Original lang.			Japanese
Country			Japan
Genre			War drama
Length			2:42
Director			Akira Kurosawa
Writer			Akira Kurosawa Masato Ide
Company			20th Century Fox
Starring			Tatsuya Nakadai Tsutomu Yamazaki Kenichi Hagiwara Jinpachi Nezu Hideji Otaki Daisuke Ryu Show more... Tatsuya Nakadai Tsutomu Yamazaki Kenichi Hagiwara Jinpachi Nezu Hideji Otaki Daisuke Ryu Masayuki Yui Kaori Momoi Mitsuko Baisho Hideo Murota Takayuki Shiho Koji Shimizu Noboru Shimizu Sen Yamamoto Shuhei Sugimori

A petty thief Kagemusha (Tatsuya Nakadai) gets saved from a death sentence because he resembles the warlord Shingen Takeda (also Nakadai). The warlord has been fighting two other leaders for control of 16th-century Japan and impersonators often take his place during battles to put him out of harm's way. Because of Kagemusha's strong physical similarities to the warlord, he's a perfect choice for a "shadow warrior." However, the arrangement suddenly changes when Shingen gets fatally wounded while watching a battle. Adhering to Shingen's final wish, the warlord's men keep the death a secret, and Kagemusha struggles to transform himself from a criminal into a leader.