Zoku Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijôji no Kettô (Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple) (Swords of Doom) poster & wallpaper
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Yu Fujiki, Akihiko Hirata, Daisuke Katô, Kuninori Kodo, Michiyo Kogure ... see more see more... , Toshiro Mifune , Mitsuko Mito , Kuroemon Onoe , Sachio Sakai , Eijirô Tono , Koji Tsuruta , Kaoru Yachigusa , Mariko Okada

Samurai 2: Duel at Ichijoji Temple follows the adventures of the 17th-century samurai Musashi Miyamoto (Toshiro Mifune), as he wanders through feudal Japan learning the ways of a samurai warrior. ~ St... read more read more...ephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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85% liked it

3,284 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 32 min.

Directed by: Hiroshi Inagaki

Release Date: July 12, 1955

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Flixster Reviews (167)

  • animegirlaya
    July 8, 2011
    animegirlaya
    Holy shit this was Radical!!! Truly one of the best opening's ever for this genre!

    Hiroshi Inagaki, director of I'm the Bodyguard, Woman of Shanghai, Samurai 1, 2 &3 bring's us one of the most outstanding of the Samurai ever and the 50s.

    Awesome plot and acting and great ... read moreinsite to my culture!
  • sanjurosamurai
    March 21, 2010
    sanjurosamurai
    a great middle step to one of the best trilogies ever. the romantic melodrama was a little more overdone in this film than the other two of the trilogy, and the romantic monologues dominate much of the dialogue, but overall this is still a fantastic film and a great entry to a w... read moreonderful story.
  • rubystevens
    October 1, 2009
    rubystevens
    the continuing adventures of crazy takezo, now an accomplished samurai. not quite as good as part 1 tho lovely to look at. all the women are after musashi but he prefers his sword :p
  • kenstachnik
    March 24, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Beautiful colors, dull story
  • hypathio7
    September 23, 2008
    hypathio7
    It starts kind of abruptly with Musashi Miyamoto dueling a guy with a chain and sickle. After he wins, a passing priest plants the idea in his head that he is too strong, that swordsmanship is about chivalry. Musashi spends most of the movie trying to challenge Seijuro, the hea... read mored of a samurai school, which has fallen away from the samurai way and mostly consists of bandits. Multiple times he fights a group of this school's students who gang up on him instead of honoring his wishes to duel Seijuro one on one, always besting them. It's hard to see the fights as nearly all of them were shot in nearly complete darkness. He spends some time at a Geisha's house laying low, where the courtesan points out that his search for self-control has lead to a lack of affection. He also fights and kills Denshichiro, Seijuro's brother. Meanwhile, Otsu has still been waiting for Takezo/Musashi to return to her so they could begin a life together, but he now loves his sword more than her. Matahachi has become even more pitifully weak, sitting around singing sad songs and moping, but still trying to fool himself that he is a samurai. Oko has furthered an affair with a bandit from Seijuro's school, who we briefly met in the first part of the trilogy. These two schemers try to force Akemi, Oko's daughter, into a relationship with Seijuro. It has now become unclear who Akemi's father is, Matahachi, Takezo, or the bandit. Either way, Akemi has heard some stories of Takezo, probably from her mother or maybe folk tales, and now believes that she is in love with him. She begins to take after her mother quite a bit. Several characters don't appear anymore after this part of the story: Matahachi, Matahachi's parents, Oko, her bandit boyfriend, or the priest Takuan. The final main character to make an appearance in this part is Kojiro, who is a young samurai building quite a reputation with a new style of fighting. He works with Seijuro and is in favor of upsetting Musashi from his position as the greatest samurai, then when he sees Seijuro's students' lack of honor he becomes a sort of mediator, and finally, dragging Akemi along while watching from a distance, lets Musashi leave with the assurance that they will face each other later.
  • fb208103125
    November 23, 2011
    fb208103125
    Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple is an even more fierce and intense look at Miyamoto and his progress to become a master samurai. This is the first film that has Kojiro Sasaki as a young and powerful samurai who both admires Miyamoto but longs to be the best. Amazing battles... read more are peppered throughout the film with the final battle between Seijuro Yoshioka and Miyamoto finally materializing after 80 of Seijuro's men battle Miyamoto alone. We finally see, in his mercy, Miyamoto becoming a true samurai with compassion and control. When he finally gives in and tries to be with Otsu, she denies him for what seems like no reason and in this action Miyamoto swears off all women and continues his travels. The cinematography here and acting as well as the battle sequences make this is a must see samurai film and essential for viewing the Samurai Trilogy as a whole.
  • 9876a
    June 10, 2008
    9876a
    Mifune is the boss, as usual. And the outdoors nature settings are very moody and cinematic. But I got really tired of watching the female characters lie around crying all day. They're incredibly one-dimensional, weak characters.
  • hopeaddict
    February 10, 2008
    hopeaddict
    Quite well done, though loses a bit for me, having read the novel by Eiji Yoshikawa, that this trilogy was based on. To have truly done the translation justice, it should have been more like six or seven movies. IMHO. Not bad by ANY MEANS, but as a fan of the novel, I could ha... read moreve asked for more detail, less of a rushed synopsis.
  • Zibbs
    February 24, 2007
    Zibbs
    "You lack affection." - This plays out like one long special episode of a soap opera, but with lots of fighting; which works for me. I don't really care for the subplot with Matahachi, there's really no point; he doesn't even show up in the next film! Besides that, it's a decent ... read moreflick. - "I have renounced the love of women."

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