Hiroyuki Sanada Movies

Yojiro Takita directs this comedy-drama about a quartet of Japanese salarymen engaging in wacky hijinks in a squalid, war-ravaged Third World country. Prim and polished engineer Takahashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is sent on a business trip to the fictitious southwest Asian nation of Tarckistan, run by corrupt military autocrats and crippled by rampant poverty. Takahashi is immediately appalled by the child beggars on the streets, by the water that is undrinkable, and the crime -- especially after his prized Walkman is swiped by his maid. He meets up with the decadent regional manager Nakaido (Tsutomu Yamazaki), who lives like a colonial potentate complete with three nubile "personal assistants." The main competitor for the prospective contract is also Japanese, represented by the slick ex-government officials Tomita (Ittoku Kishibe) and Matsumoto (Kyusaku Shimada), who actually bothered to learn the local language. As the four try to curry favor with the colonel who runs the country, war breaks out. Soon, instead of pursuing a contract, the quartet are fleeing for their lives into the jungles. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Transported 400 years into the past after falling into a mysterious time slip, a squadron of contemporary Japanese soldiers becomes caught between two warring samurai clans fighting to determine who will be the supreme Shogun. As the fighting between the rival samurai clans intensifies, squadron leader Lt. Iba (Sonny Chiba) makes his bid to become the ultimate ruler of Japan by teaming with the samurai leader Kagatori. Kagatori realizes that he can win the war by using the weaponry of the time traveling soldiers to his advantage. Should he succeed, Kagatori and Lt. Iba will together shape the future of an entire nation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Hero Interview was written by Shinji Nojima, directed by Michio Mitsuno, and features the dulcimer tones of pop duo Chage & Aska. Kasumi Sawaki (Honami Suzuki) seemingly has the perfect life: she is the leading reporter in one of Japan's premiere business newspapers. She lives with a hunky boyfriend, has a great job, a great apartment, and great hair. Yet when she accepts Mr. Right's proposal for marriage, she suddenly finds herself exiled at the sports desk -- a not-so-subtle hint to consider how her impending nuptials will affect her job. Instead of quitting, the plucky protagonist presses on. Her first assignment is to interview washed-up homerun hitter Jinta Todoroki (Hiroyuki Sanada) who dishes out nothing but bald-faced lies. Kasumi, unfortunately, mistakes his lies for solid fact, and is consequently humiliated by her loutish co-workers. Kasumi falls for the buffonish ballplayer with a heart of gold, and for his insanely cute daughter (Yumi Adachi). Jinta, in turns out, has not been able to step up to the plate since a near-fatal beaning three years previous. Will the love of a faithful and extremely fashionable woman heal him of his psychological woes? ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Kazuki Omori directs this wacky screwball comedy about injured pride and high-strung mobsters. Stockbroker turned yakuza Shoichi Yoshinari (Hiroyuki Sanada) has been presented with a thankless task. He is to invite an oyabun (mob don) of an associated gang to emcee a succession ceremony -- the passing of the baton from the older to the younger generation. Shoichi's assignment is tough because the oyabun (Ken Ogata) is the clan's second choice, after the wizened top choice fell ill. Pride is terribly important in the hermetic world of the yakuza, and asking a godfather to play second banana is asking a lot. Thankfully, the oyabun seems like an affable sort. Unfortunately, Shoichi realizes upon arriving at the oyabun's rural estate that he hit on his knockout of a wife (Yuko Kotegawa) while on the road. Things get worse when the first choice makes a sudden recovery and Shoichi is faced with the tickling task of informing the oyabun that his services are not needed. Humiliated, the oyabun goes on a bender, and then proceeds to crash a funeral thinking it's the succession ceremony. When the first choice speaker keels over, Shoichi is faced with the near impossible assignment of asking the drunk, irate, and embarrassed oyabun to speak once again. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

As might be gathered from its title, The Legend of the Eight Samurai is set in feudal Japan. Princess Hiroku Yokoshimaru's family is wiped out, along with her bodyguards. All that stands between the princess and certain death is an inexperienced young samurai played by martial-arts expert Sonny Chiba. Armed with little more than determination, Chiba must battle an octet of phantom warriors, a witch, and a killer centipede! The Legend of the Eight Samurai is as good as anything else of its type, sometimes a little better. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jo (Hiroyuki Sanada) has just come back to Japan for the funeral of his parents, who were killed in tribal warfare in Africa where the family had been living throughout most of Jo's life. Once the funeral was over, he missed the boat that was going to take him back home, and, because of an altered itinerary, he ends up stopping in a town for awhile -- striking up an acquaintance with a teenager and her grandfather when he captures their runaway horse. He would have been glad to leave after the proper amenities were completed, but the girl's journalist brother is murdered -- he was getting too close to wrapping a major news story. At that point, Jo and a friend cannot easily drop the matter as though nothing had occurred, and the two start to track down the source of the trouble -- a factory that makes poison gas for Third World buyers. Now their task is to dismantle the operation, prevent one train shipment from arriving at a transfer point, and find the journalist's killer. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In a time when demons and ghosts threaten to bring total devastation to a powerful kingdom, betrayal from within the powerful ranks of the ruling emperor threatens to bring an entire civilization to its knees in this supernaturally charged martial arts epic from director Yojiro Takita. As dark forces hold a suffocating grip on a once powerful kingdom during the Heian period, the emperor employs the help of the Onmyoji in keeping the malevolent spirits at bay. Though the coming birth of the emperor's heir offers a glimmer of hope for the kingdom's future, an intimate betrayal leaves the fate of the kingdom in the hands of Seimei (Mansai Nomura) -- the most powerful of the Onmyoji. As Seimei prepares to do battle with his former master Doson (Hiroyuki Sanada), the powers of lightness and dark come together for a battle that will determine the fate for generations to come. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this ninja cartoon a young ninja is up against a wicked sorcerer ~ All Movie Guide

