Seven Samurai -- Kurosawa

[softwareNerd]

In this Kurosawa classic, a village plagued by bandits decides to hire samurai mercenaries. Samurai look down on villagers; most would rather go hungry than serve such lowly masters. However, after much effort, the persistence of the villagers pays off. They manage to interest one samurai, Kambei Shimada (played by Takashi Shimura) in their situation. [Aside: Some people say Shimura reminds them of Morgan Freeman; do you agree? ]. Kambei thinks that it will take just seven samurai to fend off about 40 bandits.

The first part of the movie takes a while building up to the hiring of the samurai. The second part depicts great detail of the planning and actual defense of the village. This is primarily an action movie, but without the color and special effects that are common today. It is an action-movie for an intelligent viewer: not just noise and movement, but reason, cunning and planning.

I give this movie an 8 out of 10. If you don't like B&W and subtitles, you'd probably take it down to a 7 out of 10. (Aside: The Magnificent Seven is based on this Kurosawa movie.)

(Edited: Fixed mistakes; thank to Evangelical Capitalist for pointing them out. - softwareNerd)

Edited December 29, 2005 by softwareNerd

[Eternal]

I remember watching this movie as a kid, and really liking it back then. I'm planning on putting it on my Netflix queue, to see if it stands the test of time.

[softwareNerd]

I too saw it after signing up for Blockbuster's Netflix-look-alike plan. I already have 50 movies in my queue!

[scottkursk]

This is one of my all time favorite movies. Actually, Akira Kurosawa is one of my favorite directors and Toshiro Mifune is one of my favorite actors. Both are brilliant artists, especially Kurosawa and the movie Ran; simply breathtaking. Though as far as stories go, Seven Samurai is tops.

The fact the villagers looked down on the samurai even though they knew it was what they needed to survive. The samurai themselves were a motley lot with varying motivations and levels of sanity. Though the compelling part of the story is when the two groups came to respect each other and the role each played. That is pretty well fleshed out by Kurosawa.

Add to the well written story the amazing visuals, the characterizations, the technical aspects are all just about spot on. My favorite scene is the ambush scene in the hedgerows leading up to the village. I can't begin to describe the amazing visual of the samurai flailing his sword, the coordination of the horsemen, along with all the extras and the foley work, wow.

Of course, the only thing the movie is missing is Yul Brenner which of course was made up for in the Magnificent Seven.

[Evangelical Capitalist]

In this Kurosawa classic, a village plagued by bandits decides to hire samurai mercenaries. Samurai look down on villagers; most would rather go hungry than serve such lowly masters. However, after much effort, the persistence of the villagers pays off. They manage to interest one samurai, Takashi Shimura (played by Kambei Shimada) in their situation. [Aside: Some people say Kambei reminds them of Morgan Freeman; do you agree? ]. Shimura thinks that it will take just seven samurai to fend off about 40 bandits.

The first part of the movie takes a while building up to the hiring of the samurai. The second part depicts great detail of the planning and actual defense of the village. This is primarily an action movie, but without the color and special effects that are common today. It is an action-movie for an intelligent viewer: not just noise and movement, but reason, cunning and planning.

I give this movie an 8 out of 10. If you don't like B&W and subtitles, you'd probably take it down to a 7 out of 10. (Aside: The Magnificent Men is based on this Kurosawa movie.)

Couple of corrections: Takashi Shimura is the actor; "Kambei Shimada" is the character. Shimura was a character actor in many of Kurosawa's films, and I'd hate to see him not get the credit he deserves. And The Magnificent Seven, not The Magnificent Men, was a remake of Seven Samurai. On a related note, another of Kurosawa's samurai films, Yojimbo, was remade into a western in A Fistful of Dollars: a Japanese samurai movie, reset in the American west, by an Italian director (Sergio Leone) and filmed in Spain. What more could you ask for?

With that out of the way, I'd like to add that this is a tremendous film, and it's been too long since I've sat down and watched it.

[softwareNerd]

Thanks. "Magnificent Men!!!!!" I must have been sleep-deprived when I wrote that.

[scottkursk]

On a related note, another of Kurosawa's samurai films, Yojimbo, was remade into a western in A Fistful of Dollars: a Japanese samurai movie, reset in the American west, by an Italian director (Sergio Leone) and filmed in Spain. What more could you ask for?

With that out of the way, I'd like to add that this is a tremendous film, and it's been too long since I've sat down and watched it.

Yojimbo is a favorite as well. I'm sorry but this reinforces my feeling that Toshiro Mifune should be in every movie made. There was also a 50's/60's detective movie that he played a private eye ala Nero Wolfe. The way he carried himself in this movie does strike a Roark-like stance. In fact, when he's not haggard and long bearded, he does look pretty striking.

Given Mifune and Kurosawa's brilliance, I snapped up the boxed set when I first saw it.