Film swords

Katana in film and television

The swords of the samurai have been thrilling audiences in the cinema and on television for more than 50 years.
Over time, however, the image and representation of Katana film swords has changed a lot.

Film swords in the middle of the 20th century

The middle of the 20th century was a heyday for the Japanese film industry. Many classics were created during this period. The films usually dealt with events in Japanese history.

The most famous director from this era was probably Akira Kurosawa, the maker of the cult film The Seven Samurai.
Of course, the Japanese sword played an important role in the films, even if katanas were not at the centre of the action at the time, as was sometimes the case in later productions. However, most of the actors in these films were also skilled swordsmen in real life.
Back then, the films were still in black and white and, from today's perspective, cannot keep up with modern cinema. Nevertheless, they are classics and laid the foundation for the later role of film swords. The Zatoichi film series also began in the early 1960s and is still being continued today with current film adaptations.

Hype about film swords around the 2000s

History took its course and over the decades several series and films have been released in which the katana has played an important role as a film sword.

Hollywood comes into play

In the 2000s, there were several major productions in Hollywood that had the sword and samurai culture as their theme, such as The Last Samurai, Kill Bill and The 47 Ronin.
The Japanese sword and the associated film swords were thus made accessible to a large audience.
Katana were also symbolically integrated into series such as The Walking Dead.

Katana in films of today

Today, the katana plays a role as a film sword, especially in some Netflix series.
Series such as Blue Eye Samurai and Onimusha are extremely popular there. There are also film adaptations of several manga, anime and video game classics such as the One Piece series.

Buy film swords at Samuraischwert.kaufen

Opinions on the significance of katana in films vary widely. As a rule, the portrayal there is of course superficial and aimed at effects.
Nevertheless, films and film swords play an important role in the popularity of the Japanese sword.
That is why we would also like to offer you a range of matching swords. This includes our own brands Last Samurai®, Kill Bill® and Zatoichi® but also some other well-known swords.