I'm looking for a name of a film I remember watching as a kid. It is an old Japanese samurai film (black and white, guess its from the 50s-60s) with a plot about a group of Samurais (each one with his own unique fighting technic) that are hired to escort a child-prince back to his father territory. They fights multiple assassination attempts along the way (and most of them die protecting the boy) only to find out that it was his father all a long who sends the assassins to murder the boy before he arrives back to his (the father) territory where he will be under his protection and the father will be responsible if he is killed. Can anyone tell me the name of that film?
Looking for the name of an old Japanese samurai film
- Thread starter Mietek
- Start date
- 18 Jan 2005
- 11,682
- 3,638
「隠し砦の三悪人」"The Hidden Fortress" (1958, dir. Akira Kurosawa) — The story involves a princess and her bodyguard trying to reach allied territory. This matches the "returning to their land" part, but there's no assassination order from her father.
Ukigumo
後輩
- 15 Mar 2025
- 1,382
- 2,684
'Hidden Fortress' was a major influence on George Lucas's 'Star Wars', in particular the narrative structure being told by the two lowly peasants ( in SW by the gold robot and the peddle bin), both of whom get caught up in a bigger adventure. Lucas threw in a big dumb space bear and the Force and there you have it!
- Thread starter
- #4
Thanks for helping! but Its not the hidden fortress
I remember one of the bodyguard's was bold monk fighting with a stick, if its helping...
The hero (the leading samurai bodyguard) discover it was the father realizing only him can master such huge number of assassins and armies to stop them
I remember one of the bodyguard's was bold monk fighting with a stick, if its helping...
The hero (the leading samurai bodyguard) discover it was the father realizing only him can master such huge number of assassins and armies to stop them
- 18 Jan 2005
- 11,682
- 3,638
In my conversation with ChatGPT, the leading candidates are:
1.The "Kurama Tengu" series (prewar–postwar, starring Arashi Kanjūrō, etc.)
– Several stories feature Kurama Tengu protecting a young lord or princess from assassins while escorting them.
– There are many black-and-white films in the series. In some episodes, a monk appears among the bodyguards.
2.The "Jirōchō Sangokushi" series (late 1940s–1950s, Toho)
– In versions directed by Yamamoto Kajirō and others, there are episodes where a young lord or heir is protected, with a monk-like companion joining the bodyguards.
1.The "Kurama Tengu" series (prewar–postwar, starring Arashi Kanjūrō, etc.)
– Several stories feature Kurama Tengu protecting a young lord or princess from assassins while escorting them.
– There are many black-and-white films in the series. In some episodes, a monk appears among the bodyguards.
2.The "Jirōchō Sangokushi" series (late 1940s–1950s, Toho)
– In versions directed by Yamamoto Kajirō and others, there are episodes where a young lord or heir is protected, with a monk-like companion joining the bodyguards.
