Drawing your katana with speed and faster than the other guy killing him in one blow
Drawing your revolver faster than the other guy and killing him in one shot
Checks out to me
There’s a reason why they made westerns out of samurai movies.
And samurai movies out of westerns too.
Example?
Sukiyaki Western Django
There also exist several japanese comics and videogames heavily influenced by westerns, but they seem to take influence from all sorts of cultures idk if that counts.
Isn’t that reverse logic?
Westerns were adapted from samurai movies therefore they have a lot in common, not the other way around.
Read that again. You’re both saying the same thing.
Fistful of Dollars came out 2-3 years after Yojimbo, they have the same plot except one is Samurai and one is a Western. Kurosawa even got paid from it after a lawsuit.
They changed the setting to Mexico (kept most of the set design choices) changed the names, and added guns.
I like Yojimbo and cowboys enough that I’ll watch both
Both weapons and users coexisted at the same period of time too.
In fact, you could write a story about a samurai and cowboy playing with Nintendo cards and drinking Coke and it could be historically accurate.
I forget if it’s Yojimbo or Sanjuro where one of the bad guys is basically just a guy with a revolver who looks down everyone else for using swords.
Pretty sure its Yojimbo, mostly becuase Fistful of Dollars had the same gimmick with a rifle vs a revolver. And I know it was Leone’s remake of Yojimbo
It is Yojimbo.
Plus you could add faxing Abraham Lincoln. Faxing is surprisingly old.
Please elaborate, with links for further reading.
Samurai class existed until 1870 but presumably they didnt just vanish at that date https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai?wprov=sfti1
Cowboys in the traditional sense existed in the 19th century, if not not earlier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy?wprov=sfti1
Revolvers in some form have existed even longer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolver?wprov=sfti1
Nintendo was formed in 1889 and produced playing cards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo?wprov=sfti1
Coca Cola formed in 1886 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola?wprov=sfti1
Hell fucking yes, thank you!
I remember in Golden Kamuy (set in the beginning of 1900s) there were several old samurai, at least one of which was proficient at using firearms, too. Though, sadly, they didn’t have any Coca Cola there.
Looks like coke wasn’t widely sold outside the US until around the time samurai were abolished. Unlikely that any of them drank it, but not impossible. I’d love to read some short stories that have those kinds of seeming anachronisms.
Definitely not in the East. WW2 is what brought coke global.
Oh fantastic, no one else posted this concept yet
So, I think there’s an important connection there you’re touching on. Samurai and cowboys occupy the same space in media, and I’ll give you some examples.
Someone else mentioned the movie, but Seven Samurai, a HIGHLY influential and well received film from japan in the 50s, helped inspire The Magnificent Seven, a key cowboy film from the early 60s.
The film Yojimbo (please watch it if you haven’t, it’s just very well done, really funny, have to get over the ‘movies had NO real soundtrack back then’ problem if you’re not used to old films) is like watching The Matrix AFTER you’ve already seen the slow-mo and ‘i know Kung fu’ tropes in movies. The man rolls up into town, two sides opposed and neither really ‘good’ but innocents in the middle.
What were called ‘spaghetti westerns’ in the past due to the Italian directors at the time, a majority chunk of those movies utilized similar filmography techniques and plots. The kids who watched those westerns also watched samurai films (cheap movie is a cheap movie on a weekend night) and the concept sort of melded over time to where the Ronin of Japan and the Lone Ranger of America are two flavors of the same steel-wielding hero.
The way samurai in movies revere their swords, talking about the efficiency of a weapon, the artfulness or it, all VERY similar to how revolvers took/take a center stage for western fantasies. Add to that the individualism of the west, the rugged nature of a traveler with a weapon, the tie-in of ‘honor’ in both cultures, the ‘only lawmen can have a weapon in city limits’ laws that were featured in the America AND Japan at that time.
Super neat
I think this is why Star Wars is so successful. It’s western, samurai, and sci-fi all mixed together (at least the good stuff is).
Seven Samurai was made by Kurosawa, which became “The Magnificent Seven” and “A Bug’s Life”.
He also made “Yoimbo” and is sequel “Sanjuro”, which became “A Fist Full of Dollars” and “For a Few Dollars More”.
And he made “The Hidden Fortress”, which inspired “Star Wars.”
Dude was influential.
TIL I need to watch A Bugs Life again, but yeah, I’m very familiar with his work.
I forget it’s not a super widely known thing that samurai movies and westerns have built off each other in a way. Slow burn, fast climactic action, stoic protagonists. It’s one of those things that you wouldn’t expect at face value, but actually have a lot in common when you start breaking it down. They have influenced each other a lot over the years, with 7 Samurai itself even pulling some inspiration from Ford’s westerns.
It’s cool seeing some of the history laid out. That sharing of ideas has led to some incredible films.