Hideo Nakata follows up on the phenomenal success of Ringu -- the highest grossing Japanese film up to that point -- with this effort. In the previous film, Reiko (Nanako Matsushima) was a television reporter doing a piece on a videotape that seemed to kill those who watched it. Not long after learning that the cause of the killing was a vengeful spirit named Sadako who inhabited the video, Reiko's researcher ex-husband (Hiroyuki Sanada) died a painful death, and the fate of Reiko's son, Yoichi (Rikiya Otaka) -- who watched the tape -- was in doubt. Ring 2 opens with an autopsy of Sadako, whose supernatural rage was sparked when she was dumped in a well. Sadako's powers affect Yoichi, who survived the video and has become a medium of sorts for the wraith. Also affected is Reiko's dead husband's mistress, Mai Takano (played by pop star Miki Nakatani), whose life has become a living nightmare. Also under Sadako's power is Masami Kurahashi (Hitomi Sato), who was a schoolmate of one of Sadako's first victims. Though many try to get to the bottom of the problem -- including a psychologist (Fumiyo Kohinata) and a police detective (Kenjiro Ishimaru) -- the bodies start piling up. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this third installment of the popular action comedy franchise, LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) and Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) book a flight for Europe and prepare to clean up the streets of Paris after discovering that Chinese triads have extended their criminal influence to the City of Lights. Chinese Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma) is in Los Angeles and about to reveal the details of a clandestine triad conspiracy to the World Criminal Court when an assassin takes aim and pulls the trigger. Though Carter has been demoted to directing traffic at the time of the shooting, Lee is acting as a bodyguard to Han when the bullets begin to fly. Lee quickly gives chase, but hesitates when he realizes that the gunman is Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada), his old friend from the orphanage. When triads steal an envelope containing vital information regarding the conspiracy from Soo Yung's (Zhang Jingchu) Chinatown kung fu studio, Carter and Chief Inspector Lee race to reach Genevieve (Noémie Lenoir), an underground entertainer who could prove the key to bagging the bad guys. During the course of their investigation, however, triads clash with the French police, threatening to turn the romance capitol of Europe into an explosive hotbed of crime and violence. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The ukiyo-e (woodblock print) artist Sharaku is an enigmatic puzzle in the world of Japanese art. Working at an age when such masters of the trade as Hokusai and Utamaro were at their zenith, Sharaku suddenly emerged out of obscurity and produced roughly 140 strikingly brilliant portraits of Kabuki performers, only to disappear just as suddenly. To date, no one knows about his true identity or about his post-ukiyo-e career. Veteran director Masahiro Shinoda tries to fill in the blanks with this lavish period production. Set in the 1790s, the film centers on Tombo (Hiroyuki Sanada), a lowly Kabuki player who gets dumped from his troupe after breaking his foot. He joins a ragged traveling outfit run by former courtesan Okan (played by Shinoda's wife, Shima Iwashita). While not on-stage, he takes up drawing, for which he realizes he has considerable ability. His talents are noticed by Tsutaya Juzaburo (Frankie Sakai), a ukiyo-e publisher who is desperate for a replacement after his star artist Utamaro (Shiro Sano) defected to his rival's stable. Sharaku's work immediately creates a stir in Edo, particularly with the rigidly moralistic Prime Minister Matsudaira Sadanobu (Hachijusuke Bando). After falling for a beautiful teenaged geisha (Riona Hazuki), the latest sexual plaything of the rich and lecherous Utamaro, Tombo feels more and more constrained by his anonymous fame and the increasing tyrannical demands of Juzaburo. Soon, freedom and love seem more appealing than riches or art. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

You've seen him as the bone-cracking anti-hero of the Street Fighter films, now watch Sonny Chiba team with Japanese screen legend Toshiro Mifune and some of the biggest names in Asian cinema in an all-out martial arts melee that's guaranteed to please. Yagyu Jubei (Chiba) is the son of a shogun's instructor and the most powerful swordsman in Japan. When Yagyu's father selects Yagyu to be their heir to his throne, a bitter rivalry is sparked between Yagyu and his powerful brother. It doesn't take long for the brothers to discover that they have been manipulated against one another by a group of imperial nobles who seek to disband the shogunate so that power may be restored to the emperor, and when the secret is discovered, a battle erupts that would strike fear into the heart of even the most fearsome warrior. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide