Three Outlaw Samurai (1964) (Criterion Collection) UK Only [Blu-ray] [2020]

Three Outlaw Samurai is the debut movie from Japanese film director Hideo Gosha. It was released in 1964 and stars Tetsuro Tamba, Isamu Nagato and Mikijiro Hira. The film is roughly ninety three minutes long and is a well known classic in the Chambara (Samurai) film genre.The films plot is reasonably straight forward. A group of peasants have kidnapped the daughter of a local corrupt magistrate. Testuro Tamba who plays the lead Sakon Shiba, a lone wanderer Ronin who finds himself involved in the situation. The magistrate played by Hisashi Igawa hires the samurai Sakura and Kikyo (Nagato and Hira) as well as a force of local goons to stop the kidnappers from delivering a petition that could secure them a much fairer life. With the plot going through several twists and turns, the allegiance of the two hired samurai change and results in a great climactic ending.I found Three Outlaw Samurai to be a fairly enjoyable watch. The plot was easy enough to follow and I really enjoyed the acting from all the lead characters. You'll find a lot of the stereotypical samurai movie tropes here. Not all of them play out the way you'd expect and that's good. The movie has a few surprises up its sleeve and it's definitely a strong point of the film.The film has been beautiful shot with some lovely out door set pieces, the usual forests and rivers that you tend to see in these films. The in door sets all looked very authentic and not nearly as cheap as a lot of other samurai films I have seen. You could believe that these characters were actually on location somewhere, instead of being in a cheap Toho recycled sound stage (perhaps they were, I don't know).The quality of this Criterion release is absolutely stunning. The bluray case features some nice art work by Greg Ruth and contains a booklet containing an essay written by Bilge Ebiri. The image is extremely sharp and has a lot of depth. I love seeing these sort of films with this much detail. It really lets you appreciate the beauty of the locations that the films were shot in. It's all in black and white which is a bit of a shame. I can imagine that this film would look impressive if it were in colour. However, I have grown very use to seeing films without colour of the years with my purchase of silent and a early samurai films. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, especially when it's presented in such high quality.In terms of print damage, there was barely any. There were only a few moments where issues popped up and was minor at best. It looked like a hair or something popping up in the top left corner but it was literally in the film ten minutes. At least, that's how long I noticed it was there. Three Outlaw Samurai looks considerably better than the Kurosawa movies I have previously purchased with the Criterion label, giving this film a good edge on those classics.Apparently Three Outlaw Samurai was a big influence on the Rian Johnson Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi. That abomination is the only reason I knew this movie existed and was the reason I initially pre-ordered it. Truth be told, this film is on a whole different level from that piece of bantha poodoo. If there's similarities between this film and that Star Wars movie, I don't see it. This one is very skillfully crafted and looks timeless. The Last Jedi however, it's one of the worst modern science fiction movies I've seen. The plot is twice as long as it should, has sub plots that add nothing to the story and have many unlikable characters (including the Mary Sue heroes we're suppose to love). If you have grown to hate that movie as much as I have, please don't let the constant references between the two put you off from seeing this film.In terms of enjoyment, I still much prefer the likes of Harakiri, Throne of Blood and Seven Samurai. With that said, this is still a great film. A highly enjoyable movie that I would certainly recommend for fans of this genre. I can understand if the asking price is a bit much for folks, it's the Criterion standard unfortunately. but if you do decide to dive with this version of the film. I can guarantee you, you won't be disappointed with the quality.

Shiba, a wandering Samurai comes across three men holding a young girl hostage. At first he thinks they are bad until he hears their story, where they want the girls father, the Lord to hear their plea. After spending the night with them he opts to help them on their course for justice.Director Hideo Gosha makes his feature film debut which was a reworking of his very own TV series. In the vein of Seven Samurai we have three heroes who for no pay opt to fight for the honor of a small farming village.In the lead we have Testuro Tamba who starred in all types of movies throughout his career, ranging from a James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice, a Spaghetti Western Five Man Army and a Shaw Brothers martial arts flick Water Margin. He was a very talented actor and here he stars as Shiba a honorable and tough Samurai. His character is a tough and skilled warrior who forms a bond with the three farmers holding the girl hostage. He values what they are doing even if it will most likely cost them their lives.While holding the girl hostage two other samurai's end up pledging themselves to Shiba's cause. One is Sakura played by Isamu Nagato,who is another wondering master less samurai who has been arrested and thrown in jail. He is offered his release to help the Lord reclaim his daughter. During a fight with Shiba he switches sides. The third is a young and arrogant samurai Kikyo played by Mikijiro Hira. He clearly respects Shiba but he enjoys his life of luxury fighting for the Lord. However when a prostitute he loves is killed he to join Shiba and Sakura.Hideo Gosha's direction is faultless as he shows the bonds and respect between each of the characters. However this film maybe very character driven it is not without its action. Which for a film of this period it is surprisingly violent. We have gushings of blood (yes the film is in black and white) and the climax has our three heroes in a all out battle against a band of the Lord warriors.Tadashi Sakai's cinematography is beautiful with some fine camerawork and intense lighting which is aided by the black and white picture. He also opts to focus a lot of shots of feet and angles that cut off the actors head. It sounds strange but it works well.Overall its one of my favourite samurai movies, it may not be as good as Seven Samurai but it is impressive none the less.GREAT WIDESCREEN DVD QUALITY

good film

Good fun.