While it's claimed by many, including several filmmakers, that Japanese director Akira Kurosawa had made some of the greatest films ever made including numerous masterpieces. It's clear that it's hard to pick just one. One of those films that is often picked as the one of the greatest films ever made was a film that was not only influenced by the American Westerns of John Ford, a favorite of Kurosawa. It would become a film that would prove to be inspirational in not just that genre but also in various genres ranging from comedy to children's animation films. That film was simply known to the world as The Seven Samurai.

Directed by Akira Kurosawa with a script he co-wrote with Hideo Oguni & Shinobu Hasmimoto. The Seven Samurai tells the story of poor farmers whose village is often attacked and ransacked by bandits. To combat the bandits for the upcoming harvest, one of the farmers finds help in seven samurai swordsmen. While the plot is simple, Kurosawa's tale is very complex in unveiling how seven man, who are flawed but are willing to help out the helpless despite their lack of mastery in the art of samurai. With an all-star cast that includes Kurosawa regulars Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune along with Daisuke Kato, Yoshio Inaba, Minoru Chiaki, Isao Kimura, and Seiji Miyaguchi as the title characters. The Seven Samurai is an enduring, epic masterpiece from Akira Kurosawa.

It's 16th Century Japan during a civil war as village of farmers have been living in fear over the presence of bandits who had been stealing their food and threatened their lives since the last harvest. With another one approaching, the villagers aren't sure what to do. A young farmer named Rikichi (Yoshio Tsuchiya) suggests they should fight back but others cower over the fact that they might die. The farmers turn to their oldest patriarch Gisaku (Kuninori Takado), often known as Grandad. Gisaku agrees with Rikichi that they must fight back but with the help of a few samurai warriors. Rikichi and a few farmers including Manzo (Kamatari Fujiwara) and Yohei (Bokuzen Hidari) go to the city to find samurai but immediately, they become unsuccessful.

Then one day, they see a man named Kambei Shimada (Takashi Shimura) who manages to save a child by posing as a priest to stop a thief. Those who were watching included a hot-headed, comical samurai by the name of Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune) and a young samurai named Katsushiro Okamoto (Isao Kimura) who wants to be Kambei's disciple. Kambei takes Katsushiro under his wing while Rikichi and the farmers as Kambei for help. Kambei, a veteran of wars and battles isn’t looking for anything but the offer of three square meals in service to protect the farmers was something he takes. With the help of Katsushiro, they recruit other samurai warriors as they found an old associate of Kambei in Shichiroji (Daisuke Kato) and Gorobei Katayama (Yoshio Inaba) who wants to help. After Gorobei recruits a woodcutter named Heihachi Hayashida (Minoru Chiaki). The team is completed when a stoned-face, skilled swordsman named Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi) decides to join them after declining at first when he is caught battling another swordsman.

With Katsushiro part of the team under Rikichi's suggestion, they find their seventh in Kikuchiyo who claims to be from a long line of samurai families despite his crazed, drunken presence in front of the gang. Though he isn't part of the team at first, he follows them while Manzo returns home earlier a day later afraid that one of them might go after his daughter Shino (Keiko Tsushima). The Rikichi and the samurai warriors arrive to find the town empty as if they're in fear until Kikuchiyo bangs the alarm wood to scare off the villagers. Kambei is impressed with Kikuchiyo's ability to get everyone's attention as he is now the seventh samurai. After a meeting with Gisaku, Kambei looks around the village for their defenses with help from Gorobei and Katsushiro as the rest train the villagers.

When Kikuchiyo learns that the village had samurai serve the village before but attempts to flee would have them robbed and murder. Kikuchiyo reveals his background as a farmer's son as he explains their hardships such as giving them better food while they eat something inferior. Katsushiro meanwhile has caught the attention of Shino whom he falls for despite the fact that she's being disguised as a boy. When the samurai warriors realize that the three houses and a mill outside of the village couldn't be protected. They made the decision for the owners of those homes to be evacuated while giving the villagers some rice. When they try to prepare the farmers for war, the ones who lived at the homes outside of the main village try to flee. Kambei however, refuses for them to leave as he tells the villagers that they have to work together in order to survive.

With harvest now approaching and morale getting more upbeat, the samurai warriors realize that the farmers are now more than ready to defend themselves as a wall was built, new water gaps built, and bridges are prepared to be cut. Then one day, Katsushiro found three horses outside of the village as immediately, three bandits were spotted as they were attacked and killed as one of them was captured. Realizing that they have headquarters just half-a-day away on horseback, Kikuchiyo, Heihachi, Kyuzo, and Rikichi who accompanies them decide to attack the home just to decrease their numbers. During this attack, Rikichi found his wife in the building as the plan to burn their home succeeded but with great cost. Following this tragedy, Kikuchiyo makes a poignant moment as he held the banner the samurai warriors have created and put it on top one of the village houses. It is in this moment, the bandits have arrived.

Following their arrival, some of the villagers are scared as Kambei and the rest of the samurai warriors get the villagers ready for battle. With the bandits convinced that they won't defend themselves realize they were more than ready to fight. The three-day battle ensues as casualties on both sides rise only to end ambiguously as the samurai warriors ponder what was gained and lost.

For a film as epic and grand as this film, Kurosawa definitely raised the bar high on what he wanted to achieve. While the film is about farmers hiring samurai warriors to protect their village from bandits. The plot maybe simple but the story and complexity of it is far more ambitious. Really, it's a study of both the farmers and samurai warriors where they each have some kind of tension whether its class ruling or their perception of each other that at first, becomes stereotypical. Once the story develops, Kurosawa and his writers find depth in both the farmers and samurai warriors. They're flawed yet human for the audience to relate to their struggles and such. The samurai warriors each have a different personality trait that distinguishes them from another. You have a leader, a planner, a morale booster, a skilled warrior, a teacher, a hot-headed comic relief, and a young apprentice.

The complexity of Kurosawa's script shows that despite their skills and personalities, the samurai warriors are there for a reason. They're not fighting for some reward, some gold, or anything that they could really gain from. Instead, they fight for doing the right thing, even if it's tough on them. Then there's the farmers, they start out as people who fear for their lives but know they couldn't do something. Once they develop, they become more confident yet have individual problems to deal with. Manzo is fearing that his daughter would fall for a samurai while Rikichi is avoiding any issue that dealt with his wife. There's these rich characters in the film and through the script, it slowly develops the characters and the momentum of what's to come. Yet, its deliberate pacing pays off right in the third act for the battle scenes.

Kurosawa's direction is superb in every way. From the theatricality he stages for some of the film's interior sequences to the more epic, Western-like scale for the battle scenes. The interiors at the place where the farmers stayed in the city to find samurai that shows both their sad nature and the comical taunts of its residents. A lot of the acting, though stylized, has a theatrical sense as if they're doing something like Shakespear where they observe both the drama and tension that goes on. Kurosawa's use of compositions are very hypnotic to the way he presents scenes, notably a funeral scene that is then followed by Kikuchiyo to raise the banner. That scene presents a shift in emotions from something sad to something inspirational despite the tragedy while it was a way for the hot-headed Kikuchiyo to display his own emotions privately.

Then comes this big battle scene where Kurosawa is at the height of his presentation. With help from his longtime cinematographer Asakazu Nakai, the tension and look of the battle scenes are wonderfully presented while the coverage of the attacks are bigger than anything captured on screen. With Kurosawa, serving as editor, the cuts aren't quick but captures the intensity and manic tone of the battle. The best sequence of those battles is the final day with rain drenched and everything is black, white, and gray as the drama and chaos that ensued is wonderfully presented. With Kurosawa also using his side-wipe trademark cuts to shift scene to scene, the result is extremely solid in every way.

For the film's ending, Kurosawa and his writers definitely bring ambiguity to the film. Instead of who won the battle, it becomes about the gain and loss. Therefore, a few survivors is forced to ponder what was gained and lost. So in many respects, someone did won but someone else also lost and it therefore presents this moral ambiguity in the end. Overall, credit goes to Kurosawa for not just his presentation but also challenging his audience into bringing more depth into a film that just could've been another typical samurai picture.

Cinematographer Asakazu Nakai does some amazing work that just doesn't capture some of Japan's beauty in the forest and village but also the contrasting world of the city that's very industrialized and modern. Nakai's interior work is brilliant for its shadow-like tone to bring the tension and intimacy surround the samurai warriors and villagers while a lot of the exteriors in the day time is very spacious and peaceful with a dreamy look for the sequences involving Katsushiro and Shino. The black-and-white photography of Nakai is exquisite while adding style to the action that included slow motion camera shots to convey the drama of the action. The battle sequence feature some of Nakai's finest work including the final day in the rain as the bleak tone captures the fervent chaos and troubling aftermath of the battle. The result is just some of the best cinematography captured on film.

Production designer So Matsuyama does great work in creating 16th century Japanese housing and villages that are in line with traditional Japan that also includes some great costumes of samurai uniforms and robes by costume designers Kohei Ezaki and Mieko Yamaguchi. Sound recordist Fumio Yanoguchi and effects editor Ichiro Minawa do excellent work in creating the atmosphere and intensity of the film’s battle sequence. Music composer Fumio Hayasaka creates an amazing film score that mixes a wide variety of tones to accompany the film's mix of emotions and themes. From traditional, orchestral, dream-like score to accompany the romance of Katsushiro and Shino to the intense, Japanese-percussion music for some of the film's tense moments and battle sequence. Overall, the score is truly one of the best.

