Sonny Chiba! Hiroyuki Sanada! Kinji Fukasaku writing/directing! Power ballads in the trailer! These are a few of my favorite things, AKA the names and stylings that caught my eye when I first saw the trailer for 1983’s Legend Of The Eight Samurai and decided yes, I must review this film. I think most folks would be familiar with the name Sonny Chiba, he of the famous Street Fighter film franchise and Hattori Hanzo the swordsmith in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. Hiroyuki Sanada might be less well known to some in the West, but has risen to prominence as the lead in the massively successful and seminal Shōgun this past year. And many readers might be familiar with Kinji Fukasaku’s final opus after a lifetime of filmmaking: Battle Royale! This assemblage of talent was more than enough for me to seek out Eureka’s new Blu-ray release of Legend Of The Eight Samurai, a film I’d never known existed, but I’m sure happy to have been exposed to.
Despite all those names that attracted me to this release, the headline star of the film is someone I was unfamiliar with, a young pop idol named Hiroko Yakushimaru as Princess Shizu. And the primary driver of this film was producer Haruki Kadokawa, another talent I was unfamiliar with, but which drove the creation of this wild ride of a film. According to the stellar bonus features made available on this release, Japanese cinema wasn’t exactly at a high point in the early 1980s, and Kadokawa sought to pull from the pop culture hits of the west as inspiration for this sci-fi/fantasy/samurai hybrid. It was this approach that brought us a somewhat classical samurai tale starring a young pop idol with a rabid youth/cult following, featuring western-style English language power ballads, and several sci-fi and fantasy story elements that brought visual effects into the mix. But all while ripping off Seven Samurai, of course… because why not?!
Legend Of The Eight Samurai tells the tale of Princess Shizu, the last surviving member of her ruling clan, who were all mercilessly slaughtered by an evil sorceress, who assumes power in the vacuum, bathing in the blood of her victims to assure eternal youth. But there is a prophecy that 8 mystically chosen dog warriors will come to the aid of Shizu and restore righteousness to the throne. Many glowing orbs, mystical monsters, and spectacular action set pieces ripped quite directly from Star Wars and Indiana Jones will follow, as well as a nice little redemptive/romantic arc for the strapping young Hiroyuki Sanada! There’s not an original bone in Legend Of The Eight Samurai’s body, the sum of a thousand pop culture influences mixed together in an attempt to form a mass market hit; but damn if it’s not gloriously entertaining throughout the spinning of its yarn.
I guess I’m just a sucker for every component of this smorgasbord, because while this movie really shouldn’t work (and many will feel that it doesn’t), I can’t help but be charmed by it. For most of the runtime it does look and feel like a traditional samurai film. But then a massive centipede monster will show up, or some black magic will happen aided by 80s style visual effects. And then there’s that power ballad penchant I mentioned. And while the film is most definitely aping Seven Samurai, it almost simultaneously feels ahead of its time, like a proto-video game movie with a bunch of side quests and mini-bosses leading up to a final assault/boss battle.
What worked well for me may not work for everyone, but within 10 minutes you’ll know what you’re getting and if you aren’t vibing with it in the earliest moments, it’s probably not going to click for you. But if, like me, you’re a fan of virtually every ingredient of this cobbled together recipe, you might just join the Hiroko Yakushimaru fan club and start pumping your fists along to the power ballads like I did.
The Package
Eureka put together a pretty gorgeous Blu-ray package here for this pop smash hit that may not have been so much of a critical darling. Most importantly, the film itself has some real visual splendor if you can appreciate 80s style VFX, and this first-time-released in North America title got the 4K restoration treatment. Along with some killer artwork that I’ve got featured here in unboxing photos, you also get an essay from Tom Mes, a new audio commentary track, and a fascinating interview with Fukasaku’s son Kenta. Limited to only 2000 copies, I am thrilled to have gotten to experience this curio and feel many fans of samurai cinema and Star Wars knock offs would feel similarly if they picked up this release for themselves.
Legend Of The Eight Samurai hits limited edition Blu-ray from Eureka 2/18/25
Unboxing Photos
And I’m Out.
