Kurosawa regular Toshiro Mifune stars as an unfocused ball of furious youthful energy in this first installment of the famed Samurai Trilogy. As Takezo, the adopted black sheep of a small feudal village, Mifune is wild, passionate and unfocused in his quest for adventure and respect. Seeking a romanticized status as samurai, he rushes off to join the losing side of a civil war, enticing his best friend to tag along in search of similar fame and fortune. What follows is a broad adventure across the landscapes of Japan, chance encounters with a colorful batch of faces, and an awful lot of unresolved plot threads. As can be expected with the first act of any saga, there isn't much finality to be found here; it really seems as though we're only beginning to scratch the surface when the curtain drops, and that compete lack of closure left me feeling a touch jilted, justifiably or not. Later chapters have a wealth of storytelling riches to expand upon, though, with two rebellious youths beginning to come of age in vastly different ways, a fistful of foils closing in on each, an unresolved love triangle muddying the waters and a clear-cut destination on the horizon. On its own, this is little more than an incomplete tease. In the context of a three-film arc, though, it's much more digestible as a rich, diverse pin-setter. I want more.

Well, this movie does not quite feel like the perfect picture yet but what it does is setting the things up for the further movies within in the trilogy.In 1955 and 1956 the two follow-ups for this movie got released, which focuses on the soon to be samurai Musashi Miyamoto. What this movie does is setting up the characters and laying down the right foundations for the future movies. And the movie really does feel like a setup movie, fore this movie itself doesn't quite reaches a conclusion and it builds up to a much bigger plan. This movie is making it obvious that the following movies would be epic ones to watch. This however all means that this actual movie isn't quite as good as a movie itself, as it is as a setup movie. This is no complaint really of course once you also decide on watching the following two movies.It's a good looking movie, made in the well known typical Japanese '50's style and it's about something classic Japanese movies are of course so well known for. It's set in the 16th century Japan, in the middle of a war, featuring of course a lot of skilled sword masters. Sounds all very much like a Akira Kurosawa picture so far, also not in the least because it also stars Toshirô Mifune as the movie its main character. But of course there were lots of other Japanese skilled directors at the same time active within the business, such as Hiroshi Inagaki, who directed this entire movie trilogy.Don't expect this movie to feature a lot of fight- and battle sequences though. The movie at times becomes epic with some of its war moments but its all kept quite short, as if they were saving it all for the future movies. Still Toshirô Mifune of course gets to do his thing in this movie though.A movie that serves its purpose as a setup for things to come in the following two movies of this quite well known trilogy.8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This title is really only the first part of a three-part story of the early life of Musashi, the legendary Samurai. The three parts were released separately and Criterion DVD has released them on three separate discs, each disc about an hour and a half to two hours long. You can try to watch the first disc alone, it stand by itself, but it ends just as Mushashi starts out on his quest, and you'll miss Koji Tsuruta's serene and slightly creepy role as Kojiru, Musashi's arch-enemy, which for me was the best part of parts 2 and 3.The DVDs feature not very well restored prints, maybe it was the best they could do, and there is no supplemental material.The movie itself is a fun and lively retelling of the legend. Mifune is more wooden than usual, but this is a time when Japanese action films were taking their cues from westerns, and his Musashi grows from a wild spirit to the requisite strong, silent type. For a modern, charismatic, manga-style Musashi, try to get your hands on 2003's "Musashi" NHK miniseries.

Spoilers herein.I am increasingly convinced that actors cannot make a successful film, no matter what. A recent experience is seeing `Eat, Drink, Man, Woman,' followed by `Tortilla Soup.' Soup is a remake of Eat Drink. Now the first film is not a life-altering experience, but it has a center, a soul that is nurtured by many small energies. Tortilla has the same script and an example as well, but it is as flat as a high school musical. No magic, no life, no real director.Here we have a similar experiment. Mifune can be a powerful actor. He _does_ present a life-altering presence in several Kurosawa pictures, including a samurai film in this same year. In Kurosawa's hands, with his protections, Mifune can race. It is one of the best partnerships in film history.But see what a mess we have without a real director! This is a TeeVee quality soap opera. There has not one redeeming feature, save as yet another samurai source (Yoda) for `Star Wars' to borrow. Watch Mifune on the bridge when he decides to leave his love. There is no emotional shaping, no tentacles into our hearts. Then watch this same scene stretched into a whole movie in `Hidden Fortress' and marvel at how each visual effect amplifies the dilemma. Or for that matter, look at the ending bridge scene in `Crouching Tiger.'This film is the Japanese equivalent of `Highlander.' Don't waste your time on it unless you wish to see a great actor unmanaged.