Can’t do this with a katana. Check mate atheists.
Single action is a godsend. Virtually no trigger pull, and the mechanism just feels satisfying. Very reliable as well.
Also, revolving rifles. Taurus Circuit Judge my beloved…
I use a single action .22 Ruger more than any other gun. Long barrel, easy to aim, instinct shots for ratshot, cheap, durable. Use hollow points for groundhogs. One of my favorite tools.
I can imagine a few hundred years from now the same thing will happen with AKs.
Of all the weapons in the vast Soviet arsenal, nothing was more profitable than Avtomat Kalashnikova model of 1947, more commonly known as the AK-47, or Kalashnikov. It’s the world’s most popular assault rifle. A weapon all fighters love. An elegantly simple 9 pound amalgamation of forged steel and plywood. It doesn’t break, jam, or overheat. It will shoot whether it’s covered in mud or filled with sand. It’s so easy, even a child can use it; and they do.
Lord of War is such a good movie.
Single Action… maybe. But double action revolvers are a great choice for most people. They can be more reliable than semi-auto. They can hit harder too.
Imagine proving a joke this hard.
Hey I’m just deferring to the GOAT
High bore axis, more recoil energy, shit trigger on DA
Meaning you can’t hit anything
One third the capacity, slow reload
dead operator“Used to revolvers, .38 don’t jam”
“It don’t hold 15 neither”
Magnificent Seven is the western version of Seven Samurai. Prove me wrong.
Wait till you hear about A Fistful of Dollars and Yojimbo.
I love Fistful of Dollars. I tell any of my DnD rogue players to watch it as inspiration. Dude is the roguest ass rogue.
Fist Full of Dollars is the western version of Yojimbo.
You can’t prove me wrong because it’s verifiably true.
Is that even debated? I’ve thought for decades that that was an accepted fact.
I thought the fedoralord firearm of choice was the Colt 1911.
YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH
They’re popular because they’re reliable, easy to operate, easy to work on, and come in a wide range of calibers.
That being said, yee-haw motherfuckers!
One great thing about revolvers are they don’t jam. They leak gas instead.
Are you at gun point @[email protected] ?
Well I’m pointing, does that count?
Semi-automatic magazine fed pistol boys 😎
The m1 garand as a better example?
Wasn’t it actually a pretty damn good semi auto rifle for the time ?
It was for reliability in the 40s, lost the edge in the 50s
Hearing an m1 ping… that’s what life’s about
No quick draw mechanic like with katanas and revolvers. Also no dueling with M1.
To be fair, revolvers can be significantly more powerful than semi-automatic handguns, depending on how you measure. A 10mm is almost on par with a .357 Mag, and 10mm is the most powerful common semi-auto cartridge. For revolvers, you have a few common-ish cartridges that are significantly more powerful than that, like .44 Mag, .454 Casull, and .500 S&W.
Otherwise, yeah, pretty much. At this point, you’re at a distinct disadvantage in most cases if you’re carrying a revolver.
These power differences don’t matter much in practice. A .40, 9 mm, .38 special, or smaller can stop and kill a person just fine. The ergonomics of a weapon and especially training are more important.
A person, yes. 9mm is absolutely adequate for defending yourself against people, and even .380 works pretty well. 99% of the time, the correct answer for self-defense is something like a Glock 19, and a lot of time at the range and dry firing.
For hunting mid-sized game (pronghorn through elk) or as a bear defense weapon if you hike in grizzly or kodiak country, bigger is generally better, as long as you can shoot it accurately.
Big plus of a revolver is that you can just pull it out, point and pull the trigger, without having to engage a safety mechanism while carrying it.
So getting a semi auto pistol “combat ready” requires more steps and more training. For self defense revolvers make more sense imo.
You can do much the same with any double action semi-auto pistol though, or most striker-fired semi-auto pistols. If you, for instance, carry any Glock, or most other striker-fired pistols, you carry in condition 0; the striker is cocked, and there’s a round in the chamber. There’s a safety on the trigger that help prevent it from being unintentionally fired, but pulling the trigger normally will also disengage the safety. Double action semi-autos are usually carried in condition 2; there’s a round in the chamber, but the hammer isn’t cocked. As with a revolver, the safety is–usually–the long and heavy pull of the trigger for the first shot. The Beretta 92X RDO has a decocker, but the CZ Shadow 2 Compact has a manual safety; you have to (carefully) let the hammer down on an empty chamber, and then the safety is optional.
You won’t find anyone except the most fuddy of fudds that would recommend a revolver for self defense anymore. You won’t even find too many people seriously recommending a 1911 as a carry gun (those would be carried in condition 1; a round in the chamber, the hammer back, and the safety on). The only time I would suggest carrying a revolver for self-defense is if you regularly went hiking in grizzly or kodiak bear country, and then I’d be suggesting the largest revolver you could shoot accurately.
