Kill!

Kihachi Okamoto proves himself to be quite visually compelling filmmaker with Kill! which is his own adaptation of the same material on which Kurosawa's material was based. It's pretty fascinating to see another take on the material, since its also manages to make a strong film while never really feeling like its following the same beats as Sanjuro. This is helped in part by the change of two protagonists one a hapless farmer desiring to be a samurai, and a samurai not wishing to be one. The samurai being played very charismatic fashion by Tatsuya Nakadai who played the villain in the previous adaptation. It also has a comic tone like Sanjuro, though I'd say a bit darker in tone, than that later film, and wholly makes it work being a very engaging thriller while being quite funny. Kill! is proof that in the right hands there's nothing wrong with a remake. 

5/5