I've decided here to talk about both an original film and its modern remake in the same article as this is one of the few times the two are comparable.
In mid 19th century Japan, a sadistic Diamyo (Lord) and half brother of the currant Shogun rapes a woman and murders her husband. In order to bring attention to the crime, a high official commits Sepuku on the doorstep of Edo Castle. Incensed by this the Diaymo, Lord Naritsugu, murders an entire family. Sir Doi of the Akashi Clan, one of the Shogun's highest advisers, decides something must be done to stop Naritsugu and so he summons tactical master Shinzaemon Shimada. Shinzaemon puts together a small party of a dozen men to kill Naritsugu and his men as they travel across the country but Hanbei Kitou, Shinzaemon's childhood friend, has been ordered to protect the Shogun's brother and he is the one man in all Japan who could do it.
Originally made in 1963 by director Eiichi Kudô and then remade in 2010 by Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer), this is an action story with underlying themes of brotherhood, honour and loyalty. Neither film is particularly subtle but the first approaches both the rape and murders with nice cinematic techniques. The second is, as you would expect, a lot more graphic in its violence and although a lot is done scene for scene with the first the final showdown is quite different and works well. The set-up is quite similar to Severn Samurai and the second version embraces that fact in its characterizations, in particular with Koyata the hunter who is called a 'country samurai' in the first.
Neither of these films could be considered masterpieces but they are both very good in their own right. Miike's does appeal more to a modern audience with its flashy violence and colour but the stiffness of the older one gives it an authenticity I enjoy.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057212/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1436045/?ref_=nm_knf_t1
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