seven samurai
if you like the magnificent seven, watch kurosawa' s the seven samurai .
poster of the 1960 remake of seven samurai titled the magnificent seven - image via google .
kid samurai: katsushiro is the youngest of the seven and only beginning the samurai way .
kurosawa, akira. seven samurai. trans. donald keene. 1970. seven samurai and other screenplays: ikiru, seven samurai, throne of blood. london: faber and faber, 1992 .
photo of toshiro mifune in the akira kurosawa classic seven samurai: toho films .
seven samurai is above all a homage to the samurai class at its most noble
( mellon 20) .
it’s kambei’s legendary introduction, though, that first kicks “seven samurai” into high gear .
seven samurai, the (1954) - - (movie clip) ...
toshiro mifune in akira kurosawa' s
seven samurai .
( janus film )
the magnificent seven samurai: trope maker.' seven warriors defend a village from bandits' has become a template used in many places .
a poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves .
seven samurai (program note), mill valley film festival, b. peterson, 2002
seven samurai, the (1954) - - (movie clip) there ...
seven samurai, the (1954) - - (movie clip) stop ...
what it influenced: damn near everything, that' s what. seven samurai was directly remade as the magnificent seven (which is what seven samurai had been called for some of its u. s. promotions). magnificent seven spawned numerous sequels and remakes itself, making seven samurai a grandfather to, among others, battle beyond the stars, the seven magnificent gladiators, three amigos, and a bug' s life .
vili might want to chime in as well, but i’m familiar enough with seven samurai and the magnificent seven to want to respond to your question .
seven samurai, the (1954) - - (movie clip) got a ...
“by protecting others, you save yourself. ”: seven samurai (akira kurosawa – 1954 )
that hires seven masterless samurai to protect them from a group of bandits intent on stealing their harvest. seven samurai’s unique style and themes redefined the action movie genre and inspired filmmakers across the world .
seven samurai, the (1954) - - (movie clip) i' m ...
seven samurai, the original cult classic film written and directed by akira kurosawa - image via google .
samurai: technically, like the ronin entry above notes, they' re not really samurai: but all seven are still striving to follow bushido .
looking for movie tickets? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing seven samurai near you .
seven samurai is also available to rent on bfi player (£3. 50 / £2. 98) urltoken
the single largest undertaking by a japanese filmmaker at the time, seven samurai was a technical and creative watershed that became japan' s highest - grossing movie and set a new standard for the industry. its influence can be most strongly felt in the western the magnificent seven (1960), a film specifically adapted from seven samurai. director john sturges took seven samurai and adapted it to the old west, with the samurai replaced by gunslingers. many of the magnificent seven' s scenes mirror those of seven samurai. the film spawned several sequels and there was also a short - lived 1998 television series .
we chart the rocky road to classic status of akira kurosawa’s all - time classic action film, seven samurai .
the village of the farmers in seven samurai was a set built in tagata on the izu peninsula, shizuoka, japan. read below for more information on the filming location of seven samurai and travel tips for the izu peninsula .
seven samurai (shichinin no samurai) is the quintessential samurai movie and perhaps the most accomplished collaboration between director kurosawa and actor toshiro mifune. the film deeply influenced cinema, including john sturges who directed a remake: the magnificent seven starring yul brynner, steve mcqueen, charles bronson .
now it’s your turn: if you love “seven samurai, ” sound off in the comments and tell me why .
if you' re going to use a film for inspiration, seven samurai is certainly a good place to start .
the film’s action has been much imitated. but it’s the desperate, yearning humanity that makes seven samurai truly magnificent .