The film's cast is definitely unique that includes several small performances from Shinpei Takagi and Shin Otomo as the leading bandits who appear briefly in the opening but they return near the end as they reveal more about their motivation. In the role of the villagers, Kuninori Takado is great as the village's patriarch while Bokuzen Hidari is great as Yohei, one of the film's comic reliefs who has a lot of fear while having funny scenes with Toshiro Mifune. Kamatari Fujiwara is excellent as the fearful Manzo whose belief that his daughter being in love with a samurai will spell dishonor for him and his daughter. Yukiko Shimazaki appears briefly as Rikichi's wife while Keiko Tsushima is good as Shino, Manzo's daughter who falls for Katsushiro while in conflict over her role and honor to her father. Yoshio Tsuchiya is great as the young farmer Rikichi who hides a painful secret about his wife while hoping to fight back against the bandits.

In the roles of the seven samurai warriors, the performances Daisuke Kato as Shichiroji, Minoru Chiaki as Heihachi, and Yoshio Inaba as Gorobei are very memorable with each actor having individual moments. Kato as Kambei's old associate who, despite his paunch feature, is a skilled warrior and teacher while Chiaki is the film's good-hearted soul who brings hope in dark moments, and Inaba as an experienced organizer at battle-planning. Seiji Miyaguchi gives a powerful, stoic performance as the emotionless, skilled Kyuzo, a warrior who amazes his fellow warriors, notably Katsushiro who is impressed by his bravery. Isao Kimura is great as the young samurai Katsushiro who is trying to learn the ways of being a samurai while falling for Shino, as he tries to figure out the role of being a samurai.

The film's two best performances come from Kurosawa regulars Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune. Shimura is extremely brilliant as the brave, wise Kambei, a warrior who knows what to do while is the voice of reason for everyone including the village. Shimura, who previously played the dying Watanabe in Ikiru, displays a sense of humor and command that is really unforgettable while his performance is also inspirational in how he views things and the ways of the world. Toshiro Mifune is brilliant as the hot-headed, comical Kikuchiyo who is hoping for some excitement and proving himself to be a samurai. Mifune's performance is mostly used for humor yet he manages to show his range in scenes involving death and the hardships of the farmer as Mifune's performance is truly memorable in every frame he's in.

When the film was released in 1954, it received mixed reviews in Japan with critics claiming that the film was "too Western" for Japanese audiences. Yet, the film was a box office hit in Japan as two years later, it was released in the U.S. to huge acclaim that it caught the attention of director John Sturges. The acclaimed director of American westerns, Sturges remade The Seven Samurai into the western known as The Magnificent Seven that starred Yul Brenner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Horst Buchholz, and Brad Dexter as the title characters. Sturges' remake became a massive hit in 1960 as it would spawn a few sequels. Another film called Sholay from India was also inspired by Kurosawa's classic as it became a hit film in 1975 proving that the legacy of The Seven Samurai was insatiable.

Following those successes, the plot element of a group of men fighting against the odds had become influential with films ranging from Ocean's 11 to the X-Men movies. Comedies inspired by The Seven Samurai's plot proved to be a winning formula that was evident in John Landis' comedy Three Amigos! with Chevy Chase, Steve Martin & Martin Short as three silent-film actors mistaken to be gunfighters protecting a village of poor Mexican farmers against the bandit El Guapo. Science fiction also played a part from the Dean Parisot cult-comedy Galaxy Quest starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Sam Rockwell, Tony Shalhoub, and Daryl Mitchell. The story of The Seven Samurai finally reached its legacy peak in the form of a computer-animated children's film A Bug's Life by Disney/Pixar and director John Lasseter who admitted to using the film's plot line as an inspiration. Kurosawa fan George Lucas even gave a nod to the character of Kambei for Yoda by having Yoda rub his head numerous times in the Star Wars prequels.

While it's no doubt that The Seven Samurai isn't just one of the greatest films ever made or one of the best movies made by Akira Kurosawa. The Seven Samurai is a must-see for anyone who loves movies. While general audiences might be put off by its three-and-a-half running time (including intermission), a good suggestion is to watch A Bug's Life for some of the simple elements of the plot. Yet, it's a film that requires patience that pays off right to the end. With fantastic performances from Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune, it's a film that is no doubt inspiring and fun to watch. In the end, for a movie that has excitement, humor, drama, and great battle scenes, The Seven Samurai is the film to go see.

Akira Kurosawa Reviews:

Rashomon (1950):

http://www.epinions.com/content_407108882052

Ikiru (1952):

http://www.epinions.com/content_407750217348

Throne of Blood (1957):

http://www.epinions.com/content_408499228292

The Hidden Fortress (1958):

http://www.epinions.com/content_451715567236

The Bad Sleep Well (1960):

http://www.epinions.com/content_452052291204

Yojimbo (1961):

http://www.epinions.com/content_409156357764

Sanjuro (1962):

http://www.epinions.com/content_410131467908

High & Low (1963):

http://www.epinions.com/content_447766892164

Red Beard (1965):

(Coming Soon)

Dersu Uzala (1975):

(Coming Soon)

Kagemusha (1980):

http://www.epinions.com/content_410895486596

Ran (1985):

http://www.epinions.com/content_412004683396

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age