Lush photography and classic samurai action highlight this must see film.

I'm looking forward to watching the sequels to this. It's an exciting film without a slow moment with a great performance(of course) by Mifune.

The story of Takezo is very much sad, yet adventurous. The mighty and hot-headed wannabe samurai goes out into battle to seek fame and fortune but finds nothing but what may be considered unserendipitist (not a word) realities of the harsh world he would so love to conquer. Within these ambitions, a gargantuan change is found in the newly honorable Samurai who continues his adventures anew. It is said that these films are Japan's Gone With the Wind; and quite frankly, I couldn't agree more.

some gorgeous cinematography and nice samurai melodrama.

Very good.

Highlighted by a pretty cool battle sequence, this first flick in Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy is mostly about setting up all the characters and their relationships. Mifune is awesome as usual.

Intriguing and insightful. There are many nuances that take a long time to "get" for those of us who are not natively Japanese. But the fact that the movie eventually conveys them to us and makes us want to root for the protagonist is a credit to how well this movie was made.

Right off the bat I noticed that the film is paced very quickly. Sometimes it's awkward, but most of the time it works out and makes the movie feel exciting and concise. The cinematography is very colorful, and the lush, diverse environments the action takes place in actually keep the movie pretty fun. It's a fitting start to the trilogy.

Feels like the first hour and a half of a much longer movie, not like the first part of a trilogy at all.

Sets the stage for the new two films in the trilogy perfectly. Mifune is excellent as the hot-headed would be samurai Takezo.

I hardly remember anything about this, except that I kinda enjoyed it.

Disappointing.

Samurai I is a righteous, miraculous, quickly paced and prodigious drama brobdingnagian. One of the best Inagaki has to offer, and also the start to a phenomenal trilogy of epic proportions.

I refuse to acknowledge it. Read Vagabond.