A crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.Toshiro Mifune's sword fighting in the film was used in an extensive illustrated example of "samurai virtuosity with his sword" in "This is Kendo", a kendo manual published in English. As it should be! This is seen as a more light-hearted sequel to "Yojimbo", and indeed it is one of the few films I am aware of where samurai dance around in joyful glee. The violence is relatively low-key, with one crucial moment of gore, and the tone at times is even a bit humorous. Although not as praised as "Yojimbo", perhaps it should be.

In Akira Kurosawa's highly underrated sequel to the much revered Yojimbo, Toshiro Mifune reprises his role as the titular master-less samurai, this time having the arduous task of cleaning up the mess created by the younger generation of a ruling clan, whose misplaced trust leaves them vulnerable to the clan's true enemy. Set in 19th century Japan, a gruff, disheveled, footloose samurai turns up in a deserted shrine where a cabal of nine young progressives is plotting to overthrow a corrupt regime. Boldly and brashly he appears among them while they have been fumbling for a plan and haughtily takes over the ticklish task of directing them. Consistently decrying the fledgling samurai as "idiots," expert strategist Sanjuro seemingly can't help himself from getting involved with the fallout of their political meddling, as the hapless bunch is desperately in need of saving. Starting with his chivalrous rescue of the chamberlain's wife and daughter from the corrupt warlord, Sanjuro leads the army of warriors on a wild goose chase so the nine inept samurais can free the chamberlain. All the action soon leads us to a dark, rug-yanking conclusion, as our eponymous samurai waves goodbye to those he helped and walks off into the sunset heroic and alone. The fact that Sanjuro is played by none other than the grunting, swashbuckling Toshiro Mifune makes the movie thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. The movie largely gyrates around the marvelously eccentric mannerisms of Mifune's performance, who swaggers through the entire film with a bemused expression - grimacing, scratching, yawning, and stretching in an ironic counterpoint to his character's phenomenal skill as a swordsman. The film's humor arises from Sanjuro's weary irritation and the contrast between his slovenly behavior and the phony ceremonial propriety of others. But while Mifune's satiric portrayal is a delight, Akira Kurosawa sets it in a more recognizably Japanese milieu, with a complicated plot involving political and historical intrigue. Kurosawa applies the full force of his cinematic genius, with brilliant widescreen composition that tells the story in visual terms as clear as the verbal ones. He guides the narrative mostly for laughs, but when the action kicks in the sword fighting is brutal and memorable.Sanjuro may not be Akira Kurosawa's most celebrated work, but you will find his witty paw prints all over the snappy dialogue, unique characters and intriguing plot – an effort that I personally rank higher than Yojimbo!

This is the sequel to 'Yojimbo'. Toshirô Mifune returns as the wandering ronin Sanjûrô Tsubaki. He encounters nine naive samurai who wants to confront corruption. One of the samurai had confronted his uncle the lord with the accusations. The response was dissatisfying so he tells the superintendent. The superintendent tells the nephew to gather his men. The ronin immediately smells a trap, and the corrupt superintendent launches a raid on the group. Only the ronin's smarts saves the group. Now the uncle and his family are taken prisoner and the ronin endeavors to rescue them with the help of the nine naive samurai. Only the clueless nine are sometimes more problematic with their distrust of the often napping ronin.This is a funnier movie than Yojimbo. Sanjuro does battle more with his brains than with his sword. The best swords are kept in their sheaths. However there is that great scene of drawing of the swords at the end. The guy imprisoned in the closet has a good funny scene. It's a very good sequel to Yojimbo with a funnier tone.

Sanjuro, which is also in a way a sequel to Yojimbo, is quite different from his usual films because not only it packs exciting comedy but it has more intelligence than what you would expect from a classic B&W film. This is because Sanjuro is basically a cat-and-mouse mindgame.Unlike Yojimbo where only the main character controls the chessboard and the rest just followed like robots to the sequence of events, Sanjuro allows the main players (friend or foe) space to control the game and outwit each other. The funny moments were golden, especially the Lady, the confused guard who was locked and the scene with the flowers. Best of all, the greatest gem is the battle sequence between 2 master samurai right at the end. I actually came to like this more than Yojimbo because it seems to be an enhanced version in certain respects.