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Samurai cinema got drunk and made a punk rock baby.
TMDB
67
IMDb
72
Rotten Tomatoes
85
Audience Score
85
Google
94
Watch(DE)

Samurai Fiction (1998)

anachronistic chaosswashbuckling comedyindie cool

Overview

ComedyAction

A warrior-in-training and his bumbling friends go in pursuit of a stolen sword.

Flag of JPJPJapanese
Content warning
samuraijapantreasureswordswordplayfamily conflictbig familyfamily clan
honor vs. absurditygenerational conflictthe weight of legacy

Standout Aspects

Direction

Nakano's black-and-white homage with splashes of blood-red

Score

Tomoyasu Hotei's guitar-shredding anachronistic soundtrack

Cinematography

Stylized shadows that wink at Kurosawa then dance away

Best for:Friends: Irony-poisoned pals who quote Tarantino too much·Rewatch: Catching visual gags you definitely missed·Solo: Late night when you want cool, not depressing
Heads up:Violence: Stylized swordplay with occasional arterial spray
Hiroyuki Nakano

Director

Hiroyuki Nakano

ReleasedOct 27, 1998
Runtime1h 51m
StatusReleased

Vibe

Pacefast
Intensitymedium
Tonelight
Feellight
Pony Canyon

Top Cast

Morio Kazama

Morio Kazama

Hanbei Mizoguchi

Tomoyasu Hotei

Tomoyasu Hotei

Rannosuke Kazamatsuri

Tamaki Ogawa

Tamaki Ogawa

Koharu Mizoguchi

Mitsuru Fukikoshi

Mitsuru Fukikoshi

Heishiro Inukai

Mari Natsuki

Mari Natsuki

Okatsu

Taketoshi Naitō

Taketoshi Naitō

Kanzen Inukai

Kei Tani

Kei Tani

Kagemaru

Fumiya Fujii

Fumiya Fujii

Ryunosuke Kuzumi

Ken Osawa

Ken Osawa

Tadasuke Kurosawa

Hiroshi Kanbe

Hiroshi Kanbe

Gosuke

Ryôichi Yuki

Ryôichi Yuki

Ninja Hayabusa

Akiko Monou

Akiko Monou

Ninja Akakage

Ask about Samurai Fiction

Opens AI chat

Deep Dive

Trivia, insights & behind the scenes

Cultural

Released during a 1990s Japanese indie boom, it deliberately torpedoed chambara conventions while worshipping at their altar.

Trivia

Tomoyasu Hotei, who composed and starred, later became iconic for 'Battle Without Honor or Humanity'—yes, that Kill Bill track.

YouTube

SAMURAI FICTION (1998) Trailer for this origianl stylistic take on the tradtional samurai genre

SAMURAI FICTION (1998) Trailer for this origianl stylistic take on the tradtional samurai genre

Gallery

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