Toshiro Mifune Movies

Based on a book by noted novelist Shusaku Endo, this film concerns three lost souls looking for meaning and redemption: Mitsuko Naruse (Kumiko Akiyoshi) is a recent divorcee still wracked with a guilty conscious; Isobe (Hisashi Igawa) is a white-collar worker morning the death of his wife to cancer; and elderly Kiguchi (Yoichi Numata) is still plagued by memories of the War. All three find themselves on the tour bus headed towards Benares, an Indian holy site on the banks of the Ganges River. As the film progresses, the trio are less tourists than pilgrims looking for relief of private demons and spiritual rebirth. Kiguchi tries to understand why he survived in the Burmese jungles while his mates all died. Fulfilling a promise given to his dead wife, Isobe is looking for his wife's reborn soul. Mitsuko looks for Otsu (Eiji Okuda), a Catholic monk and her former lover. This film, which was directed by Kei Kumai, also features performance by screen legend Toshiro Mifune. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

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

For those unfamiliar with its deep meaning, the Japanese tea ceremony appears to be a long, incredibly boring, basically uneventful ritual process. In contrast, for many of its practitioners it offers the key to understanding how to live life in a meaningful manner, and is in itself a refreshment for the spirit. The tea master Rikyu was a key figure in the evolution of the ceremony, and his teaching lineage continues to the present day. In 1591, as a result of a difference of opinion with the ruling warlord of Japan, Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Shinsuke Ashida), tea ceremony grand master Rikyu (Toshiro Mifune) was forced to commit suicide. This story is told in a series of flashbacks, as Honkakubo, Rikyu's closest disciple, contemplates the death of his master and his associates, and seeks to clarify his understanding of those events. In this film these suicides are interpreted as a clash between spirituality and materialism. In Rikyu, the other 1989 film about the tea master, his political differences with the general are brought forward. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Princess From the Moon (Taketori Monogatari) is based on an ancient Japanese legend. Toshiro Mifune plays a 9th century bamboo cutter who comes across a curious glass capsule, housing a tiny baby girl who holds a crystal ball in her hand. Once released, the infant instantly becomes a five-year-old; the astonished Mifune, whose own child has recently died, decides to adopt the girl. It isn't very long before the child becomes a beautiful adult (Yasuko Sawaguchi), whose blue eyes--a decided rarity in Japan--attract every man within hailing distance. Mifune hopes to hide his daughter away from predatory males, but the girl is constantly courted by eligible bachelors. By and by, the crystal ball begins to emit a strange sound, alerting the girl that she must return to the Moon, whence she came and where she will reign as princess. See Princess From the Moon only if you have an open mind and open heart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The style of this undistinguished action film follows a 1940s Sam Spade mode that is intriguing, but the story of Joe (Saburo Tokito) -- a petty criminal running from the big guns because he killed a mob boss -- is too clichéd and poorly acted to go any deeper than surface events. After making it to the Philippines, Joe has several misadventures in a world gone bad as he comes across policemen on the dole, wildly unvirtuous women, and thieves who could beat an Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter sprint -- all cardboard stereotypes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This infamous Korean War drama is best known as the movie produced by Rev. Sung Myung Moon's Unification Church, though more people seem to have read stories about its troubled production or disastrous reception at the box office than to have actually seen it: on its initial release, it grossed less than $2 million on a budget of $50 million. Starring Laurence Olivier as Gen. Douglas MacArthur (psychics reportedly told producers that the late General was happy with the casting choice), Inchon also features Ben Gazzara and Jacqueline Bisset as a married couple whose relationship is tested by the trials of war, and boasts as impressive as supporting cast as money can buy, including David Janssen, Richard Roundtree, Omar Sharif, Toshiro Mifune, and Rex Reed (who was perhaps hoping for a role that could stand beside his work in Myra Breckenridge).The lavish battle scenes are staged by director Terence Young (best known for his work on several early James Bond films), and the film presents one of your only opportunities to see Olivier, the greatest actor of his generation, talk like W.C. Fields while smoking a corn-cob pipe. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based on the epic novel by James Clavell, Shogun originated as an epic five-part television miniseries, filmed on location in Japan. Richard Chamberlain stars as John Blackthorne, a 17th century British sea pilot in charge of a Dutch vessel. Shipwrecked off the coast of Japan, Blackthorne is in danger of being executed by the suspicious, reclusive Japanese hierarchy, but before long he has been accepted into the local culture. Accordingly, he begins to think of himself as Japanese, adopting the nation's customs and, while wearing the robes of a Samurai warrior, helping to defend the land against its enemies. The arrival of Blackthorne unfortunately arouses the interest of European empire-builders, who hope to add Japan to their holdings. Toshiro Mifune costars as Toranaga, a warlord who befriends Blackthorne, and Yoko Shimada appears as Mariko, the interpreter who eventually falls in love with the Englishman. When it first aired in September of 1980, Shogun caused eyebrows to raise with its seemingly reckless disregard of certain TV taboos: for example, one man is beheaded in full view of the audience, while another relieves himself on the body of an enemy. Most of the early dialogue sequence are in Japanese, which resulted in complaints from many monolingual viewers. As a result, the 1983 rebroadcast of Shogun included English narration by Orson Welles. The 125-minute feature version of Shogun, prepared for home video, includes English subtitles--as well as several originally excised scenes of nudity and excessive violence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Japanese screen legend Toshiro Mifune bids farewell to the character he made famous in this tale of death and deception also starring Shintaro Katsu of Zatoichi fame. Hired to carry out a mysterious mission, Yojimbo (Mifune) is told to travel to a remote mountain pass and simply wait for something to happen. Upon arriving at a secluded tea house located at the top of a pass, Yojimbo stumbles into a tangled plot involving a shipment of shogunate gold, a gang of bandits, a shogunate officer, and a disgraced doctor. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