“by protecting others, you save yourself. ”: seven samurai (akira kurosawa – 1954) – behind the seens
set photography for seven samurai. retrieved from akira kurosawa digital archive. id 01. 14. 04. 917 .
set photography for seven samurai. retrieved from akira kurosawa digital archive. id 01. 14. 04. 949 .
set photography for seven samurai. retrieved from akira kurosawa digital archive. id 01. 14. 04. 939 .
as lawless pointed out, the magnificent seven is a fairly direct remake of seven samurai, just in a western setting. the other two films you listed are less directly connected to kurosawa .
thanks for the great introduction, vili! ! as most of you know, seven samurai is my favorite movie ever .
in a special cinephile saturday program, the pollock theater is proud to present seven samurai on 35mm film. kurosawa’s masterpiece tells the story of a poor village under attack by bandits, which recruits seven unemployed samurai to help the villagers defend themselves .
rbeort, magnificent seven is a straight up remake of seven samurai. i haven’t seen army of darkness, but mad max isn’t really influenced i think by seven samurai. seven samurai is generally seen as the ‘original’ film featuring the now common idea of a motley group of fighters getting together for one last battle. numerous films have followed this idea since then – the best source on this i think is dolores martinez’s book on kurosawa remakes .
of films have used the language “seven samurai” created when staging their own set pieces, the power of “samurai’s” action has not diluted one iota in the time since its release .
that’s all the synopsis one needs to understand what “seven samurai” is about, and though this story has been the core influence on countless imitators, from “the magnificent seven” all the way to “a bug’s life, ” it’s not the modest plot, but the astonishingly profound way kurosawa tells the story that makes “seven samurai” a masterpiece .
“seven samurai” is, without a doubt, a testament to all the incredible things this medium can accomplish at its very best .
but until august, our undivided attention will be on seven samurai. as always, dear friends, the floor is yours .
☛ seven samurai (shichinin no samurai) by akira kurosawa, japan, 1954. intermission card from 01: 46: 45 to 01: 51: 46, criterion edition .
with a plot based on the magnificent seven and the seven samurai, this science fiction film involves a peaceful planet attacked by invaders. looking for assistance results in the hiring of a diverse group of mercenaries .
“seven samurai” is definitive proof that it is not the story being told, but the execution of that story that creates compelling drama .
shimura takashi (left) and mifune toshirō (second from right) in seven samurai (1954), directed by kurosawa akira .
— a mexican village hires gunmen to defend them from a gang of bandits. terrific american version of
the seven samurai
!
the closest similarity i see between army of darkness and mad max and seven samurai / the magnificent seven is the need for a disparate group of folks to pull together to defend themselves. if that’s what you mean by the same concept, then i suppose it is, but i know of no evidence that seven samurai inspired mad max, and it seems even less likely that it inspired army of darkness, which imdb indicates is a sequel to the evil dead series of films. also, neither seven samurai nor the magnificent seven is post - apocalyptic .
the villagers either scavenged weapons and armor from dead samurai, or killed samurai and stripped them of their belongings .
another common theme is there are different monsters belonging to a different attribute for each reincarnation of
six samurai
:
the six samurai
,
legendary six samurai
and the recent
secret six samurai
.
4) and there is also a new magnificent seven remake on its way .
seven samurai is a 1954 japanese adventure film co - written, edited, and directed by akira kurosawa. the story takes place in 1586 during the warring states period of japan and is about a village of farmers that hire seven ronin (masterless samurai) to fight the bandits who are expected to return to steal the village' s crops. to say seven samurai is a classic is an understatement. since the movie' s release, seven samurai has been one of the most
remade, reworked, referenced
films in cinema history .
seven samurai is now by far the best known and influential film ever to hail from japan. after all, what do critics know ?
seven samurai is an unforgettable masterpiece - - the work of one of the world' s greatest filmmakers at the height of his powers .
toshiro mifune, foreground, took on an influential role by starring in akira kurosawa s 1954 classic, seven samurai. (associated press )
this july, our akira kurosawa film club turns its attention to seven samurai (1954), perhaps the best known of kurosawa’s works .
blades of glory... akira kurosawa' s seven samurai is to be remade by the weinstein company. photograph: ronald grant archive
seven samurai (shichinin no samurai), blu - ray steelbook, is a very timely release from the bfi. as the 6th september marks 15 years since the passing of the great “sensei” .
deck build pack: spirit warriors introduces the new
secret six samurai
sub - archetype, as well as the first
six samurai
fusion monster ,
secret six samurai - rihan
. these six samurai have various effects focused on banished six samurai monsters, as well as banishing themselves to protect six samurai monsters on the field .
