Kihachi Okamoto's Samurai Assassin (aka Samurai, 1965) starring Toshiro Mifune is one of the better examples of classic Japanese cinema...that wasn't directed by Akira Kurosawa. Starring one of Japan's most popular leading men, Toshiro Mifune (seen above), Samurai Assassin was released just prior to his final collaboration with Kurosawa, Red Beard. The basic storyline takes place during the course of just over two weeks---February 17 to March 3, 1860---and follows a group of assassins planning to kill a powerful government official. Right from the start, there's suspicion that one man in the group is a traitor...and all eyes point to Tsurochiyo Niiro (Mifune), a poor ronin who's looking to become a samurai. Also suspected as part of the plot is Einosuke Kurihara (Keiju Kobayashi, also appearing in The End of Summer and 47 Ronin), a wealthy samurai and friend to Niiro. a description for this product here...
This product is a digital download.
I was very pleased to buy this movie and download it. It's always shifty doing that sort of thing online, especially for things like movies. They took my money, and actually gave me what I bought. The download was pretty quick too. Had to get subtitles myself, but that's fine. Really, I'll admit I'm only reviewing this because I think they need a bit more visual credibility, but I really am quite pleased and mean every word.
