Yojimbo (Yôjinbô) (1961)

IMDb Top 250 [Official] (252 items)
list by Prelude 32 comments

My Top Movies (199 items)
list by AgentLexi 27 comments

Finnish translations (174 items)
list by Kankku 57 comments

A Movie A Year following IMDB ratings (83 items)
list by johanlefourbe 33 comments

Listal's 100 Asian Films To See Before You Die (130 items)
list by the count 47 comments

Toshirô Mifune stars as a wandering Samurai with dazzling sword skills in this classic feudal Japanese film from Akira Kurosawa. After arriving in a new town that is ravaged by two warring criminal gangs, the samurai swiftly demonstrates his proficiency with a blade and becomes desired property for both gangs. Instead of joining either team, the cunning samurai pits both gangs against each other ... read more

Brilliant acting by Mifune and veiled anti-capitalist themes make this a masterpiece of the "Samurai Movie" sub-genre. There are so many tensions: corruption vs morality, greed vs self-sacrifice, samurai order vs gangster chaos, even the sword vs the gun. It's hardly a surprise when the streets are eventually filled with dead bodies!

The directing by Kurosawa is geared towards build... read more

"I'll get paid for killing, and this town is full of people who deserve to die."

At once a dark comedy, an action movie and a morality play, Yojimbo is one of Akira Kurosawa's greatest and most essential motion pictures (from a filmography beset with highly regarded flicks). Though Kurosawa is such a revered cinematic giant, I imagine his films seem uninteresting and daunting for ca... read more

Samurai (22), Action (18), Japan (16), Japanese (12), 1960s (11), 1961 (11), Foreign (10), Comedy (9), Ronin (9), Drama (9), Murder (8), Double Cross (8), Crime (7), Assault (6), Tavern (6), Betrayal (6), Arson (5), Severed Arm (5), Mercenary (5), Ravaged Town (5)