A mix of all genres
Samurai films are one of the most popular genres of film around the world. Historically, the genre is usually set during the Tokugawa era (1600–1868), the samurai film focuses on the end of an entire way of life for the samurai, many of the films deal with masterless ronin, or samurai dealing with changes to their status resulting from a changing society. In this list we count down the best of the best, that cover over a 50 year span of cinema.
Source: http://japancinema.net/2011/07/04/top-10-best-samurai-movies-of-all-time/
Building on and bringing up to date the material presented in the first installment of Directory of World Cinema: Japan, this volume continues the exploration of the enduring classics, cult favorites, and contemporary blockbusters of Japanese cinema with new contributions from leading critics and film scholars. Among the additions to this volume are in-depth treatments of two previously unexplored genres—youth cinema and films depicting lower-class settings—considered alongside discussions of popular narrative forms, including J-Horror, samurai cinema, anime, and the Japanese New Wave.
Accompanying the critical essays in this volume are more than 150 new film reviews, complemented by full-color film stills, and significantly expanded references for further study. From the Golden Age to the film festival favorites of today, Directory of World Cinema: Japan 2 completes this comprehensive treatment of a consistently fascinating national cinema.
The list is based on the contents of the Book, sorted by chapters:
More information on this is also aviable on http://worldcinemadirectory.co.uk/!
List for the 1st edition: http://trakt.tv/users/sp1ti/lists/directory-of-world-cinema-japan
All credits go to IMDb user: RDLongoria
:popcorn: :jp:
Updated Jan 2022
Top Japanese Movies manually curated based on:
- cinemaescapist.com
- asianmoviepulse.com
- letterbox.com
- bfi.org.uk
- kinejun.jp
Source: http://www.gamesradar.com/50-amazing-films-youve-probably-never-seen/
i watched them all before listing..
This list combines 2 books by Patrick Galloway:
#1-51: Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves: The Samurai Film Handbook (2005)
#52-91: Warring Clans, Flashing Blades: A Samurai Film Companion (2009)
"Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves provides essential background on the samurai warrior in Japanese culture to help explain what makes these tales of loyalty, revenge and explosive swordsmanship so watchable. It covers top directors and stars and has over 50 original reviews of a wide variety of films, from classics like Samurai Trilogy and Yojimbo to influential films like Lady Snowblood, plus newly released hits like Takeshi Kitano’s Zatoichi."
"Warring Clans, Flashing Blades picks up where Galloway’s fan-favorite Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves left off, delving deeper into the samurai film and its spin-off genres—yakuza, ninja, and matatabi."
Source:
https://www.amazon.com/Stray-Dogs-Lone-Wolves-Handbook/dp/1880656930
http://www.amazon.com/Warring-Clans-Flashing-Blades-Companion/dp/1933330783
Building on and bringing up to date the material presented in the first installment of Directory of World Cinema: Japan, this volume continues the exploration of the enduring classics, cult favorites, and contemporary blockbusters of Japanese cinema with new contributions from leading critics and film scholars. Among the additions to this volume are in-depth treatments of two previously unexplored genres—youth cinema and films depicting lower-class settings—considered alongside discussions of popular narrative forms, including J-Horror, samurai cinema, anime, and the Japanese New Wave.
Accompanying the critical essays in this volume are more than 150 new film reviews, complemented by full-color film stills, and significantly expanded references for further study. From the Golden Age to the film festival favorites of today, Directory of World Cinema: Japan 2 completes this comprehensive treatment of a consistently fascinating national cinema.
-
The list is based on the contents of the Book, sorted by chapters:
Film of the Year
Alternative Japan
Anime / Animation
Chambara / Samurai Cinema
Contemporary Blockbusters
J-Horror / Japanese Horror
Jidai-geki / Period Drama
Nuberu Bagu / The Japanese New Wave
Seishun eiga / Japanese Youth Cinema
Shomin-geki / Lower Class Life
Yakuza / Gangster
More information on this is also aviable on http://worldcinemadirectory.co.uk/!
List for the 1st edition: http://trakt.tv/user/sp1ti/lists/directory-of-world-cinema-japan
My rated and ranked Japanese movies
, also colloquially known as karate or kung fu films, are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently featured in training scenes and other sequences in addition to fights. Martial arts films commonly include other types of action, such as hand-to-hand combat, stuntwork, chases, and gunfights.
Top Japanese Live Action Movies
Asian movies I've watched
Asian Martial Arts
by Hammers lists