Legend of Eight Samurai (1983)
"Satomi hakken-den" (original title)

Princess Shizu's family is wiped out by an family of undead seeking revenge. The eight samurai can save her, but who and where are they?

Director:

Kinji Fukasaku

Writers:

Kinji Fukasaku, Toshio Kamata

Stars:

Hiroko Yakushimaru, Hiroyuki Sanada, Sonny Chiba

4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Hiroko Yakushimaru	...	Princess Shizu
Hiroyuki Sanada	...	Inue Shinbei Masashi
Sonny Chiba	...	Inuyama Dosetsu Tadatomo
Etsuko Shihomi	...	Inusaka Keno Tanetomo
Yûki Meguro	...	Hikita Gonnokami Motofuji
Mari Natsuki	...	Tamazusa
Nana Okada	...	Hamaji
Masaki Kyômoto	...	Inuzuka Shino Moritaka
Kenji Ohba	...	Inukai Genpachi Nobufuchi
Nagare Hagiwara	...	Yonosuke
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tatsuo Endô
Takuya Fukuhara	...	Inukawa Sosuke Yoshito
Seizô Fukumoto
Akira Hamada	...	Akushiro
Shunsuke Kariya	...	Inuta Kobungo Yasuyori

Storyline

Eight mysterious crystals from the body of a long-dead princess now identify the eight samurai who are destined to help a beautiful young princess overcome a curse on her family. They go against an evil queen who bathes in blood to retain her youthfulness. The queen and her son live in a castle protected by many monsters and goblins and assorted apparitions, including giant flying snakes. Many swords, lots of sorcery and plenty of blood.

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Plot Keywords:

princess | samurai | blood | snake | castle | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

10 December 1983 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Legend of the Eight Samurai

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kadokawa Haruki Jimusho, Toei Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Shinbei goes "evil" and attacks the princess and her friends when he jumps off the back of the horse you can see the black wire that's attach to his back that's keeping him off the ground. Futhurmore if you check out the top corner of the screen you can see the winch that the other end of the wire is connected to swinging around.

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Connections

Featured in The Playlist: Instruments of Destruction (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Satomi Hakken-den"
Written by Joey Carbone, Kathi Pinto, David Palmer
Performed by John O'Banion

User Reviews

1 ninja, 1 samurai, and 6 fighter/adventurers fight for princess shizu!

good movie but i suggest watching it and pretending you are an 8 year old. basic plot evil "demons" try to get rid of an entire clan that destroyed them 100 years earlier. they don't kill princess shizu of that clan and seek her out. shizu heads to her uncles clan and runs into several men who want to save her. they collect 8 people who have magic crystals and all go to the demons castle to destroy them. good movie i wont spoil the ending it doesn't take much brain faculties to watch it either.