Reviews & Ratings for
Three Outlaw Samurai More at IMDbPro »Sanbiki no samurai (original title)

22 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
Excellent proto-"spaghetti western" Samurai movie!, 16 July 2001

Author: shinobirastafari from San Francisco, CA

This one is Gosha's first directorial attempt, and what a debut! Though some of the performances are occasionally a bit overwrought, there are also many instances where Gosha reveals his sense of the camera.

Of course, there are Gosha's typical studied camera angles and compositions (you see some interesting "moving camera" work, which significantly predates the attempts of "pioneering" US directors). However, "Sanbiki no samurai" also showcases Gosha's ability to tell a story through facial expressions, rather than simply relying upon dialogue.

This is all film-school wankery. The bottom line is that "Sanbiki" is a gripping chambara flick, with a solid morality tale disguised as a cynical amorality tale. (Note that a common theme through many Japanese "chambara" is that of cynical ex-samurai who ultimately decides to risk life and limb for some hopeless but noble "little guy" cause.)

This theme was repeatedly, um, emulated by the likes of Sergio Leone with his spaghetti westerns. However, my point is that such tales are just plain entertaining. The three actors playing the samurai also turn in great performances.

Viewers new to Hideo Gosha may wish to start with "Goyokin" or "Hitokiri" (a/k/a "Tenchu"), but if you've seen those two already (or if they're already checked out), then this is still a definite movie to catch!

8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Entertaining samurai action, 18 March 2006

Author: Chung Mo from NYC

Excellent black and white cinematography, solid acting, well done action and a reasonably good story make this a satisfying film. The story of wandering samurai coming to the aid of impoverished farmers is not new and the characters are stock but this isn't a real problem if you are looking for something to sit back and enjoy easily. The direction is very assured and it's remarkable that this is a first directorial effort. The actors are appealing and the film never gets bogged down in long exposition or beauty shots. The comparison to a spaghetti western is apt.

The film seems like it was intended to start a series based on the three characters. Too bad that didn't happen.

5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
This is where it all started for one of Japan's greats., 8 June 2008

Author: chaos-rampant from Greece

Hideo Gosha's first in a series of great movies leading up to his double triumph of Hitokiri and Goyokin in 1969, is a simple but engaging chambara with a sociopolitical angle that has more in common with Kurosawa's work than the stylistic flourishes and visual grammar the director developed later in his career.

Very similar to Seven Samurai in terms of style and themes, this is another take on the familiar story of cynical samurais helping out poor peasants in their fight against the oppression of the rich and powerful. Three lowly peasants kidnap a daimyo's daughter and demand a tax reform that will ease the economic burden for all the peasants in the nearby villages. It's all well plotted and interesting for the duration with great performances all around and near superb swordplay action. Gosha's two Samurai Wolf films as well as Sword of the Beast would make ideal companion pieces as an entry point to the director's output. Fans of Kurosawa's jidaigeki work are likely to appreciate it just as well.

3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Justice..., 6 June 2010

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

In some ways, this film might be a bit anachronistic. I really am not sure it such an event might have happened--particularly with the code of Bushido putting such a premium to authority. But you sure would HOPE that it might have happened! The film begins with a small group of peasants holding the magistrate's daughter hostage. After all, his taxes are literally starving the peasants and he would seem to care nothing about their plight. So, in their minds, doing something as insanely foolish as the kidnapping seemed like only hope. It just happens that three ronin (unemployed samurai) arrive in town about that time. One agrees to work for the evil magistrate, one assists the kidnappers and one stands back...at least at the onset. Eventually, though, because of repeated lies and infamy by the magistrate, the three samurai eventually are drawn together as there is something even higher and more important that obedience--doing what is right.

There is a lot more to the story than this and it comes off like a western that has been relocated to feudal Japan. However, it is so much better than just that--with exceptional acting, action and plot. In many ways, it plays like a typical Zatoichi film merged with the Kurasawa film "The Seven Samurai". Exciting, entertaining and tough--this is one of the better sword and samurai films I've seen--and I have seen hundreds (a lot for an American).

Simple, exciting and very effective.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A well-written samurai masterpiece, 14 February 2012

Author: chrismsawin from United States

Shiba (Tetsuro Tanba) is a wandering samurai who's seen it all. He stumbles onto some peasants who have taken the magistrate's daughter hostage in hopes of ending the corruptive leadership that plagues their land. What begins as a spectator sport and a roof over his head for Shiba turns into him fully supporting the peasants and their cause. Two other samurai; Sakura (Isamu Nagato) another wanderer with a guilty conscience and Kikyo (Mikijiro Hira) a samurai who milks the magistrate for all he's worth eventually join up with Shiba. An epic duel to the death lies ahead for the three samurai as the magistrate will stop at nothing to get revenge.

Three Outlaw Samurai begins in simple yet extravagant fashion. We see Shiba take a few steps in the mud followed by an extremely loud music cue and the title card written in Japanese Kanji. Six seconds into this chanbara film and I already know I'm going to love it. The film buys its time though as the first half of the film is mostly very talkative and swords are drawn only briefly before lengthy discussions begin once again. The storytelling is a high point as loyalty and the overall cause for all of this mayhem are always both relevant to the events taking place on screen. The cinematography is also brilliant, especially since this is the debut of Hideo Gosha. The well-choreographed and intense swordplay sequences are always captured with the most precise camera placement.

Lighting and shadows also play a big part in how the film is presented visually. The one-shot sword fight in the two-story whore house is the best example of this. Right down to the drastic lighting on Kikyo's eyes before everything goes to hell, Three Outlaw Samurai is the type of film fans of samurai, foreign, and great cinema in general dream of. There's something completely gratifying about blood presented in black and white, as well. Maybe it's because it reminds me of the Crazy 88 fight The Bride has at the tea house in Kill Bill, but the crimson liquid almost seems more gratifying in grayscale at least when it comes to older and more legendary motion pictures.

The best exchange of dialogue comes when Sakura is running across a field to support Kikyo and Shiba in the final battle. Sakura yells, "Hey Shiba! I've done you wrong! I deserve to die! Kill Me!" In the heat of battle, Shiba merely replies, "I'm busy at the moment." While Three Outlaw Samurai may seem a bit slow at first, your patience will be rewarded. You'll become attached to the characters of Sakon Shiba, Kyojuro Sakura, and Einosuke Kikyo, get absorbed in their cause, and understand their decisions. As the swordplay and action becomes more frequent, you'll realize how truly amazing this film really is. Three Outlaw Samurai is a beautiful, well-written, and just a fantastic experience overall that is for fans of Seven Samurai, Shogun Assassin, and The Last Samurai.

3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Four Samurai stayed home, 15 November 2008

Author: lastliberal from United States

Unlike the more familiar Seven Samurai, remade as The Magnificent Seven, this film only features three. Really, it is only one for most of the movie, then another joins in, and finally the third.

The story is familiar. The Samurai feel sorry for the poor peasants and one even gives up his luxurious life in the Magistrate's service to fight the evil tax collector that is bleeding the peasants dry.

It's the film debut for Hideo Gosha, and he does a great job of mixing samurai fighting and humor and concern for the poor into an enjoyable film that was beautifully shot.

I am certainly going to look for more of his work.

0 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
vivid but disturbing, 17 February 2012

Author: Hunt2546 from United States

Gosha was the Don Siegel of Japan, an artist of action, a poet of mêlée. So it is with this newly restored early picture of his, now available from Criterion in blazing black and white. Typical sam fare: clunky plot, great sword work, cool flourishes (like blowing dust giving mythic quality to climactic duel, or the use of blood to punctuate kills, never overdone but extremely dramatic.) Extremely enjoyable, it turns out to be an "origins" tale in which we learn how the three outlaws (if Japanese TV fame) came together. Briefly, seems wandering ronin decides to throw in with peasant reformers who've kidnapped magistrate's daughter for leverage on tax reform, and one way or other, the two others come to his side and ultimately they face off in duels and battles with magistrate's own ronin, soldiers, various thugs and creeps. Lots of racing, slicking, sword fighting in flip-flops and bathrobes. What did somewhat shock me was the utter disregard the movie shows for women. They are used up and tossed aside like Kleenex, with no regret or mourning or much in the way of grief. At least three are murdered or commit suicide, and two more dumped. I know this is emblematic of Japanese society in early '60s, but even so, it seems a little overdone here. I don't like to judge then by the standards of now, but even if gals were objects in '64, by those standards Gosha goes a bit overboard.

4 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
one of my favorites classics, 30 June 2003
Author: abyss232002 from florida, USA

after watching Gosha's other movies, my curiuosity for other samurai films made me buy this movie, first of all, I like the main character on this film the masterless samurai character, he was in Harakiri, and maybe goyokin nakadai's brother in law/ nemesis, anyway,the movie has some humor on it, has some great swordplay, I recomended this film because it is not all drama like samurai assassin and rebellion, there's alot of talking, until the last 5 minutes of the film

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