It's December of 1941, and the people of California are in varying states of unease, ranging from a sincere desire to defend the country to virtual blind panic in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus begin several story threads that comprise the "plot" of this strange period comedy, a sort of satirical disaster movie, from Steven Spielberg. The stories and story threads involve lusty young men, officers (Tim Matheson) and civilians (Bobby Di Cicco) alike, eager to bed the young ladies of their dreams; Wild Bill Kelso, a nutty fighter pilot (John Belushi) following what he thinks is a squadron of Japanese fighters along the California coast; a well-meaning but clumsy tank crew (including John Candy) led by straight-arrow, by-the-book Sgt. Tree (Dan Aykroyd), who doesn't recognize the thug (Treat Williams) in his command; and homeowner Ward Douglas (Ned Beatty), who is eager to do his part for the nation's defense and, despite the misgivings of his wife (Lorraine Gary), doesn't mind his front yard overlooking the ocean being chosen to house a 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. There is also a pair of grotesquely inept airplane spotters (Murray Hamilton, Eddie Deezen) who are doing their job from atop a ferris wheel at a beachfront amusement park; a paranoid army colonel (Warren Oates) positive that the Japanese are infiltrating from the hills; a big dance being held on behalf of servicemen, being attended by a lusty young woman of size (Wendie Jo Sperber) eager to land a man in uniform; and General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell (Robert Stack), in charge of the defense of the West Coast, who can't seem to get anyone to listen to him when he says to keep calm. And, oh yes, there's also a real Japanese submarine that has gotten all the way to the California coast under the command of its captain (Toshiro Mifune) and a German officer observer (Christopher Lee), only to find itself without a working compass or usable maps. Its captain won't leave until the sub has attacked a militarily significant, honorable target, and the only one that anyone aboard ship knows of in California is Hollywood. By New Year's Eve, all of these characters are going to cross paths, directly or once-removed, in a comedy of errors and destruction strongly reminiscent of the finale to National Lampoon's Animal House (as well as several disaster movies from the same studio), but on a much larger and more impressive scale. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

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, Rovi

Japan's greatest actor, Toshiro Mifune, and their most powerful action star, Sonny Chiba, team up in this historical action drama. Oishi is an honorable warrior who serves obediently under Lord Asano. After an angry exchange with the villainous Lord Kira, Asano impulsively draws his sword, an act that draws the wrath of the emperor. The emperor gives Asano strict instructions to commit suicide as punishment for his actions; Oishi is devastated by Asano's passing, and he organizes a band of fellow swordsmen to seek revenge against Kira and restore Asano's good name. Swords of Vengeance (aka The Fall of Ako Castle) was directed by Kinji Fukasaku, whose credits include the Yakuza Papers series and the controversial Battle Royale. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An expensive war epic, Midway emulates The Longest Day and Tora! Tora! Tora! in attempting to re-create a famous World War II battle from both the American and Japanese viewpoints. The 1942 battle of Midway was the turning point of the War in the Pacific; the Japanese invasion fleet was destroyed, and America's string of humiliating defeats was finally broken. Though the battle itself was sufficiently dramatic to fill two films, Midway also has plotline involving the mixed-race relationship between Ensign Garth (Edward Albert), son of Navy Captain Matt Garth (Charlton Heston), and Haruko Sakura (Christina Kokubo), a Hawaiian girl of Japanese descent. The real-life personages depicted herein include American Admirals Nimitz (Henry Fonda), Halsey (Robert Mitchum) and Spruance (Glenn Ford), and Japanese Admiral Yamamoto (Toshiro Mifune, his voice once again dubbed by Paul Frees, whom Mifune personally selected for the job). For its original road show release, Midway was offered in the "Sensurround" process, which electronically shook and vibrated the audience's chairs during the battle sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Japanese title of Band of Assassins was Shinsengumi, which pinpointed the assassins in question. The Shinshen was a covert military organization in the employ of the 19th-century Japanese aristocracy. To protect their decadent employers, the Shinshen regularly ventured out to kill political enemies and other undesirables. Toshiro Mifune is among the participants in the film's steady (and seemingly endless) stream of bloodletting. Band of Assassins was one of the bread-and-butter pictures which Mifune made in order to afford to work in more prestigious fare. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi