Seven Samurai

1954 "The Mighty Warriors Who Became the Seven National Heroes of a Small Town"
8.6| 3h27m| NR| en
Details

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.

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Reviews

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
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.
connorveenstra It's difficult to describe Seven Samurai because firstly it's a movie that is best experienced knowing nothing about it. Secondly, because it's so packed with things to talk about it's difficult to know where to start.The slow beginning and ridiculously long run time might turn some viewers off, but with enough patience you'll be rewarded with a rich, nuanced experience that few other movies can match. The film uses this slow, deliberate pace to flesh out the characters and explore the world in which they live until you're completely sucked in and invested.The camera work is fantastic, with every single shot being perfectly blocked, composed and lit. The costume and set design are all so perfect that you think you've just stepped into feudal Japan. The acting from the entire cast is amazing and the action scenes are superbly epic.The characters are all well fleshed out (some more than others) and you root for all of them throughout the film. The themes are heavy and dramatic: honor, romance, the selfishness of human nature, deconstruction of the samurai myth. The movie might also have the greatest climax of any film in history, perfectly paying off the last three and a half hours you just spent sitting in your chair.Seven Samurai is a masterpiece of filmmaking and is everything a movie should be: simple but complex. Entertaining yet not shallow. Funny and dramatic. Action-packed, yet slow. It's one for the ages that should've be missed.
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.