Japan Synopsis
三匹の侍
“One…two…three Samurai filling the giant screen with flashing swordplay”
Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate's guard, Sakura and Kikyo. The three outlaws find themselves in a battle to the death.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Three Outlaw Samurai. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Action + Drama in Japan
444 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Action and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Three Outlaw Samurai itself).
The 1963–1965 Japan Window
Among 61 Japan films we catalog from this window, Three Outlaw Samurai places #8 — near the top of its class.
The 1960s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1960s in Japan, 202 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Three Outlaw Samurai premiered alongside 23 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 23 other Japan films in 1964.
The 194th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
77 audience reviews — more than 72% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 60th percentile among Japan films.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Three Outlaw Samurai, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- bribery · 2
- shame · 2
- treachery · 1
- dishonor · 1
- change of heart · 1
- katana · 20
- ronin · 18
- peasant · 7
- murder · 155
- samurai · 128
- jidaigeki · 61
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,218 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (73rd percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.6 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Action productions specifically: #538 of 1,714 (top 31%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Samurai Productions, Shochiku |
| Runtime | 1h 33m |
| Release Date | May 13, 1964 |
| IMDb | tt0058652 |