Seven Samurai

1954 "The Mighty Warriors Who Became the Seven National Heroes of a Small Town"
8.6| 3h27m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 26 April 1954 Released
Producted By: TOHO
Country: Japan
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

Genre

Drama, Action

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Director

Akira Kurosawa

Production Companies

TOHO

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Seven Samurai Audience Reviews

Alicia I love this movie so much
Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible
Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
mikeclew This is mostly spoiler free, due to not giving anything away, but I do mention some obvious end-film scenes without mentioning anything specific. I am a fan of Toshiro Mifune. That is one of the reasons I decided to watch this movie. He is one of the best Japanese actors, although my knowledge of Japanese cinema is severely lacking. This movie is up there with The Godfather trilogy, 2001 A Space Odyssey, and many other great movies. One thing to know going in is that this is not an action movie first, this is a drama first, and an action movie when the time for the action is right. Like any good movie, the characters come first. While there are no downsides to this movie that I have noticed, some may be turned off my the length and the lack of knowledge of Japanese culture. This, for the moment, is the longest movie I have seen besides the Extended Lord of the Rings (counting it as one movie as it was filmed that way and written that way. The 3 and a half hour runtime is perfect for this movie. It may feel long but not 200+ minutes long. The drama is engaging, the comedy (mostly from Mifune) is great, and when the action starts it is edge of your seat. The early fight scenes are intense as they are shown to be what a real samurai fight would be like.
Aodhanrooney Though, Seven Samurai is overlong, it is a true masterpiece and accomplishment in filmmaking. Akira Kurosawa is a unique director and has a wondrous vision.Seven Samurai's first two hours is melodramatic. It features a tale of powerless villagers, whom are in shortage of food, and defenceless against a heavily armed gang of mischievous bandits. In order to restore their sanctuary and stow off the bandits, seven samurai warriors are formed and trained up in the tactics of field combat, to fight of the bandits.These pleasing two hours are live up to their fulfilment and the characters are introduced and developed, splendidly. There is enough to please movie-goers, here, and fans of old, classic movies will find Seven Samurai satisfactory. It kick started the Hollywood western, The Magnificent Seven, which is, too, a classic. There is no closure to pleasing samurai fans, and the Japanese audience, in particular, will find that there is nothing displeasing, here. The Fantastically written script of melodramatic elements, in its first two hours, leads, promisingly, to an hour and a half of spectacular stunt takes and field combat sequences. The Seven Samurai themselves are to be made noteworthy of this, for they are the show-stealers and stars of the show. This will meet fan's satisfactory, as the combat sequences are filmed so well, and the performances are nothing short of mesmerising.This spectacular movie is a classic and achievable in many ways, leaving generations of fans and Akira Kurosawa fans, alike, to a legacy of magnificent art.
DonAlberto Seven Samurai is one of those few films that smells like true cinema. You catch a whiff of it and you straight away find out that you're on the right track. Even people who for some incomprehensible reason don't understand what the power of cinema is, feel draw to these film or its Hollywood sequel, The Magnificent seven. In short, a movie that that is worth paying many to watch. Akira Kurosawa is its director. Admirer of John Ford's films, The Seven Samurai clearly reflects that influence. You can see in the sense of adventure that's ever present through the film. The story is set in Japan, in the era of Samurai, long time ago. A group of poor and ragged peasants live in a village that is often raid by bandits. As the situations is unlikely to improve, the decide to hire some samurais…And that's how the story begin. On the side, we have violence, love, betrayal and all the stuff you'd expect to find in one of the best films ever. If you don fall in love with cinema after watching this film, I reckon you'll never will.
marilynnewman One year at Grossmont College, they had a year of Akira Kurosawa movies.I watched them all. At the end, I could understand Japanese. I also understood what a great writer & director he is. The Magnificent 7 is a cheap ripoff of this classic, & yet, it is still almost as powerful as 7 Samurai, I'd give it a 9.I have to say I wept bitterly when Akira died in 1998.Only one film of his I didn't like, "Ran". It's because it's based on the one Shakespeare play I didn't like. King Lear.