it could be said that it is only the pure that survive, from a group of men already purer than the average samurai. unsurprisingly, many have leaped into the conclusion that seven samurai straightforwardly glorifies traditional samurai values, with these interpretations often stressing kurosawa’s own family background as a member of an old samurai family .
families can talk about the rigid class system in place during the time period of seven samurai. why is there such a separation between the samurai and the villagers? what makes it easier for the samurai and villagers to overcome the social barriers to band together ?
here' s how kurosawa' s
seven samurai
has inspired films like george miller' s
mad max: fury road .
to see how “seven samurai’s” visuals, plot, dialogue have influenced filmmakers from quentin tarantino to george lucas, check out the short video below .
a sixteenth century farming village requests protection from the seven samurai against a horde of bandits who have warned they will return when the crops are ripe. a gripping three hour ride that inspired the hollywood remake, the magnificent seven .
non indicative name: the seven heroes are composed of six ronin and a peasant .
another seven samurai peculiarity is the introduction of western modernity in the form of guns. most samurai films show the samurai winning with superior skill in swordplay. kurosawa' s film, however, shows samurai killed by gunshot. not only does that detail reinforce the sense of “unfairness
 about their demise, but, unlike other samurai movies, it also adds realism to the proceedings .
some films have even lifted dialogue almost verbatim from “seven samurai. ” the film’s “everlasting and genre - spanning influence is a testament to its undeniable greatness and its special place in cinematic history, ” writes bill rwehera, author of the fandor video, “from seven samurai to fury road. ”
…as acclaimed as kurosawa akira’s seven samurai (1954), on which it was based—proved to be a popular and influential entry in the genre. …
made only six years after 1954' s the seven samurai, john sturges' the magnificent seven is at the same time a classic american western and a faithful remake of the japanese original, leaving the structure of the plot largely intact while translating samurai tropes into the language of the old west .
i actually assume that you mean mad max 2, which i think bears more resemblance to seven samurai than the original mad max, unless i get them mixed up in my head. in mad max 2 we have max sort of defending a small town under threat from outlaws, just like in seven samurai, but unless i’m mistaken, mad max 2 doesn’t have the “gathering of heroes” concept which is at the heart of seven samurai. it seems a little more like a western frontier story to me than seven samurai, but i would still be very surprised if george miller didn’t know kurosawa’s film .
yet, for me, it' s the seven samurai that seems the most potent influence. you have, after all, the anthill under threat from grasshoppers, who wreak their damage and fly off again (although seven samurai didn' t have kevin spacey on brilliant voicing duties, of course) .
and if you' re more into animation than westerns, pixar' s a bug' s life is loosely inspired by the seven samurai as well .
…epic shichinin no samurai (seven samurai) is considered the most entertaining of kurosawa’s films and also his greatest commercial success. it depicts a village of peasants and a few leaderless samurai who fight for the village against a gang of marauding bandits. although it was inspired by his admiration…
in the meantime, richie’s monograph notwithstanding, seven samurai had rather fallen out of critical purview. in 1982, however, it made its first appearance in sight
bbc’s flagship discussion programme the forum has recently taken as its subject akira kurosawa’s 1954 film seven samurai. the audio is now available for listening on bbc’s website .
note: this review of akira kurosawa' s seven samurai is a condensed / revised version of dan schneider' s text, which can be read in its original form here. the views expressed in this seven samurai review are those of mr. schneider, and they may not reflect the views of alt film guide .
samurai # 7: kikuchiyo self - recruited
samurai
of dubious origins, determined to join the mission; uninvited, kikuchiyo follows the recruited samurai back to the village, where he will ultimately prove himself invaluable to defense of the village and worthy of samurai status .
“seven samurai” is undoubtedly long – at 207 minutes, it outpaces most films an ordinary viewer will have seen – but few films use length to such great advantage .
[ … ] “by protecting others, you save yourself. ”: ‘seven samurai’ (akira kurosawa – 1954) (behindtheseens. wordpress. com) [ … ]
the movie location of the village in seven samurai was a set built in the tagata district on the izu peninsula in shizuoka at the request of director akira kurosawa .
kambei (takashi shimura) and kikuchiyo (toshiro mifune) offer differing comments at the funeral for the fallen samurai heihachi, which is interrupted as the bandits attack, in director akira kurosawa' s the seven samurai, 1954. >
more than sixty years after the release of “ seven samurai, ” akira kurosawa’s legendary epic continues to leave its mark on hollywood. while the film is widely known to have led to the 1960 remake “the magnificent seven, ” directed by john sturges, “seven samurai” has also inspired filmmakers like george miller as recently as 2015, when he released his epic sci - fi action film, “ mad max: fury road. ”
“seven samurai” is the exceedingly rare film that transcends the time and place it was made to suggest universal experiences of friendship, loyalty, fear, courage, and community .
warriors fight to save a poor village from bandits in akira kurosawa' s masterpiece and one of the greatest movies ever made, the seven samurai (1954). >
the heroic figures that embody the themes of this epic poem are seven ronin – masterless samurai – and it is through their deeds and adventures that kurosawa weaves his tale .
til: while filming seven samurai, to simulate getting shot with arrows, several stuntmen were actually shot with live arrows. they wore blocks of wood under their clothes .
it’s no secret akira kurosawa ‘s perennial seven samurai has influenced every underdog trope film of the last sixty years. from the magnificent seven and bonnie and clyde to die hard and ocean’s eleven: surface themes are easily comparable, but how deep do these similarities actually go ?
as narrator keanu reeves points out, there would be no
magnificent seven
without
the seven samurai ,
no
a fistful of dollars
for clint eastwood without
yojimbo ,
no
star wars
for anyone without
the hidden fortress .
the writers of seven samurai — kurosawa, oguni and hashimoto — sued toho in the 1970s as they had not received any payment for the american remake the magnificent seven. in 1978, the tokyo district court agreed with them, declaring that the writers owned the remake rights, and that mgm (the producer of the magnificent seven should also compensate the three writers) .
in 1960, seven samurai had its first remake with john sturges' the magnificent seven shot in mexico. this remake moves the story to mexico and tells the story of a mexican peasant village that assembles seven gunfighters to help them defend their land and homes. the production brought together a large cast of famous actors that includes yul brynner, steve mcqueen, and charles bronson .
one of the greatest films ever made, kurosawa’s seven samurai has influenced the work of directors from george lucas to steven spielberg, and spawned remakes including john sturges’ western the magnificent seven. first released on dvd in 1999, it remains the bfi’s no1 best - selling title .
a remake of the magnificent seven hit theaters last week, reteaming director antoine fuqua with star denzel washington following their work together on training day and the equalizer. it' s not the first time that seven samurai has been re - re - booted. * in fact, an entire textbook could be written on seven samurai' s legacy and the differences between its various adaptations, but for a simple comparison of differences between that formative classic, the original magnificent seven, and this week' s reboot, you' re in the right place !
a true samurai wanted nothing more than to be attached to a daimyo and a castle, to be' tied down' in classic feudal organisation... . the samurai fought out of the kindness and alliance of the land which justified, for kurosawa, their entire birthright. the very mention of money and gratitude betray the spirit of seven samurai; the samurai code forbad the very touching of money as beneath a samurai' s dignity
( mellon 71) .
this article is related to: features and tagged 5 things you might not know about... , akira kurosawa, features, on this day in movie history, seven samurai
so, let me end this review by stating that seven samurai is every bit as great as its most enthusiastic champions claim. i then ask you, how rare is that ?
' seven samurai' analysis: akira kurosawa classic keeps improving © 2004–2018 alt film guide and / or author (s). text not to be reproduced without prior written consent .
despite its fame, questions about the critical response to seven samurai can be raised. in her book seven samurai, joan mellen writes that the film has been the “least written about” and the “most misunderstood” of all of kurosawa’s works (63). while in terms of quantity of writing this may not strictly speaking be true, at least if material written outside of the academia is also factored in, the discussion on seven samurai has admittedly been traditionally marked by a certain lack of shared insight, or at least any recognisable unified direction .
til: while filming seven samurai, to simulate getting shot with arrows, several stuntmen were actually shot with live arrows. they wore blocks of wood under their clothes. : todayilearned
based on the original seven samurai screenplay by director and writer akira kurosawa, the screenwriters for the magnificent seven are john lee hancock (the blind side, saving mr. banks) and nic pizzolatto (true detective). the story centers around seven outlaws who team up to defend a village from a powerful adversary. the production has already started filming last week at the santa fe studios .
george lucas is an ardent kurosawa admirer. the first star wars is largely a retelling of kurosawa' s the hidden fortress (1958), with some yojimbo (1961) and seven samurai thrown in for good measure. c3po' s observation
it seems we are made to suffer; it' s our lot in life
is reminiscent of what the farmers in seven samurai say about themselves. lucas has said that the way yoda rubs the back of his head when he' s thinking is a tribute to the wise kambei, who does the same thing throughout seven samurai .
bounty hunters ,
a 2010 episode of the star wars: the clone wars animated series, is dedicated to kurosawa and is based on seven samurai. so seven samurai partially inspired star wars, and if you want to get into all the movies that star wars inspired, we' ll be here all day .
a remake of the classic japanese film seven samurai has been given the green light by hollywood, with british film - maker scott mann set to direct, variety (paywall) reports .
takashi shimura (as kambei) issues orders and directs archers, while toshiro mifune (as kikuchiyo) leads swordfighters, as the samurai and the villagers face the bandits in this portion of the climactic battle sequence from akira kurosawa' s the seven samurai, 1954 .
and as the american occupation of japan had ended only half a year before the work on seven samurai begun, some have seen the samurai as standing for the americans, who came to rescue japan from itself, but whose time it has now come to leave .
a new video from fandor explains in depth just how wide ranging the influence of “seven samurai” can be felt. while films with enormous battle scenes like “the lord of the rings: the two towers” and “the matrix revolutions” unsurprisingly borrowed visual elements from kurosawa, some unexpected titles that were inspired by the plot of “seven samurai” include john landis’ “three amigos” and “a bug’s life. ”
both katsushiro and kikuchiyo are defined by their failures to cross the aisle of their preordained social class, an aspect vital to seven samurai' s themes. however, the magnificent seven (1960) lost a lot of the cultural exploration of seven samurai simply because its setting hearkens to a different culture. western gunslingers were similarly legendary warriors in their own time, but, unlike samurai, they were not a class of nobility, attainable only by birth. with no true strife of social boundaries to battle, the magnificent seven lost the added layer of sacrifice that the seven must make to do the right thing. consequently, the film combined the lover and the loon into the character of chico, played by horst buchholz, in an attempt to play the character against his own desires .
at the time, seven samurai made the headlines with a budget of half million dollars while most movies then were filmed with seven time less. filming took 148 days - 4 times more than originally planned - with kurosawa being intransigeant about the authenticy of the film but also battling with difficult natural conditions .
takashi shimura (as kambei) issues orders and directs archers, while toshiro mifune (as kikuchiyo) leads swordfighters, as the samurai and the villagers face the bandits in this portion of the climactic battle sequence from akira kurosawa' s the seven samurai, 1954. >
to mark the 60th anniversary akira kurosawa’s celebrated masterpiece, seven samurai (shichinin no samurai), the bfi is releasing the epic adventure on blu - ray (for the very first time in the uk) in a limited edition steelbook (out monday 21 april) .
the basic premise of samurai is really cool and it is a great game .
this event is presented in conjunction with the 2017 ucsb reads program. this year’s text for the program, into the beautiful north by luis alberto urrea, draws on the classic western the magnificent seven (1960), which in turn was based on seven samurai. the event will be followed by a reception .
kizan
can summon itself if you have a different
six samurai
monster, while
kageki
summons another
six samurai
when normal summoned .
