The Wolverine: 10 Movies That Influenced James Mangold

8. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956) The Samurai Trilogy, made up of Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, Samurai II: Duel At Ichijoji Temple and Samurai III: Duel At Ganryu Island, come together to tell the epic story of a young, brash soldier who - over the course of the movies - transforms into a thoughtful, introspective and brave samurai warrior. Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Toshiro Mifune, the trilogy remains relatively unknown today, though the films have been praised by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, who also took inspiration for his Kill Bill movies. Notable for their epic sword battles, Mangold has likely used the Samurai Trilogy as a template for the movie's inevitable samurai fight sequences. The question, of course, is how far will Logan go when it comes to embracing samurai tendencies? Will he learn to obey by their code? And though any stylized fight sequences will surely be some of the movie's best bits, we're hoping that Wolverine can channel the samurai way to serious effect, perhaps mirroring the journey that the main character takes over the course of the Samurai Trilogy.