CT085 Yonjuro: Review of Kurosawa & Mifune's Classic Film Yojimbo

This week, Ezra and Nate review the Akira Kurasawa classic film, Yojimbo,  starring Toshiro Mifune. At the top of the show, Ezra and Nate discuss what they have been up to over the last few months, how they have been handling quarantine, both individually and at the dojo.  If hearing more about the Covid sends you into a depression spiral, skip ahead to the first break about 30 minutes in!

In the review, the guys talk about Kurosawa & Mifune's influence on Japanese cinema, and how this film marked a major change from earlier Chanbarra films.  WWII strongly affected both the actor & directors of this movie, and they get into some of the details, many of which are shown in the  documentary Mifune: The Last Samurai.

Ezra and Nate also get into Yojimbo's influence on American and International films, including of course, the Dollars trilogy starring Clint Eastwood and the Magnificent Seven starring Charles Bronson. They compare this film to other martial arts and action movies, and try to figure out what works and what doesn't. These include Die Hard, Lady Snow Blood, Kill Bill, a bunch of Angelina Jolie movies that blend together, some great Blaxslpoitation movies including Coffee, Foxy Brown, and Nate's favorite film of all time Black Dynamite starring Michael Jai White, the various Marvel TV shows and Movies, and a few Tarintino and Jackie Chan movies, plus many more.  

To find a bunch of great samurai films and other classics on the Critereon Channel, check out www.criterionchannel.com

To find out more about Ezra Scott from James McLain's Kosho School of Karate in Nashville, check out www.koshokarate.wordpress.com. To find out more about me, check out www.koshoschoolofkarate.com or listen to more Chop Talk!