Kihachi Okamoto

Directing

Kihachi Okamoto

Born 1924-02-17 · Yonago, Tottori, Japan

Kihachi Okamoto (岡本 喜八 Okamoto Kihachi) was a Japanese film director who worked in several different genres, most memorably in action genres such as jidaigeki and war films.

Acting credits

Shin Godzilla poster
7.2

When a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and tears through the city, the government scrambles to save its citizens. A rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster's weakness and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower. But time is not on their side - the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the world is about to evolve right before their very eyes.

Shin Godzilla

2016

The Battle of Okinawa poster
7.8

The Americans are swiftly closing on Okinawa, an island just south of the Japanese mainland. The Imperial command sends top generals and several army divisions to defend it at all costs. The mission quickly degenerates as vital resources and troops are diverted to other islands. After a civilian evacuation ends in tragedy most of non-combatants are forced to remain on the island. Many convert to soldier status. Tokyo sends mixed messages that squander time and resources, as when they order the defenders to build an airstrip for aircraft that never come. The truth soon becomes obvious: the high command decides that the island cannot be held and effectively abandons the Okinawan defenders. When the Americans land many troops are deployed in the wrong places. As the slaughter mounts, a suicidal attitude takes hold. Okinawa becomes a death trap, for civilian volunteers and non-combatants as well.

The Battle of Okinawa

1971

Beast Man Snow Man poster
4.9

Three competing parties all race against time to track down an elusive creature known only as the Snowman.

Beast Man Snow Man

1955

Boy's Choir poster
5.8

A young teen's father dies, and he is sent to an orphanage. He's teased because he stutters almost runs away, until a beautiful, androgynous boy, Yasuo, convinces him to join the choir.

Boy's Choir

2000

Kidnapping Blues poster
7.3

A man and a little girl meet in a bicycle parking in Tokyo. The little girl says she wants to watch the sea, and their travel begins. The man does not intend to be a kidnapper – he asks the girl to phone her mother and tell her she's with him. During their trip they meet various people, but they always must continue on, lest the man be arrested.

Kidnapping Blues

1982

The Love and Adventures of Kuroki Taro poster
8.2

Taro Kuroki, 42, is a stuntman with a samurai's heart. He loves adventures, plays pranks with the police, tries to cure a cat lady by reversing her trauma, and finally, rescues his niece who is about to be lured into prostitution.

The Love and Adventures of Kuroki Taro

1977

I'm No Angel poster
7.0

A young couple lives together in a small apartment and struggles to keep their relationship together, despite inertia and financial hardship. Based on the comic Red Colored Elegy by Seiichi Hayashi.

I'm No Angel

1977

Behind the camera

The Sword of Doom poster
7.8

Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.

The Sword of Doom

1966

The Battle of Okinawa poster
7.8

The Americans are swiftly closing on Okinawa, an island just south of the Japanese mainland. The Imperial command sends top generals and several army divisions to defend it at all costs. The mission quickly degenerates as vital resources and troops are diverted to other islands. After a civilian evacuation ends in tragedy most of non-combatants are forced to remain on the island. Many convert to soldier status. Tokyo sends mixed messages that squander time and resources, as when they order the defenders to build an airstrip for aircraft that never come. The truth soon becomes obvious: the high command decides that the island cannot be held and effectively abandons the Okinawan defenders. When the Americans land many troops are deployed in the wrong places. As the slaughter mounts, a suicidal attitude takes hold. Okinawa becomes a death trap, for civilian volunteers and non-combatants as well.

The Battle of Okinawa

1971

Rainbow Kids poster
6.7

A wealthy matriarch is kidnapped by a gang of three. She is insulted by the amount of money they propose to demand as ransom, and a strange interchange of roles takes place.

Rainbow Kids

1991

Rainbow Kids poster
6.7

A wealthy matriarch is kidnapped by a gang of three. She is insulted by the amount of money they propose to demand as ransom, and a strange interchange of roles takes place.

Rainbow Kids

1991

Desperado Outpost poster
6.3

When Sergeant Okubo's brother is murdered at a Japanese outpost in Northern China during the Second World War, Okubo poses as a war correspondent and seeks out his brother's killer.

Desperado Outpost

1959

Desperado Outpost poster
6.3

When Sergeant Okubo's brother is murdered at a Japanese outpost in Northern China during the Second World War, Okubo poses as a war correspondent and seeks out his brother's killer.

Desperado Outpost

1959

Japan's Longest Day poster
7.3

Following the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and the government clash over the demand from the Allies for unconditional surrender. Minister of the Army Anami leads the military officers who propose to fight on, even to the death of every Japanese citizen. Emperor Hirohito, however, joins with his ministers in asking the unthinkable, the peaceful surrender of Japan. When the military plots a coup to overthrow the Emperor's civilian government, Anami must face the choice between his desires and loyalty to his Emperor.

