Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)

Three Outlaw Samurai (Sanbiki no samurai)
Directed by Hideo Gosha
Written by Keiichi Abe, Hideo Gosha, and Eizaburo Shiba
1964/Japan
Samurai Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Sakon Shiba: The peasants risked their lives. A samurai can do no less.[/box]

After seeing Gosha’s knock-out first feature, I am looking forward to the rest of his work.

Peasants have captured the local Magistrate’s daughter and are holding her hostage until he meets their demands for lower taxes and basic fairness.  A wandering ronin, Shiba, seeks shelter one night and finds himself in the middle of this.  At first he is more amused at seeing things unfold, but eventually he throws himself wholeheartedly on the peasants’ behalf.

The Magistrate has hordes of guards at his command and is not to be trusted.  His mission is to prevent the peasants from presenting a petition to his Lord who will be coming through the region in a couple of days.  Luckily, two of the guards eventually join Shiba in the fight.  These three men manage to rack up a body count many times their number with some exciting swordsmanship.

I thought this was very well done in all aspects.  The story borrows a bit from Seven Samurai but is more purely action-oriented.  Recommended