Classic Japanese action drama directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tôno and Tatsuya Nakadai. Wandering samurai Sanjuro Kuwabatake (Mifune) arrives in a rural town in 19th-century Japan to find it trapped under the competing influences of two rival gangs. Sanjuro becomes determined to free the town from the oppressive grip of the gangsters by playing them against one another. But his plan is complicated by the intervention of a son of one of the gang bosses who forces Sanjuro to retreat and recover before preparing for a final standoff.