that purpose was to make a samurai movie that was anchored in ancient japanese culture and yet argued for a flexible humanism in place of rigid traditions. one of the central truths of
seven samurai
is that the samurai and the villagers who hire them are of different castes and must never mix. indeed, we learn that these villagers had earlier been hostile to samurai - - and one of them, even now, hysterically fears that a samurai will make off with his daughter. yet the bandits represent a greater threat, and so the samurai are hired, valued and resented in about equal measure .
photo credit: banner image from the magnificent seven 1960 remake starring yul brynner and steve mcqueen - image via google .
as a final observation on seven samurai' s realistic approach to its narrative, kurosawa shows the surviving samurai leave the village with little to show for their work, save their honor and war tales. the villagers can live in peace, if only for a time, while they must go seek employment on the road without their brothers in arms. there is no hollywood ending, or cheap emotional payoff. seven samurai refuses to condescend – and this is part of its greatness. (the ending is softened somewhat in john sturges' 1960 remake, the magnificent seven, with yul brynner. )
seven samurai is set in the sengoku period, rather than the tokugawa period more typical for samurai films. the sengoku jidai, or warring states period, was an exceptionally turbulent time of uncertainty for japan, as near constant military conflict shook the country for nearly one and half centuries .
although it would become the film to which all samurai films would later be compared, seven samurai did not immediately change the jidaigeki genre. for that purpose, it had been too expensive and too exception to be straightforwardly copied. it would take seven years and another kurosawa film to really change the genre, with the release of yojimbo in 1961, and sanjuro a year later. (see yoshimoto 245 )
on the structural side, seven samurai has been noted for its atypical length and the mastery with which kurosawa pulls off a film nearly three and a half hours long. kenneth turan in his short essay included with the newer criterion release of the film talks about the film’s length and pacing, noting that unlike many other equally long films, seven samurai ‘s length is not only necessary but also natural. audie bock in her japanese film directors similarly draws our attention to the film’s rhythm, noting that just like seven samurai, “the best kurosawa films unfold in a push - and - release rhythm, with vigorous action tempered by static dialogue, gripping suspense relieved by light romance or outright buffoonery. and at calculated intervals in the course of the unfolding come moments of kurosawan truth. ” (176) this “push - and - release rhythm” is easily recognisable in seven samurai, where weightier scenes are often followed by lighter, often comic ones. indeed, seven samurai could at many points be called a seriously funny film .
the samurai even by law could not become farmers... . [ a samurai ] must play out the fate of his class
( mellon 71) .
was
a code and way of life for samurai .
combining the influences of
satellite character: out of all the samurai, shichiroji gets the least to do .
: old man, i' m worried. the village girls will go crazy over the samurai. if the samurai touch' em, all hell will break loose .
demonstrated that ronin could be heroes. a masterless samurai has unlimited capacity to be more honorable acting upon his own morality than a true samurai who serves a corrupt lord .
arguably akira kurosawa' s masterpiece, the seven samurai is an epic adventure classic with an engrossing story, memorable characters, and stunning action sequences that make it one of the most influential films ever made .
seven samurai is a magnificent, barbaric, japanese picture maintaining a high level of technical and artistic brilliance which only sheer exhaustion - it lasts two and a half hours - prohibits from whole - hearted admiration .
the 1954 japanese epic seven samurai by akira kurosawa has been described as one of the most influential films in the history of cinema. set in 16th century rural japan it tells the story of a small village
kikuchiyo (toshiro mifune) taunts his would - be comrades, en route with the peasant farmers to their village, and stages a fishing demonstration in akira kurosawa' s the seven samurai, 1954. >
a pinnacle of japanese cinema, seven samurai saw the birth of the historical epic genre, and is an amazing movie in it' s own right. kids may have issue si... continue reading
you could also consider sending an email to david gaines, who tours with a one man mime adaptation of seven samurai. perhaps he might be able to help. you can find his website at urltoken .
seven samurai [ japan: shichinin no samurai ]. dir. akira kurosawa. wr. akira kurosawa, shinobu hashimoto, hideo oguni. perf. takashi shimura, toshirô mifune, isao kimura, yoshio tsuchiya. toho co. ltd. , 1954. dvd. janus criterion collection, 1998 .
