Seven Samurai (1954)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" is rightly considered one of the greatest films in the history of cinema. Apart from the fact that it is technically perfect, this is one of the most influential films of all time. From today's perspective, the film tells the story that has been seen many times, but this is because the Kurosawa's version has left such a strong impression that, in the following decades, many filmmakers were inspired by it. The most famous remake is the western "The Magnificent seven" (1960), which tells the same story, and even copies some scenes, only places them in Wild West and replaces the samurai with the gunslingers. Each frame of this film is a perfect black and white photography, the story is well developed, the characterization is convincing, and the performance is excellent (even to those like me who hate over-acting and exaggerated drama typical for Japanese). I could point to a couple of weaker points in the story and acting, but that would be only a subjective impression that arose from the personal taste and cultural gap between the East and the West. But objectively, this film hardly has any faults.10/10

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.

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.

I love the authenticity and realism of this movie. It might be a tad long compared to today's standard but there is no wasted scene. I love the characterizations and the stories of each of the seven samurai.