Awesome Quotes Thread

[Tokkie]

So a big thing, for me, about samurai movies is the epic dialogue one often hears (or reads, I suppose).

I was wondering if anyone had any favourites?

[gozen]

For those of us who don't speak Japanese, too often the dialogue gets slaughtered by the translators who turn it into something more appropriate for nasty little teenage boys (Babycart films, which are not big on dialogue, granted, but I would prefer what little dialogue there is to be concise and chilling) or Americans. No offense to any Americans here, but modern vernacular in current use should never appear in a historical drama. Or any other country's vernacular!
Too often the brilliance of the characters is lost because of bad translations (Sandra Iha is my pet hate, you see her name on some of the worst offenders). I want to know what Ieyasu or Nobunaga or Hideyoshi or Yoritomo actually said, as near as possible to the original Japanese, not what the American gangster equivalent would have said.
However, this is just a matter of personal taste, and I don't imagine that it bothers too many other people!

[AJBryant]

Word.
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[Tornadoes28]

Yeah, it's kinda hard to pick a favorite dialogue if you don't speak Japanese and have to choose from subtitles. It's not really the same as pickin the best lines from a movie like Animal House.
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[takuan]

"Don't get too close to me. I've come from killing many men. You'll reek of blood too."

"The last person in the world he saw was me. What an unlucky man he was."

"Want to taste steel?"

-- Nemuri Kyoshiro
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[Tornadoes28]

But I'm not surprised that Takuan would know a bunch of really good ones. I love the second one on Takuan's list.
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[Shisendo]

Criterion's first DVD release of Yojimbo had a memorable translation of a Mifune line that I was tempted to make my signature when I was using an avatar from the movie, but I didn't want to come across as too bloodthirsty.

"In this town I'll get paid for killing, and this town is full of men who are better off dead."

The timing, the delivery, and the reaction of the restaurant owner combine to make it priceless. That it foreshadows most of the action of the movie so concisely is just the icing on the cake.
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[Josh Reyer]

I've always liked this sequence from Seven Samurai for laid-back bad-assity. The following are my own translation of the original Japanese from memory, so they won't match the usual subtitles.

Kambei: I thought you'd died! How did you survive that battle?

Shichirouji: I hid in the moat covered by weeds, then crept out during the night. I tell you, when the outer wall went up in flames and crashed down, I thought it was all over for me.

Kambei: And? How did you feel?

Shichirouji: Nothing special.

Kambei (looks at the farmers): Tell me, are you tired of battle?

Shichirouji doesn't answer, but rather almost out of habit leans down and arranges Kambei's sandals to make it easier to put them on.

Kambei: The thing is, I'm taking up a highly dangerous battle with absolutely no chance of wealth or prestige. Will you join me?

Shichirouji (no hesitation): Hai.

Kambei: We may die this time.

Shichirouji simply smiles.

And then there was this one:

Kyuzo walks out of the foggy forest and hands Kambei a matchlock.

Kyuzo: Two bandits.

Kyuzo rubs his face and goes off to sleep.

[AJBryant]

Actually, that last line is a favorite. He doesn't say "Two bandits."

He just says, "two."
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[Josh Reyer]

[Tokkie]

It might be cheezy, but I've also always been a fan of "trademark" lines that repeat.

I love Ogami Itto's "I walk on the crossroads between Hell," as well as Hanzo the Razor's "Lift up your sleeves" line, though that particular one more for comic effect than for its bad-assery.

[Mencius]

I like the last lines in Hidden Fortress. At the end, after quarreling repeatedly in the film over massive amounts of cash that they've come across, the farmers are given one gold ryo as a reward.

Tahei - Here, you hold on to this.
Matakishi - No, you keep it.

It's just the perfect ending to the film.

Also Rokurota's line about hiding a stone amongst stones and a man amongst men is quite good.

[Tornadoes28]

[Tornadoes28]

Red Lion or Akage:

"The only thing that changes is the flower on the official crest."
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[owari no utsuke]

My favorite is from Nakamura Kinnosuke as Oda Nobunaga in the 1959 film Fuunji Oda Nobunaga.

"Owari no Utsuke de owaru ka. Tenka wo toru ka."

Great movie too.
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