although seven samurai has often been called an epic, it' s really not. almost all of the action takes place indoors or in small settings, and even though the film features numerous characters and extras, there are only forty bandits and maybe twice as many villagers. this is personalized, small - scale warfare. the only epopee seven samurai indulges in is the rhetoric spouted by toshiro mifune' s kikuchiyo and akira kurosawa' s visuals, which often let the viewer get both subjective and objective viewpoints in one shot (often over the shoulders of the characters). (image: toshiro mifune in seven samurai. )
now, despite toshiro mifune' s renown and billing, seven samurai is actually the tale of kambei, played by the magnificent takashi shimura, an akira kurosawa regular just off his great role in ikiru (1952), in which he plays a doomed political hack who achieves a minor victory against bureaucracy. in rashomon (1950) he had played a peasant, while in seven samurai he is a sage and warrior .
i should also mention that seven samurai is the granddaddy of all great action films, from sam peckinpah' s the wild bunch to james cameron' s aliens and the terminator series. additionally, i noticed how seven samurai' s opening – to the sound of drumbeats – is reminiscent to that of my beloved godzilla, which was released that same year. while as a film godzilla is nowhere in the same league as seven samurai, it is probably the second most influential japanese cinematic production of all time. that both of them rely on such primal sounds in their opening sequences makes one wonder if there' s a connection .
3) thirdly, the weinstein company is currently producing a seven samurai remake, which i think is licensed. depending on their contract, their adaptation license may block other new adaptations and / or remakes, or they may have some say in what currently gets licensed. or that’s my guess based on experience, but it may well also be the case that the weinstein production has nothing to do with seven samurai licensing .
so as we enter into autumn 2013, it is only right to celebrate the greatest film of all time, by one of the greatest directors of all time with a blu - ray print of seven samurai .
it is truly amazing how distinct and fascinating – or just downright fun – each of the seven samurai are individually, and one of kurosawa’s wisest moves is to devote the entire first hour to putting the team together .
if the villagers are the heart and soul of “seven samurai, ” kikuchiyo and his many flaws and strengths is the spirit of the eponymous team itself, a concept immortalized in his symbolic triangle on the group’s flag .
samurai ponytail: all seven feature the short - and - straight version, except kikuchiyo, who has a short - and - messy version. kambei' s hair, sadly, is sacrificed to a greater goal .
the popularity of seven samurai has also spawned a wide number of remakes, many of which are discussed in depth in martinez’s remaking kurosawa, and most of which can be found at the remakes page of this website .
this classic of the samurai film genre will appeal to teens and older who love action. young viewers may find the human deaths disturbing, as many of the most sympathetic characters meet their demise while protecting the village. for those who can deal with the emotion of loss, seven samurai offers substantial rewards .
debut queue: we meet the samurai one at a time as they assemble the team .
: find hungry samurai. even bears come down from the mountains when they are hungry .
each six samurai has a different attribute, and those with polar attributes have opposite effects .
“whoever heard of farmers hiring samurai? ” asks the farmer who’s about to hire the samurai. six decades later, everyone’s heard of seven samurai. the film’s outline is movie myth: tormented villagers, cruel bandits, a few wandering heroes for hire. director akira kurosawa was a john ford fanboy who transplanted the hollywood western onto feudal japan. hollywood borrowed right back. in 1960 there was the magnificent seven, half as long and half as good, with a great score and mostly great actors but unfortunately also horst buchholz .
i wouldn’t really call him the 8th samurai. while he is very helpful and clearly a fairly likable man — sulking and all — i don’t think that he really has or wants to have much to do with the samurai values or behaviour exhibited by the actual samurai characters .
the name of the archetype and the design of their members, including the
shien
archetype, may be derived from the japanese films seven samurai (1954) and kagemusha (1980), both by akira kurosawa .
i wondered, this time around, if rikichi isn’t also a samurai at heart? he is the guide for the samurai of course, the link to the villagers, but is he not as brave, as willing to take risks, as wise and protective as the samurai themselves? in scene after scene he attends the samurai, first as a social subordinate, but as time goes on, as an equal. i honestly see rikichi as the eighth samurai…
decoy protagonist: played with. for the first thirty minutes, the film follows four peasants tasked with hiring samurai. once they recruit kambei, the story focuses mainly on the samurai .
