The Great Killing

This 1964 samurai epic from director Eiichi Kudo concerns a Shogunate Elder who manages to wrest control of Japan by putting his puppet Tsunashige - the brother of the current Shogun - in the seat of power. Brilliant strategist Yamaga learns of the Elder's plans and sets out to stop him. Unfortunately, Yamaga's cabal soon gets betrayed and his co-conspirators are imprisoned and tortured; as a result, Yamaga and his fellow swordsmen are forced to fight their way through literally hundreds of guards to reach and annihilate Tsunashige.