A group of idealistic young men, determined to clean up the corruption in their town, are aided by a scruffy, cynical samurai, Sanjuro, who does not at all fit their concept of a noble warrior, but, of course, runs rings round the baddies. Kurosawa's sequel to his Japanese "Western" (Yojimbo), a fast-paced classic of Japanese cinema with a frenetic finale find out more...

A hardened veteran of the American civil war, Captain Nathan Algren is a man who's lost his way. A hero to many, he is haunted by some of the things he has done and when offered the chance to teach the art of modern warfare to a Japan in the grip of modernisation, he sees an opportunity to escape his past. Plunged into a war against the Samurai, Nathan is captured but allowed to live so that the warriors may learn the ways of their new enemy. From here on in it's mutual admiration all round; Nat find out more...

Kanichiro Yoshimura has escaped a famine in northern Japan and found himself work as a guardian in the Imperial Capital. At first scorned by his fellow Samurai, because his first concern is his starving family rather than his duty, Kanichiro nonetheless excels at his job, a peerless swordsman, he shows no fear in the face of battle, and it is not long before his fellow warriors start to understand the true nature of his honour. When The Last Sword Is Drawn is a sumptuous and epic sweep of the en find out more...