Review of Samurai Banners (1969) by Brandon S — 10 Nov 2010

Samurai epic from the 60's that has all the characteristics that fans of the genre are looking for and a great performance from Toshiro Mifune. A ronin tricks a fellow ronin to attack a lord just so he can come in and kill his friend to make it look like he wants to save the lord so that he may be offered a position.

The plan works and the ronin moves up in the Japanese military very swiftly up until the ronin and his master both fall for the same girl and this is when the ronin's true faith shows. Large production values help make this epic rise above the competition, but the long run time and the over emphasis on the history over the action make this epic a duller then it should be.