Three Outlaw Samurai [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

A battle-scarred ronin (Tetsuro Tamba) gets caught up in a murderous plot involving a pair of samurais (Mikijiro Hira and Isamu Nagato) dispatched on a murderous mission of vengeance. An unscrupulous magistrate's daughter has been abducted by a rebellious band of peasants, prompting the malevolent dignitary to order their immediate execution. But as the magistrate's henchmen prepare to carry out their bloody deed, they encounter a solitary ronin who has no fear of death, and a strict code of honor. A feature length prequel to the popular Japanese television series of the same name, Three Outlaw Samurai was the debut feature from acclaimed chanbara specialist Hideo Gosha (Sword of the Beast, Death Shadow).