Owls' Castle (1999)
"Fukuro no shiro" (original title)

As the great military commander Nobunaga Oda was consolidating his power across Japan, one of his actions was to wipe out a clan of assassins, killing every man, woman and child he found in... See full summary »

Director:

Masahiro Shinoda

Writers:

Katsuo Naruse, Ryotaro Shiba (novel),

Stars:

Kiichi Nakai, Mayu Tsuruta, Riona Hazuki

3 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kiichi Nakai	...	Tsuzura Juzo
Mayu Tsuruta	...	Kohagi
Riona Hazuki	...	Kisaru
Takaya Kamikawa	...	Kazama Gohei
Toshiya Nagasawa	...	Marishiten Dogen
Jinpachi Nezu	...	Hattori Hanzo
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kinnosuke Hannayagi	...	Ishida Mitsunari
Shôhei Hino	...	Kuroami
Shima Iwashita	...	Kita no Mandokoro
Toshio Kakei	...	Kumohei
Hideyuki Kasahara	...	Iseya Employee
Haruko Mabuchi	...	Old Woman Kusunoki
Mako	...	Toyotomi Hideyoshi (as Mako Iwamatsu)
Kei Mizutani	...	Bedhead Concubine
Atsuo Nakamura	...	Tsuzura Tarobe / Narrator

Storyline

As the great military commander Nobunaga Oda was consolidating his power across Japan, one of his actions was to wipe out a clan of assassins, killing every man, woman and child he found in the village. Years later, one of the survivors has hired a young but skilled assassin to avenge the deaths of his friends and family. His mission: to sneak into the most heavily guarded castle in Japan, and kill the supreme ruler of the country.

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Plot Keywords:

jidai geki | based on novel

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

30 October 1999 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Owls' Castle

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fuji Television Network, Heiwa, Imagica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Realistic ninja movie

This movie was highly enjoyable for me. Most people i know didn't care for it because there wasn't as much action as they expected, and the action wasn't really high flying super ninja like. But to me it seemed realistic and the action was really good. The movie included ninja weapons, ninpo (ninja magic), stealth, underwater fight scenes, and from what i hear from another review was choreographed by someone who knew how to actually kill peopl. All in all I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes Japanese ninja movies with some history in it without expecting crouching tiger-like action. After all, these are ninjas not string work kung fu martial artist.