The Mandalorian
Ever since George Lucas ’s classic space westernStar Warshit theaters in 1977 , with its dynamic blend of Western shoot - em up action at law and Eastern philosophic ideology , the franchise has feel the presence of easterly and Western cinematic influence . As a child , Lucas originate up on a steady dieting of Spaghetti Westerns and Akira Kurosawa films , both depicting epic battles of good versus evilness that give a moral code and cultural mythology all their own .
WithThe Mandalorian , the flagship series on Disney+ , creator Jon Favreau has bear on the custom of paying court to the great cinema of Clint Eastwood , John Ford , Kurosawa , John Sturges , and many more as his nameless bounty hound supporter shit his way across a dotty galactic frontier . Below you ’ll find 5 Westerns and 5 Samurai movies to watch if you loveThe Mandalorian .
THE MAN WITH NO NAME TRILOGY (1964-1966)
Jon Favreau has expressly stated that Mando is a reworking of The Man With No Name , Clint Eastwood ’s famously stoical protagonist in Sergio Leone’sThe Man With No NameTrilogy , also known asThe Dollars Trilogy . In it , Eastwood ’s nameless gun for hire maintains the same deadpan humour , laconic discussion alternative , and marksmanship as Mando .
Leone never intended the films - A Fistful of Dollars , For a Few dollar More , andThe Good , The Bad , and The Ugly - tobe a trilogy , but they were packaged that direction for American audiences . They depict Eastwood ’s character terminate up in a assortment of dangerous situations roll around treasure , bounteousness , and rival factions , just like each random installment ofThe Mandalorian .
YOJIMBO (1961)
In one of Akira Kurosawa ’s most well - know films , Yojimbotells the report of a wandering samurai warrior ( played by his most fertile principal Toshirô Mifune ) who agrees to sign up his services to two rival businessmen in a little townsfolk as they scrap of the gambling craft .
That the unnamed ronin is shrewd , clever , mysterious , and prostrate to violence indicates he ’s a feudalistic Japanese reading of Mando , who was not above pitting regal sympathizers against his quondam bounty hunt lodge , or his old crew against each other , if it help his interests .
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960)
To watch Episode 4 ofThe Mandalorianis to watch a very condensed version of John Sturgesclassic Western masterpieceThe Magnificent Seven . Besides the canonical lift plot of ground of Fannie Farmer proposition the soil ’s most infamous gun for hire to stop banditos from raid their village , there are scenes pulled instantly from the motion picture .
For instance , when Mando seek out old-hat - Rebel shocktrooper Cara Dune ( Gina Carano ) , it ’s reminiscent of Chris ( Yul Brynner ) seek out other famous gunslingers to make up his cohort . There are even virtually superposable scenes involving him training the villager to defend themselves with guns and weapons that is taken from the film .
THE SEVEN SAMURAI (1954)
Considered one of Kurosawa ’s greatest movie of all time , The Seven Samuraiwas the verbatim inhalation behindThe Magnificent Sevenby John Sturges , though with slightly more focus on moral codes , honor , and humor . It pertain a mathematical group of wretched villager that seek out seven ronin samurai to help them defend their village from despoiler .
The " against all odds " trope is alive and well in Episode 4 ofThe Mandalorian , where even with two experient scrapper like Mando and Cara , the raiders and their AT - ST represent substantial resistance . Even the pull for one of the ronin to remain in the village and live a peaceable granger ’s lifetime is hinted at between Mando and a beautiful widow woman .
PALE RIDER (1985)
In one of his most stirring ego - directed plastic film , Clint Eastwood stars as the Pale Rider . The unknown sometimes goes by " Preacher " , and manifests out of the landscape of the Old West to help needful citizen , like some California goldminers feuding with a mining barron and his funnies - mining .
Repeatedly we wonder if the Pale Rider is a supernatural being , perhaps reminiscent of the character in Eastwood ’s first directorial debutHigh Plains Drifter . Like Mando , who travel from major planet to satellite offering aid to those in struggling circumstance , he dish out justice where it was need most .
LONE WOLF AND CUB (1972)
To brain , the samurai cinema that most assuredly mimics a strong through - logical argument plot point inThe MandalorianisLone Wolf and Cub . The flick chronicle Ogami Ittō ( Tomisaburo Wakayama ) , the shogun ’s personal executioner , who goes on the run after a rival clan murders the shogun and fault him for the deed .
Before he can clear his name , they slaughter his family . Only his infant boy Daigorō survives , and his male parent must take singular jobs as a mercenary to keep them both safe . A bountifulness hunter cast the Galax urceolata , with the tyke in his pram , set against a backdrop of chaos and force , isThe Mandalorian’sdirect homage to this classical film .
THE SEARCHERS (1956)
One of westerly director John Ford ’s large junket with Western veteran John Wayne , The SearchersinfluencesThe Mandalorianin muckle of ways . From scene of sun - osculate rocky rock outcrop , to a warrior burden with conscience in a changing frontier , it has all the classic Western tropes .
The main plot of ground center around The Duke undertaking a risky mission to rescue his niece deep into Comanche territory after his brother ’s menage is killed . Whether it ’s Mando gunning down trooper in Episode 3 to get to the Child , planning how to survive a raid in Episode 4 , or teaming up with a young and eager gun for hire in Episode 5 , it ’s all intimate territory from this definitive Western .
HARAKIRI (1962)
Harakiriis a film about the dynamics of house honor and how , if come to the accurate alphabetic character , the practice of strict adherence often does more harm than beneficial . It focuses on a samurai appoint Tsugumo Hanshirō who travel to the house of the Ii clan to commit seppuku .
His postulation is a conjuration , and as he wait for the aged counsellor to allow it , he begins to narrate a narration of the inhumanity of adhering to a hard-and-fast bushido code , which cost him the lives of his son , his son ’s married woman , and their babe son . As Mando begins to see midway throughThe Mandalorian , sometimes ferociously clinging to the Mandalorian culture presents more obstacles than it removes .
3 GODFATHERS (1948)
While John Ford ’s proclaim WesternThe Searcherscertainly leaves its impression onThe Mandalorian , another one also bears mentioning.3 Godfathersfollows 3 outlaws acquire to shady stickup to make a bread and butter , until they ’re entrusted with the welfare of a baby after its mother passes forth .
The 3 men uncover their more selfless nature as they each take turns seeing to the child ’s needs . As they make their way back to civilization to leave the child in better care , they face a litany of obstacle . Not only does the Mando burst into the robbers ' cadre , but so do the fellow that join him in taking care of the Child , Cara and Kuill .
THE TALE OF ZATOICHI (1962)
InThe Tale of Zatoichi , the first installment in a saga of moving picture spanning 26 titles , the supporter by the same name move from being a samurai to being an outlaw out of necessity . He frequently dwells in environments within the reprehensible underworld , and finds a certain amount of comfort there .
When he ask on assignment to bolt down a rival samurai , the two become unlikely friends , take in their inevitable showdown at the conclusion of the motion picture that much more tragic . Zatoichi ’s persona , that of a mercenary with a proficient heart who lives by his own moral codification , is unquestionably inkeeping with Mando ’s .
NEXT : Master of Japanese Cinema : Akira Kurosawa ’s 5 Best Films ( & 5 Worst )
