Miwa Takada Movies
- 1992
- PG
Sho Kosugi stars (as well as produced) this picturesque and exciting swashbuckler, directed by Gordon Hessler. Kosugi plays Mayeda, a 17th-century Japanese samurai whose clan, headed by Lord Ieyasu (Toshiro Mifune), is waging a bloody battle with a rival clan. The rival clan has the advantage of using punk-burning muskets, which work fine unless it rains, rendering the firearms useless. Ieyasu sends Mayeda to Spain to one-up the rival clan by arranging the purchase of flintlock rifles, which are immune to rain. Mayeda is accompanied on his journey by Ieyasu's young heir Yorimune (Kane Kosugi), along with a traitor -- the clan's Catholic spiritual advisory Father Vasco (Norman Lloyd), who has made a deal with the rival clan to kill Mayeda and Yorimune and to make sure that the flintlock rifles never reach their destination. However, the plot fails. In the process, the gold to pay for the rifles falls overboard, and Mayeda arrives in Spain penniless at the court of King Philip (Christopher Lee). King Philip refuses to give Mayeda the rifles, until Mayeda saves his life during an attack of rebels. But even though Mayeda now has the king on his side, he has earned the wrath of his advisor Don Pedro (David Essex) by falling in love with his fiancee Cecilia (Polly Walker). Mayeda and Don Pedro eventually tangle in mortal combat. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sho Kosugi, David Essex, (more)
In this Japanese actioner, the brave blind swordsman Zatoichi is assigned to escort a little boy to his father's home. En route he is set upon by five killers. Using his super-sensitive powers of perception, he kills them. Later an enigmatic samurai joins them and helps fight off a second gang. Eventually they make it to the boy's hometown where they discover that the father is being held hostage by smugglers. It is then that the mysterious fighter reveals that he is a government agent assigned to destroy the gang. Zatoichi agrees to help him if the samurai will return the favor. He cannot, and so the sightless fighter challenges the agent to a duel. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shintaro Katsu, Jushiro Konoe, (more)
From high atop a mountain, an ancient statue casts a watchful gaze over the small town nested in the valley below as centuries pass and the citizens thrived under the rule of a fair and just emperor. When an evil usurper takes the life of their leader and turns the onetime paradise into an evil empire, the oppressed citizens cry out to the heavens in hopes that God will hear their tormented voices and intervene. Awakened by the prayers of the suffering innocents crushed under the weight of their corrupted oppressor, the mighty stone statue descends the mountain to mete out justice and punish those who would bring harm to the Lord's followers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miwa Takada, Yoshihiko Aoyama, (more)
Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu), the blind swordsman, encounters an elderly man who claims to be his long-lost father. The nomadic warrior, who has never had any personal ties to anyone as an adult, believes that he may finally have found a bond with his past. Only later does he discover that the man is an imposter. In contrast to most of the movies in this long-running series, Adventures of a Blind Man, by the very nature of its plot, offers a look into the background of the blind swordsman. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shintaro Katsu, Mikijiro Hira, (more)
The legendary blind warrior discovers love and money have created divided alliances in this classic samurai film. After defeating a angry stranger he meets along the road, blind nomad Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) learns that a bounty is being offered for his head; despite the danger to himself, Zatoichi visits the mother of his victim and offers to help support her. As Zatoichi tries to find out why a price is being offered for his life, he discovers a community has been torn apart by violent feuding from rival bands of criminals -- and that one of the bloodthirsty killers who has been drawn to this ugly contest is now the husband of Gajuro, a woman he once loved. Will Zatoichi fight to free his love, or will he search out the man who wants him dead? ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shintaro Katsu, Miwa Takada, (more)
