets his chance to kill and/or capture the other, but neither pushes this to the end. After a while of this pointless pestering, they end up joining forces to build and man a raft...

Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island

Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
7.5/10
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 Rebellion

Samurai Rebellion
8.3/10
  • Genre: ActionDrama
  • Release: 27/05/1967
  • Character: Isaburo Sasahara
Toshiro Mifune stars as Isaburo Sasahara, an aging swordsman living a quiet life until his clan lord orders that his son marry the lord's mistress, who has recently displeased the ruler. Reluctantly, father and son take in the woman, and, to the family’s surprise, the young couple fall in love. But the lord soon reverses his decision and demands the mistress’s return. Against all expectations, Isaburo and his son refuse, risking the destruction of their entire family. Director Masaki Kobayashi's Samurai Rebellion is the gripping story of a peaceful man who finally decides to take a stand against injustice.

The Sword of Doom

The Sword of Doom
7.9/10
  • Genre: ActionDrama
  • Release: 25/02/1966
  • Character: Toranosuke Shimada
Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.

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