Kumi Mizuno Movies

Lord Akashi (Toshiro Mifune) is a heroic warrior who comes to the aid of the needy and the oppressed. He is hired to guard a beautiful lady in waiting and the young crowned prince. The group is attacked by marauders who wish to depose of the princess and start a revolt against her father. Akashi never brings out his sword until the very end, content to dispose of his enemies with the least amount of weapons possible. He battles fierce samurai warriors and foreign insurgents who introduce the gun to Japan in their added arsenal of destruction. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

The seventh film in Toho's Godzilla series (and the first without the direction of Inoshiro Honda), this colorful installment finds the natives of a volcanic island enslaved by the armies of an unnamed country claiming to be in control of a giant crustacean named Ebirah. A boatload of teens and a wanted criminal are washed ashore on the same island, where they encounter a large group of escaped slaves who hail from Mothra Island, home of another popular Toho monster. They pray to their moth-god to liberate them, oblivious to the fact that a certain green lizard is trapped beneath their cavern hideout. The teens soon discover this and release Godzilla from the rock with a well-placed lightning rod. Released and re-energized, Godzilla soon goes head-to-head with Ebirah, while Mothra eventually flaps into action to free the captives. Silly and cartoonish despite some more menacing elements, this is nevertheless one of the more interesting chapters in the Godzilla pantheon. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

In this martial arts film, a Japanese Samurai warrior returns to his home village after being gone for two years. He is appalled to discover that it has been taken over by an uncaring government. His sister is attacked by one of the officials. She is deeply ashamed and kills herself. The samurai keeps his emotions under control, choosing instead to patiently wait for the perfect moment to exact his revenge. Instead he begins stealing rice from a government warehouse and smuggling it to the hungry farmers. He does this for three years before he can get his revenge. The samurai then leaves the village with the promise that he will return. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Toho's bid to merge the Godzilla series with their popular alien-invasion films resulted in this entertainingly goofy entry. The plot involves the discovery of the mysterious Planet X in our solar system, leading to a joint U.S./Japanese space exploratory mission. The explorers bump into some aliens with no fashion sense whatsoever (even for 1965), who claim their planet has been under constant attack from the powerful Monster Zero -- also known to Godzilla fans as Ghidrah, the three-headed monster from the previous year. The aliens suggest a deal with the Earthlings: if they can "borrow" Godzilla and Rodan to help rid their planet of Ghidrah, they will cure all of humankind's diseases in return. Of course, this is actually an elaborate ruse to rid the Earth of its monstrous defenders, leaving it vulnerable to invasion. As always, it's up to a handful of resourceful characters -- including token American Nick Adams and series regular Akira Takarada -- to save the day and return Earth's monsters for the requisite city-smashing finale. After a slow start, this movie serves up a good portion of flashy pyrotechnics and noisy monster-grappling but lapses into several moments of deliberate silliness (particularly Godzilla's goofy Irish jig) and rampant use of ill-fitting footage from previous monster installments. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

In this war drama, set during the Sino-Japanese war, a Japanese battalion must fight guerrilla attacks in China's northern mountains to protect a sympathetic warehouse owner. The Japanese troops face great danger, but help the owner transport his goods away from the jungle marauders. The trouble really begins when a lieutenant discovers that the guerrilla leader is the warehouse owner, and that the Japanese have been graciously transporting an arms shipment for him. Unfortunately, before he can warn his troops, the officer is captured by the Chinese who attempt to force him into leading the battalion into an ambush. Fortunately, the lieutenant escapes and destroys the guerrilla arms. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Japanese sci-fi director Inoshiro Honda and special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya teamed up again (Rodan, Godzilla, Mothra) for this thriller/adventure. Set in the futuristic 1980, a group of Tokyo scientists discover that Earth is in the direct path of a star with a gravitational pull 6,000 times than that of Earth's. As a space ship finds itself close to the orb, its team of astronauts are able to transmit important information to Ground Control. Collaborating with other specialists from various nations, the scientists frantically attempt to save the world from a catastrophic collision. Running at only 77 minutes, this version omits the original--and bizarre--Japanese ending wherein a gargantuan walrus emerges from the cracked glaciers of the South Pole. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

This twisted, surreal monster story is related in flashback by an asylum inmate, who tells of his horrific experiences as one of several castaways on a mist-shrouded tropical island. While the crew affect repairs to their yacht, the stranded passengers take refuge in a derelict ship overgrown with a strange variety of mushroom -- which seems to be the only available source of food on the island. When their own rations are depleted, they begin to develop an eerie, uncontrollable craving for the mushrooms, and for a time only the narrator and his girlfriend manage to resist the urge to chow down as well. As expected, everyone who partakes of the fungus begins to transform into a giant, lumbering mushroom-monster, and eventually even the two holdouts find themselves tucking in to the tempting toadstools. Naturally, the narrator's tale is pooh-poohed as the ravings of a madman, until he suddenly begins to develop a severe complexion problem... This is something of a wacky diversion for the Godzilla gang (director Inoshiro Honda, monster-maker Eiji Tsuburaya and others), and is available under a wide assortment of titles, including Matango, Curse of the Mushroom People, and Fungus of Terror. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This sweeping historical epic has sometimes been labelled the Gone with the Wind of Japan; at any rate, it's almost the same length as Gone (the film was originally released in two parts). Chusha Ichikawa plays a powerful and ruthless feudal lord who battles virtuous young noble Yuzo Kayama. Ichikawa is temporarily victorious when he tricks Kayama into committing Hara Kiri. Vengeance is meted out by Kayama's forty-seven samurai retainers. Based on a venerable Japanese legend, the story of Chushingura has been filmed several times, but only the 1941 version (47 Ronin) matched the grandeur of director Hiroshi Inagaki's 1962 version. In some English-speaking countries, Chushingura has been released in a shorter version titled The Loyal 47 Ronin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this patriotic Japanese WW II drama, the army demonstrates its courage and willingness to do anything to win as they endeavor to sneak into Communist China to bring back the flag of a defeated enemy regiment. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi