The Best Asian Movies of the 1970s
Although I have already incoporated some of the very best Asian movies cinema has to offer in my best of-lists of a decade there are plenty of films that are more than worthy to be discovered. The reason why I started a new series of listings is simply that many Asian movies are very different of what we came to know of from American or European cinema. To fully appreciate the films on this list you should be open-minded because some of the craziness that asian directors think of goes way beyond that of what Western movie makers churn out every year. But it is exactly that often groundbreaking craziness which makes movies from Asia that much fun.
As ususal, don't hesitate to leave a comment if you feel up to it.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
As ususal, don't hesitate to leave a comment if you feel up to it.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
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- DirectorKihachi OkamotoStarsToshirô MifuneShintarô KatsuAyako WakaoZatoichi tries to unrest the mob rule over a small village all while the gang leader's bodyguard is actually the Yojimbo, secretly taking the gang down from the inside. Will the two heroes realize in time that they are on the same side?"Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo"
- DirectorKôji WakamatsuStarsToshiyuki TanigawaYûko EjimaMakiko HaradaA man comes to Tokyo searching for his son's killer. He ventures into the deep underground of the city where he finds out that the untraceable killer is a mysterious revolutionary gang leader called Shinjuku Mad."Shinjuku Mad"
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsYoshitaka ZushiKin SugaiToshiyuki TonomuraVarious tales in the lives of Tokyo slum dwellers, including a mentally deficient young man obsessed with driving his own commuter trolley."Dodeskaden"
- DirectorUmetsugu InoueStarsMargaret Hsing HuiFeng ChinPing WangThree Chinese girls a strange letter told them there is an overseas Chinese millionaire living in Japan who believe that he is their father. The millionaire sent air tickets to the girls for meeting him. The girls don't know that what awaits them is a crisis..."The Five Billion Dollar Legacy"
- DirectorKenji MisumiStarsShintarô KatsuReiko ÔharaPîtâZatoichi meets an infamous blind leader of a gangster organization as he contends with a gloomy ronin widower."Zatoichi: The Festival of Fire"
- DirectorHiroshi InagakiStarsToshirô MifuneYûjirô IshiharaRuriko AsaokaSent on a secret mission, a ronin must discover who his friends are and who must die."The Ambush: Incident at Blood Pass"
- DirectorTeruo IshiiStarsMeiko KajiHoki TokudaMakoto SatôThe head of a yakuza gang is being trailed by a mysterious, vengeful blind woman."Blind Woman's Curse"
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsDavid ChiangHan ChinLung TiThe "iron triangle" of director Chang Cheh and protégés David Chiang and Ti Lung make The Heroic Ones a quintessential action epic, set during the waning years of the Tang Dynasty and centering on a royal family rife with intrigue."The Heroic Ones"
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsDavid ChiangLung TiPing WangChina 1925, a man returns to track down a kill the men who murdered his brother."Vengeance!"
- DirectorTai KatôStarsSumiko FujiTomisaburô WakayamaKanjûrô ArashiOryu searches for a blind girl she left behind but gets involved in a Yakuza turf war."Red Peony Gambler 5: Oryo Returns"
- DirectorHirokazu IchimuraStarsYôko MatsuyamaYûki MeguroMeichô SoganoyaOichi, the blind bounty hunter, frees a woman from unjust prison and is now hunted by order of the local magistrate. She is concerned with the poor fishermen, who are oppressed and robbed by a gang in collusion with the authorities."Crimson Bat - Oichi: Wanted, Dead or Alive"
- DirectorYoshitarô NomuraStarsShima IwashitaGô KatôMayumi OgawaHamajima is a quiet, hard-working man, whose life changes drastically when he reunites with a lovely childhood friend and her strange little boy."The Shadow Within"
- DirectorKôsaku YamashitaStarsBin AmatsuHiroshi ArikawaDaisuke AwajiAfter collecting her sickly follower from jail, Oryu is taken in by a fishing village. Feeling indebed to their generosity, she stays to work for the village and promises to leave her yakuza ways behind. When a dispute breaks out for the gambling rights to a local festival, the villagers are harrassed by a gang of thugs. When the harrassment turns violent, Oryu must decide wither to keep her promise or protect the villagers."Red Peony Gambler 6: Notorius Gambler"
- DirectorKihachi OkamotoStarsKeiju KobayashiYûzô KayamaTetsurô TanbaTold from the Japanese perspective, this war drama captures the events of World War II's Battle of Okinawa - a massive amphibious assault by U.S. troops that left more than 150,000 Japanese civilians dead."The Battle of Okinawa"
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsKôji TsurutaTomisaburô WakayamaTsunehiko WataseA yakuza gang gets driven out of Yokohama by a big gang from Tokyo. They relocate to Okinawa to violently start over."Sympathy for the Underdog"
- DirectorsWei LoChia-Hsiang WuStarsBruce LeeMaria YiJames TienA young Chinese man sworn an oath of non-violence moves to Thailand to work with his cousins in an ice factory, which he discovers to be a front for a sinister heroin-smuggling operation."Fists of Fury"
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsChing LeeLung TiMiao ChingReclusive hero Jin Fei, (Ti Lung) known as the King Eagle, inadvertently gets involved in the internal conflicts of the Tien Yi Tong sociaty, after he falls in love their 7th chief, Yuk Lin (Li Ching)"King Eagle"
- DirectorHideo GoshaStarsRumi AikiHideyo AmamotoNoboru AndôAfter going to prison for killing the boss of the Kanno gang, a gangster gets released early - only to find that his ex-gang has merged with the Kannos. But with bitter resentments lingering on both sides, bloodshed is bound to begin anew."The Wolves"
- DirectorKimiyoshi YasudaStarsShintarô KatsuJimmy Wang YuMichie TeradaTwo of Japan and China's greatest heroic swordsman find themselves caught in a plot to protect a young child. But will national distrust and simple misunderstanding keep the two kindred spirits apart?"Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman"
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsLung TiDavid ChiangPing WangA Kung Fu artist sacrifices everything to avenge his father's execution."The Duel"
- DirectorWu MaStarsHelen MaChing TangChok-Chow CheungA bounty hunter who makes her living hunting outlaws finds herself the one being hunted when a psychopathic princess wants her dead."Deaf Mute Heroine"
- DirectorToshio MatsumotoStarsKatsuo NakamuraJûrô KaraYasuko SanjoAfter being robbed by a geisha, a ronin warrior carves a bloody path to seek revenge."Shura - Demons"
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsDavid ChiangChing LeeLung TiA devious martial arts master targets young, talented swordsmen, and makes a wager that whoever loses should cut off their arm, then surprises them with a secret technique they cannot counter. One of his previous victims have had enough."The New One Armed Swordsman"
- DirectorTai KatôStarsSumiko FujiKôji TsurutaKatsutoshi AkiyamaOryu meets villagers whose crops and livelihoods are being damaged by air pollution from a local factory."Red Peony Gambler 7: Here to Kill You!"
