Movielogr
The Fall of Ako Castle (1978)
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
This is the story of “The Forty-Seven Ronin.” Based on historical events in 1701-2, the movie tells the tale of the Asano clan’s downfall and the revenge of its former samurai on the perpetrator of the catastrophe. Lord Asano was goaded, or tricked, into drawing his sword inside the Shogun’s palace—a crime which carried the death penalty. The newly installed Shogun was furious at Asano and ordered all his clan’s assets seized, meaning some 20,000 samurai and commoners were unemployed and landless at a stroke. Forty-seven of these ronin (masterless samurai) banded together to take attempt revenge on Lord Kira, who had goaded Asano into drawing his sword.
Length 159 minutes
Actors
Kinnosuke Nakamura | Sonny Chiba | Tsunehiko Watase | Teruhiko Saigô | Kyôko Enami | Masaomi Kondo | Shinsuke Mikimoto | Hiroki Matsukata | Shinsuke Ashida | Jun Fujimaki | Takuya Fujioka | Toshirō Mifune | Seizô Fukumoto | Mieko Harada | Nobuo Kaneko | Yoshi Katô | Tôru Minegishi | Yoshiko Mita | Kensaku Morita | Sanae Nakahara | Mikio Narita | Yôko Natsuki | Ken Nishida | Ryô Nishida | Mariko Okada | Junkichi Orimoto | Yûsuke Satô | Harumi Sone | Mizuho Suzuki | Eriko Kano | Ryô Tamura | Tetsurō Tamba | Minori Terada | Go Wakabayashi | Shôji Yasui | Hideji Ôtaki | Mitsuteru Nakamura
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/25/2023 | Home Theater | Blu-ray | Owned | 7 stars |
| (Average) 7 stars |
Viewing Notes
Also known as SWORDS OF VENGEANCE, Fukasaku’s take on the story of the 47 ronin. Chiba plays a ronin who comes back to help his former clan after its lord is goaded into attacking another member of the Shogunate. He’s not the main character, but does get some memorable sword fight scenes. This is the last film in the Sonny Chiba collection from Shout Select. All in all, a great set and an eclectic mix of Chiba’s work in the ‘70s and ‘80s. I still have the two-film EXECUTIONER and the three-film STREET FIGHTER sets to get through!
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