Seven Samurai [Criterion Collection] [3 Discs] [DVD] [1954]

Seven Samurai is one of the greatest and most influential films ever made and is truly Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece. Set in fuedal Japan, the story concerns a village under threat from bandits. The farmers hire samurai to fight the bandits and find seven who are willing to defend thier village. Akira Kurosawa does a masterful job of directing one of the best action movies around. Each scene is flawless. The battle scenes are exciting and highly energized. Ther scenes that focus on the characters really give insight into what each character thinks and feels. All of which adds to the brilliant masterwork that is Seven Samurai. Each member of the cast does a superb job in thier respective roles. Toshiro Mifune is brilliant as the rough and tumble Kikuchiyo and Takeshi Shimura is great as Kambei, the leader of the band of samurai. You come to feel for each character and all of the samurai exemplify the virtues of courage and honor. The Blu-Ray transfer is stunning. Each scene is clear and sharply defined. The shading of the black and white comes out beautifully in High Defenition. Blu-Ray takes a classic and makes it look good as new. The extras include trailers and some featurettes on the making and legacy of Seven Samurai. Very interesting and informative. Seven Samurai is a true classic and influences film makers to this day. From westerns like The Magnificent Seven, to sci-fi like Battle Beyond the Stars and and episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and anime like Samurai Seven. The PIXAR film, A Bug's Life even took some cues from Seven Samurai! If you want to see just how great movies can be, check out Seven Samurai.

There are films that are difficult to define or explain in plain terms, as to their quality aspects. " Seven Samurai " fortunately is not one of those films. In Historical terms, this film has to be considered one of the greatest adventure films ever to be exported outside of Japan. Akira Kurosawa is a master at character development, with a slow methodical briliance of one who can take a script and masterfully translate it to film. Luckily for Akira Kurosawa, he had the advantage of directing at a studio (Toho) willing to take chances and had the expertise to create the background and effects to support this Master film Maker's vision of the old world, in a very authentic manner, teleporting the viewer into Samurai society where honor and a code of ethics are still a core belief in feudal Japan. You would think that it would be difficult to sit thru a 207 minute film, but this is a very special film that will have your complete attention, by 5 minutes into the first half. At the end of the film you will be completely exhausted by the action and drama this film contains. Criterion's remaster of this film gem is the best sounding and clearest visually speaking, I have seen of this film. Its money well spent and I doubt there is a better DVD version of this film, elsewhere. Seven Samurai is just one of those films that you can talk about, without doing it justice. Its an event, not a movie.. Five Star Rating * * * * *

This is one of the best of the best! Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai is one of the finest, and most influental films ever made. The story tells of a village suffering attacks by bandits, in an effort to save thier lives and property, they hire samurai to fight the bandits. Seven Samurai has some truly outstanding action sequences with some great cinematography and brilliant stunt choreography. Each action scene is exciting and a true pelasure to watch. Seven Samurai also features some stirring performaces by a great cast, including the legendary Toshiro Mifune in one of his best roles as the rough and tumble Kikuchiyo. Each samurai is a distict and well-developed character and the movie explores the true meaning of honor. Each of the samurai exemplifies what it means to be samurai. The movie may be long, but it is exactly the length it needs to be and it does not feel long when you watch it. Seven Samurai also inspired other films, from the classic western 'The Magnificent Seven' to one of my favortie anime series 'Samurai 7'. I would recommend this to anyone who likes great movies.

Criterion's new 3-disc edition of "Seven Samurai" is undoubtebly one of the best DVDs in their library. Besides being one of the best films in the history of cinema (I won't dwell on this fact. I'm sure you can find similar claims in other reviews), this is also a must-have DVD. The new, restored high-def transfer is far superior to the prior release. They did an amazing clean-up job. The film is spread over two discs in order to maintain high quality video. The original mono track is included and sounds great. They've added a new Dolby Digital Surround Sound track, but in my opinion, it doesn't add very much. This set is loaded with extras. It includes two commentary tracks (a new one, and the one from the previous release), three documentaries (running over 3 hours total), trailers, and photo galleries. All of which are very interesting and entertaining, and not just filler. The packaging itself is beautifully done, including a 56-page book featuring photos and essays. All-in-all, this was one of the best DVDs to be released in 2006, and it deserves to be in every film fan's collection.

First of all the forst time i seen this movie i was very young and i had just started watching kung fu and karate films and never really seen a Samurai film, well what i was looking for was some hard hitting Karate or some high flying Kung Fu kicks, well once i seen this movie i was mad no karate no kung fu kicks i rushed it back to the video store and said this was no good at all very lame move......what i didnt know was i had just seen the best movie ever made, so what i did after seeing a few other Samurai films like Zatoichi the blind swordsman i was ready to see Seven Samurai again and OMG this time it blew me away and this was the only films that i ever got so much into i felt like i was in the movie with the players it was that good , now to some that may seem lame but how many movies can you think of that when you first seen it you hated it and the next time you 1000% loved it? that is the power of a film like Seven Samurai, watch it and enjoy classic filming.

Seven Samurai is a movie about a rag-tag group of veteran warriors, an apprentice, and a man who's only wish is to be a samurai who join together out of the goodness of their hearts to protect a simple farming village from the yearly attack of a bandit gang when the lord of the land will not. I have been and continue to be a practicer of martial arts, specifically Iaijutsu (sword techniques) and this movie more than any other exemplifies the way of the warrior in which he will lay down his life in order to protect someone who cannot. I am a grown man and I can honestly say that there is no other movie I have ever seen that can make me cry openly at its ending. This is a must own for any person familiar or interested in black and white films, Japanese culture, Japanese martial arts, or anyone interested in the way of the samurai, not to mention anyone interested in a phenomenal movie that will remain with you always. I first saw this movie late at night when I was early in my teen years, I waited endlessly when for a quality version of this movie came out and with Criterion, that desire is fulfilled.

By far the best samurai film I've ever seen, yet Kurosawa doesn't present a simple sword-slashing film. This is all about the people, their character and personalities. This has it all: humor, love, hate, honor, duty, etc. The included booklet and extras do a very nice job of giving, those not familiar with Akira Kurosawa or his work, a good overview of the man and his influences (like director John Ford).

A village is attacked by bandits and 7 samurai band together to rid the village of the threat. This is the plot of Kurosawa's arguebly most famous movie. Criterion collection have done an amazing job restoring the movie and it is a pleasure watching it on blu. Just make sute you watch it in 2 sittings, as the movie is more than 3 hours long