Japan's Longest Day

1967

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo poster
6.8

Zatoichi treks to a village that has always been a favorite spot of his, only to discover that it’s become a living hell, plagued by feuding father and son yakuza as well as the younger crime boss’s bodyguard, scruffy, smart-mouthed, cash-hungry Yojimbo of legend.

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

1970

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo poster
6.8

Zatoichi treks to a village that has always been a favorite spot of his, only to discover that it’s become a living hell, plagued by feuding father and son yakuza as well as the younger crime boss’s bodyguard, scruffy, smart-mouthed, cash-hungry Yojimbo of legend.

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

1970

East Meets West poster
5.7

A disgraced warrior planning the murder of a Japanese diplomat, and a ninja in the employ of a navy official are about to land in San Francisco when a band of thieves steal the money the diplomats are carrying. The two set off on a chase across the American west to catch the robbers.

East Meets West

1995

East Meets West poster
5.7

A disgraced warrior planning the murder of a Japanese diplomat, and a ninja in the employ of a navy official are about to land in San Francisco when a band of thieves steal the money the diplomats are carrying. The two set off on a chase across the American west to catch the robbers.

East Meets West

1995

Coo of the Far Seas poster
6.7

After a storm hits their island, Yusuke (driving his jet-ski) finds a baby dinosaur. He shows it to his dad, they keep it and call it Coo. But there are other parties interested in a 65 million year old creature...

Coo of the Far Seas

1993

Vengeance for Sale poster
6.8

In a world where vendettas are officially sanctioned, the people sometimes needed help in carrying out their vengeance. Sanada Hiroyuki stars as Sukeroku the Helper, a ‘cool and rambling yakuza’ that has made a business out of helping victims carry out their revenge. When he returns to his hometown to pay a visit to his mother’s grave he meets a deadly ronin who carries a secret which eventually leads him into a vendetta of his own.

Vengeance for Sale

2002

Vengeance for Sale poster
6.8

In a world where vendettas are officially sanctioned, the people sometimes needed help in carrying out their vengeance. Sanada Hiroyuki stars as Sukeroku the Helper, a ‘cool and rambling yakuza’ that has made a business out of helping victims carry out their revenge. When he returns to his hometown to pay a visit to his mother’s grave he meets a deadly ronin who carries a secret which eventually leads him into a vendetta of his own.

Vengeance for Sale

2002

Samurai Assassin poster
7.3

Japan, 1860. The men of the Mito clan, victims of the Ansei purge, anxiously prowl around the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle with the intention of assassinating Naosuke Ii of Hikone, tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate and responsible for their misfortune.

Samurai Assassin

1965

The Big Boss poster
6.5

Ryuta and Mineo Komatsu are brothers, both yakuza (gangsters). Mineo, although complicit in crime, even murder, wants out of the gangster life, hoping to become a successful singer instead. Ryuta loves his brother, but Mineo's possible defection presents problems for the gang, and Ryuta realizes he must kill his brother if he wants to survive.

The Big Boss

1959

The Human Bullet poster
6.0

A soldier has been in the Japanese military for the entirety of WWII, and in that time, his dedication to the army has never faltered. However, as the war draws to a close, his commanding officers become increasingly desperate and push their men to ever more absurd extremes. The ridiculousness of the orders from above peak when the hero of the story is assigned to drive a one-man submarine straight into the hull of an enemy battleship.

The Human Bullet

1968

The Human Bullet poster
6.0

A soldier has been in the Japanese military for the entirety of WWII, and in that time, his dedication to the army has never faltered. However, as the war draws to a close, his commanding officers become increasingly desperate and push their men to ever more absurd extremes. The ridiculousness of the orders from above peak when the hero of the story is assigned to drive a one-man submarine straight into the hull of an enemy battleship.

The Human Bullet

1968

Blood Type: Blue poster
6.1

UFOs appear on Earth, and people who actually see them suddenly find that their blood has turned blue. Soon panic and hysteria result in the new "blue-bloods" being persecuted by the rest of mankind, and eventually certain all-too-familiar measures begin to be taken against them.

Blood Type: Blue

1978

Kill! poster
7.0

A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin.

Kill!

1968

Kill! poster
7.0

A pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin.

Kill!

1968

Red Lion poster
6.5

Japan, February 1868. As the Tokugawa shogunate declines and the power of Emperor Meiji grows, Gonzo, a soldier of the Restoration Army, returns to Sawando, his hometown, to announce the end of tyranny.

Red Lion

1969

Red Lion poster
6.5

Japan, February 1868. As the Tokugawa shogunate declines and the power of Emperor Meiji grows, Gonzo, a soldier of the Restoration Army, returns to Sawando, his hometown, to announce the end of tyranny.

Red Lion

1969

Taikoki poster
8.0

Rising from the lowliest of country samurai to the heights of power as Taiko, Toyotomi Hideyoshi is one of the pivotal figures of the Sengoku period.

Taikoki

1987