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The Great Killing

1964 · 118 min

A grim, deliberate samurai conspiracy tale that trades swashbuckling for tension, torture and quiet dread.

Directed by
Eiichi Kudō
Genres
Action, Drama
Starring
Tōru Abe, Mikijiro Hira, Yoshio Inaba
Tagline
Heaven has no swords.
Overview
A cynical samurai is left as the sole survivor to fulfill a plot to assassinate the puppet of a villain intent on usurping the shogunate in the 17th century. A Shogunate Elder connives to rule Japan by making his puppet, the Shogun's brother Tsunashige, the next Shogun. The best strategist in Japan, Yamaga, leads a plot to stop the Elder, but his cabal is betrayed and most of the conspirators are captured and tortured.

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Stream in the UK
  • Arrow Video Amazon Channel
  • ARROW
More options Data from JustWatch
Directed by
Eiichi Kudō
Genres
Action, Drama
Starring
Tōru Abe, Mikijiro Hira, Yoshio Inaba
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
    Pacing
    measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
    Attention
    engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
    Themes
    • betrayal
    • conspiracy
    • power
    • violence
    • loyalty
    Places
    None
    Era
    period
    Audience
    adult
    Form
    None
    Content intensity
    • Gore mild
    • Language mild
    • Violence strong
    • Sex mild
    All scales, 0 to 10
    Scales, 0 to 10
    ScaleValue0 to 10
    Action6
    Horror2
    Humour1
    Realism7
    Romance1
    Tension6
    Darkness7
    Complexity6
    Emotional weight6

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    Where to watch in the UK

    Stream
    • Arrow Video Amazon Channel
    • ARROW
    Rent or buy
    • Apple TV Store
    • Amazon Video

    Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

    Details

    Genres
    action, drama
    Directed by
    Eiichi Kudō
    Written by
    Kaneo Ikegami
    Starring
    Tōru Abe, Mikijiro Hira, Yoshio Inaba, Chiezo Kataoka, Chōichirō Kawarasaki, Nami Munakata, Kōtarō Satomi, Minoru Ōki
    Music
    Seiichi Suzuki
    Cinematography
    Osamu Furuya
    Runtime
    118 min
    Country
    Japan
    Languages
    Japanese

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