Rise Against the Sword

1966 ‘暴れ豪右衛門’ Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki

Farmer Abare Goemon is confronted by brigand-like samurai. He raises an army of farmers to fight them and does so brilliantly. When Lord Asakura sees the success Goemon has achieved, he attempts to recruit him to fight in a conflict between Asakura and another clan. Goemon refuses, and Lord Asakura sets out to destroy him.

Toshirō Mifune Makoto Satō Yuriko Hoshi Kichijirô Ueda Ryō Tamura Nobuko Otowa Kō Nishimura Akihiko Hirata Daisuke Katō Gen Shimizu Takamaru Sasaki Ikio Sawamura Yoshifumi Tajima Jun'ichirō Mukai Susumu Kurobe Mayumi Ôzora Hideyo Amamoto Yoshio Kosugi Ren Yamamoto Yasuo Araki Naoya Kusakawa Sachio Sakai Keiji Sakakida Wakako Tanabe Toki Shiozawa Nakajirô Tomita Seiji Ikeda Akira Kitchôji

Alternative Title

Abare Gōemon

drama war history action

101 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by MiloFlahavan ★★★

“We shouldn’t trust samurai - they’re dirty!”
This was better than I was expecting as the opening 20/30 minutes were not promising, but as the film progressed, I started to appreciate Inagaki’s framing and his penchant for humour.
Ultimately, Rise Against the Sword is a decent story on pride and social status, conveying a period just before Tokugawa rule while the nation was in a perpetual state of war.
During the battle sequence in the finale, there is a shot where Mifune kills a few enemies and then thrusts his face straight down the lens of the camera in a totally non-comedic way. Unable to contain myself, l hysterically laughed at this and immediately knew that it would be my prominent memory of the film for many years to come.
Review by Nick_SN ★★★

Mifune leads an army of farmers against oppressive samurai. A decent Inagaki flick, but honestly nothing truly stands out. Aside from the phrase “How come you’re not getting pregnant? You’ve got such a nice ass!”

Recent reviews

Review by Nick_SN ★★★

Mifune leads an army of farmers against oppressive samurai. A decent Inagaki flick, but honestly nothing truly stands out. Aside from the phrase “How come you’re not getting pregnant? You’ve got such a nice ass!”
Review by D. Trull ★★★★

Rise Against the Sword stars Toshiro Mifune as Goemon, the leader of the Shinobu farmer clan fighting to keep their independence from daimyo that are taking over all the local villages. Quite unlike the hapless victims in Seven Samurai, these kick-ass warrior farmers have no need to hire ronin to defend them. In fact, Goemon utterly despises all samurai, calling them evil demons that can never be trusted.
The story opens with Goemon's younger brothers Yatota and Hayato returning home to Shinobu after being held hostage at the enemy Enjoji Castle for eight years. Rather than welcoming his long-lost siblings with open affection, Goemon wrestles them to the ground and calls them wimps. He's clearly delighted to see them, but…
Review by Pablo Knote ★★★★

Einer der besten Nachkriegsfilme von Hiroshi Inagaki mit spannender, energetisch inszenierter Handlung, coolem Underdog-Konzept und tollem Toshiro Mifune.
Review by MiloFlahavan ★★★

“We shouldn’t trust samurai - they’re dirty!”
This was better than I was expecting as the opening 20/30 minutes were not promising, but as the film progressed, I started to appreciate Inagaki’s framing and his penchant for humour.
Ultimately, Rise Against the Sword is a decent story on pride and social status, conveying a period just before Tokugawa rule while the nation was in a perpetual state of war.
During the battle sequence in the finale, there is a shot where Mifune kills a few enemies and then thrusts his face straight down the lens of the camera in a totally non-comedic way. Unable to contain myself, l hysterically laughed at this and immediately knew that it would be my prominent memory of the film for many years to come.