[AlabamaBoyz]

You can't go wrong with any of Kurosawa's films, jidaigeki or otherwise. I also would add Inagaki Hiroshi's "Samurai Trilogy" (mentioned earlier in the thread) based on Yoshikawa's novel on the life of Miyamoto Musashi. Done in the mid-50's (in color--rare in Japanese film at the time) the first part won an Oscar.

There are many, many chanbara/jidaigeki movies to explore from the 60's and 70's, but in particular check out Okamoto Kihachi's "Sword of Doom" (Daibosatsu Tougei) for lots of chanbara sequences and some scenes of old-style kendo. This movie also is a kind of treatment on the idea of satsujin-ken as well.

Among more recent movies, in addition to "Mibugishiden" and "Tasogare Seibei" (both great) there's "Ronin Gai" (Katsu Shintaro's last movie), the recent "Oni no Tsume" (Demon's Claw) directed by Yamada Yoji, and Ichikawa Kon's "Doraheita" with Yakusho Kouji.

Probably my own favorite though is "Ame Agaru" (After the Rain) which was a project that Kurosawa had written and began some pre-production on before his death. Afterward, members of his crew and some of his stock cast members (notably Terao Akira) came together and finished it as a tribute. Unfortunately, it's not widely available in the US, but it's *well* worth looking for...