A handsome, old-school samurai origin story with strong period atmosphere, vivid color cinematography, and a magnetic Toshirō Mifune performance. It’s more mythic and transitional than action-heavy, but it remains a foundational genre film and an engaging start to the trilogy.
Best for
classic Japanese cinema fans
viewers who like historical epics and origin stories
fans of samurai films with a more literary, contemplative tone
people interested in early color filmmaking and studio-era spectacle
Skip if
you want nonstop swordplay
you prefer lean, modern pacing
you dislike hagiographic or mythmaking historical dramas
you’re looking for a gritty, revisionist samurai film
Overview
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto is less a duel machine than a legend-in-the-making. It follows a restless young man as he stumbles toward discipline, and the film is most compelling when it treats that transformation as both spiritual and physical. The result is a stately, sometimes formulaic origin tale, but one with real visual grace and an undeniable sense of scale.
Worth noting
Hiroshi Inagaki stages the film with a classical confidence that gives the landscapes, costumes, and rituals a near-mythic glow. Toshirō Mifune is the engine: impulsive, feral, and gradually shaped by hardship into something harder and wiser. The film can feel like setup at times, but the setup is beautiful enough to carry it.
Bottom line
If you come for action, you may find it restrained; if you come for atmosphere, performance, and the pleasure of watching a samurai legend take form, it delivers. It’s a key entry in the genre’s early canon and a rewarding watch for anyone interested in how Japanese cinema turned historical biography into epic cinema.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sarah Jane 🔪 (3.5★) · 435 likes
Toshiro Mifune has to be one of the most beautiful men to have ever walked the Earth.
Matt! (3.5★) · 211 likes
Now that I’m soon sadly putting the kibosh on the Lone Wolf and Cub franchise, I‘d like to find something that might keep its brazen samurai spirit alive. Zatoichi seems promising, but before I tackle that behemoth, I decided to run through Inagaki’s famed Samurai Trilogy.
Loosely based on the life of historical Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, this first installment follows Musashi’s short time prior to committing himself to the way of the samurai. I’ll be honest, it isn’t really… more
Justin Peterson (3★) · 147 likes
Criterion Collection Spine #14(Foreign language film - Japanese)
Why is everybody always picking on me ... Samurai edition.
"If you surrender to a Buddhist priest, consideration shall be given to you ... Never! ... My boy, do you think you can win? ... Yes ... Are you trying to defeat yourself, too? ... I don't mind dying in a good fight. But before I die, I will have some blood!"
The Samurai trilogy begins with the origin story of… more
Mr. DuLac (4★) · 104 likes
Loved this movie from beginning to end. The only thing I knew going in was that it's part of a trilogy and is but one of over 30 films based on Musashi Miyamoto. Knowing full well how Japanese and Chinese cinema loves to sometimes tell fictional stories around real historical figures I realize that some of Musashi's story might be historically inaccurate, if not all of it.
With that said I loved the story. Not being familiar with Musashi before… more
Stephen Gillespie (3★) · 99 likes
Though clearly important at its time, as a landmark colour film and a sprawling adaptation, age has not been kind to this samurai staple. The beautiful colours and lovely cinematography, alongside a gruff Mifune, provide enjoyment. But, this feels like a collection of known beats being hit in a purely competent way. The generic symphonic soundtrack also does not help, one further element in this film that feels like it is overtly going for Western appeal (the Academy Award win… more Though clearly important at its time, as a landmark colour film and a sprawling adaptation, age has not been kind to this samurai staple. The beautiful colours and lovely cinematography, alongside a gruff Mifune, provide enjoyment. But, this feels like a collection of known beats being hit in a purely competent way. The generic symphonic soundtrack also does not help, one further element in this film that feels like it is overtly going for Western appeal (the Academy Award win… more