Mission: Iron Castle

Mission: Iron Castle

1970 · 79 min · ★ 6.3 · Action, Drama, Crime, War

The Shinobi-no-Mono series was so successful that Daiei Studios dipped into the well one more time, making the best 60′s B&W ninja movie ever seen in the otherwise color-dominated year of 1970. Issei Mori directs Hiroki Matsukata as the reluctant leader of a small band of spies charged with kidnapping a noblewoman from a heavily ninja-proofed castle. The finality of the air slowly began to fill like smoke, and in all that had become dark the loyalty of the Ninja who dared to go shone like light as they entered a world shrouded in mystery. Things do not go as planned in what is possibly the darkest and most fatalistic of the already noir-ish 60′s fare. Both the decade and it’s distinctive style of shinobi cinema went out on a high note with Mission Iron Castle.

Directed by Kazuo Mori · Written by Yamada Takayuki

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2h 47m together

Mission: Iron Castle

Zatoichi at Large

Both from Kazuo Mori.

Shinobi No Mono CollectionSee all →

Ninja, A Band of Assassins

Ninja, A Band of Assassins · 1962

Ninja, A Band of Assassins

Warlord Oda Nobunaga seeks to unite a fractured Japan. A young man trained in the arts of ninjitsu is manipulated by a ninja master into attempting to assassinate the warlord before he completes his task.

Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance

Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance · 1963

Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance

[Period covered: 1582-1594]. As the film opens, the warlod Nobunaga Oda rides to Iga Ayanokuni shrine. He is asked if he thinks he has destroyed all the ninja who opposed him and answers that he suspects that there may be more. A servant brings water and tests it first. The paige dies and we hear gunshots as two ninja flee the scene. His suspicions confirmed, Nobunaga oversees the execution of captured ninja and decides that, in the future, he needs a much crueler method of execution. The daimyo Hideyoshi comes to visit.

Shinobi no Mono 3: Resurrection

Shinobi no Mono 3: Resurrection · 1963

Shinobi no Mono 3: Resurrection

MovieDramaAction

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Shinobi no Mono 4: Siege

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Shinobi no Mono 4: Siege

MovieActionDrama

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Shinobi No Mono 5: Return of Mist Saizo · 1964

Shinobi No Mono 5: Return of Mist Saizo

MovieActionAdventure

[Period covered: 1616] On May 8th, 1615 the summer campaign of Osaka has reached the climax. This film takes place immediately following 'Ninja 4: Mist Saizo, Last of The Ninja'. Staying one step ahead of the Shogun’s forces, “Mist” Saizo tries to save the Sanada Clan, and avenge the death of his lord by assassinating the first Tokugawa Shogun. Following the first four films in this remarkable series, more previously unknown Ninja skills are shown to the world for the first time. The action heats up as Saizo single-handedly attacks the Shogun’s Palace!

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[Period covered: 1637-1651] This is one of the most complicated plots of any of the Shinobi no Mono films! This film tells the story of Saizo’s son, Kirigakure Saisuke, who after seeing his father die at the Battle Of Shimabara, grows up to be an expert ninja. Before he dies, “Mist” Saizo tells his children Saisuke, and Yuri that they are not really brother and sister. She, in fact, is the daughter of the late lord Sanada Yukimura, and must be saved from the shogun’s forces. In the chess match of spy versus spy, can Saisuke defeat the shogun’s chief strategist, Matsudaira Izunokami at his own game? Showing many exciting ninja tactics, it is not to be missed.

Shinobi no mono 8: The Three Enemies

Shinobi no mono 8: The Three Enemies · 1966

Shinobi no mono 8: The Three Enemies

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Shinobi no mono 7: Mist Saizo Strikes Back · 1966

Shinobi no mono 7: Mist Saizo Strikes Back

MovieActionDrama

[Period covered: 1616] Kirigakure Saizo returns for the final time as he sets out to assassinate Tokugawa Ieyasu in order to avenge the death of Lord Sanada Yukimura. But first he must contend with Ieyasu’s own ninja group led by the powerful Fuma Daijuro, who has a score to settle with the men of Iga that dates back 280 years to the war between the Genji and the Heike at the Battle of Dan-no-Ura. Tremendous fighting and great plot twists highlight this exceptional look into the lives of the mysterious ninja of Japan.

More from Kazuo MoriSee all →

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SeriesAction & AdventureDrama

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MovieAdventureAction

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Her Brother · 1960

MovieDramaComedy

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Shinobi no Mono 3: Resurrection

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MovieDramaAction

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Satan's Sword III: The Final Chapter

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MovieDramaAction

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SeriesMysteryCrime

TV series starring Ikko Furuya, based on the Kosuke Kindaichi mystery novel series by Seishi Yokomizo.

Please Hire Me!

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SeriesDramaAction & Adventure

Ex-sword teacher Ihei Misawa is a skilled swordsman but because of his kind and judicious heart, he never fails to get caught up in trouble and therefore is unable to obtain status and success. But his wife Tayo understands him and loves him completely, always remaining by his side.

The Blind Menace

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Zatoichi and the Doomed Man

Zatoichi and the Doomed Man · 1965

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MovieAdventureAction

Blind swordsman Zatoichi, jailed briefly, is implored by another prisoner to aid him in proving his innocence of a crime for which he is sentenced to death. Zatoichi is reluctant to get involved, because he knows how often such involvement has led to trouble in the past. But events conspire to thrust him repeatedly into involvement, and gradually he comes to believe in the man's innocence and determines to free him.

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MovieDramaMystery

Tied to a mountain between her brutalizing spouse and her secret lover, disaster strikes; the authorities accuse her of murder and prompt a confession.

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MovieAdventureAction

Blind masseur and master swordsman Zatoichi finds a robbed and fatally wounded pregnant woman, whose baby he delivers before she dies. He takes the baby in search of its father and finds the child's aunt, who is about to be forced into prostitution for want of a payment the dead mother was bringing. Zatoichi determines to save the woman from her cruel fate.

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MovieFantasyHorror

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[Period covered: 1637-1651] This is one of the most complicated plots of any of the Shinobi no Mono films! This film tells the story of Saizo’s son, Kirigakure Saisuke, who after seeing his father die at the Battle Of Shimabara, grows up to be an expert ninja. Before he dies, “Mist” Saizo tells his children Saisuke, and Yuri that they are not really brother and sister. She, in fact, is the daughter of the late lord Sanada Yukimura, and must be saved from the shogun’s forces. In the chess match of spy versus spy, can Saisuke defeat the shogun’s chief strategist, Matsudaira Izunokami at his own game? Showing many exciting ninja tactics, it is not to be missed.

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Shirazu no Yatarō · 1954

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