seven samurai / shichinin no samurai (1954). dir. : akira kurosawa. scr. : akira kurosawa, shinobu hashimoto, hideo oguni. cast: toshiro mifune, takashi shimura, yoshio inaba, seiji miyaguchi, isao kimura, kamatari fujiwara, yukiko shimazaki, yoshio tsuchiya, minoru chiaki, daisuke kato .
seven samurai, like most of kurosawa’s films, is typically seen as a male dominated work, a film about men and male bonding. joan mellen, in waves at genji’s door, insists that the film’s only female character of any importance is the peasant girl shino, with whom the young samurai katsushiro falls in love. (51) in contrast, however, in her essay “seven samurai and six women” (printed in japanese cinema: texts and contexts), d. p. martinez writes about the role of women in seven samurai, arguing that a “close look at [ kurosawa’s ] films reveals that they are peopled with fascinating, complex women who might occupy little screen time but whose personalities and motivations are essential to their plots” (112 - 113) .
seven samurai, if you' ve not seen it, is the story of a village that hires - yes! - seven samurai to protect the harvest from people looking to steal it. effectively, the farmers of the village hire in outside help to offer some defence to those who come and steal their livelihoods. it' s a stunning film, and, it should be noted, a much longer one than a bug' s life .
after being attacked by a group of bandits several times, a group of villagers seek help of seven samurai in order to fight the bandits once and for all. this is the story of how they made their pass through the enemy' s massive army and their tremendous epic war with the bandits. the seven samurai will do anything in order to win the battle; however, there are still a lot of obstacles and problems they must solve .
seven samurai unrolls naturally and pleasurably, like a beautiful scroll or valuable rug, luxuriating in its elongation—it takes an entire hour just for the basic task of choosing the titular seven. rather than try to ignore time, the film emphasizes its passage, underlining key scenes with a quiet but insistent drumbeat that could almost be a clock ticking off the inexorable seconds .
this intermission card arrives 107 minutes in akira kurosawa’s 1954 film seven samurai. it lasts approximately 5 minutes and is accompanied by a music score by hayasaka fumio. at the time of writing, it can be watched on youtube .
the sentiment is repeated by chris adams at the end of the magnificent seven (1960), but this is contrasted by the highly stylized, explosive, and revenge - filled 2016 remake. emma cullen ends the film reminding the audience that the heroics of her seven guns - for - hire would not be forgotten, but perhaps the seven worth remembering are the ones who had the least to gain .
rbeort – i’m not familiar with army of darkness except what i just looked up on imdb, and i haven’t seen mad max, but neither of them is an adaptation or remake of seven samurai, the earliest of these films and the direct precursor to the magnificent seven, an authorized but lesser remake. there’s extensive commentary on both films elsewhere on this site .
more than 60 years later, seven samurai has not aged a bit thanks to a powerful narrative and a unique set of characters that are worth all the special effects in the world. under the spell of kurosawa, the audience is placed at the center of the strenuous battle made of relentless attacks from the bandits and anxious peace moments waiting for the next offensive. with his first samurai movie, kurosawa subtly captures the essence of the way of the samurai through the unfaltering earnestness of the seven ronins, ready to give their life to fullfill their mission .
there was a magnificent sequel, and now a remake, but samurai ‘s influence is cosmic. it defined a narrative structure: the misfit badasses on a mission of mercy. it’s the dirty dozen and guns of navarone, armageddon and guardians of the galaxy. zack snyder has described next year’s justice league as a seven samurai riff. back in 2013, snyder was rumored to be working on a seven samurai - influenced star wars spinoff. (that would’ve been poetic: george lucas was a kurosawa fanboy who invented space - samurai with laser - swords .) instead, this december brings rogue one, starring six hero humans and one badass droid .
: subverted with kikuchiyo. the other samurai mock him repeatedly, arguably heihachi most of all ,
last week, the new mexico film office announced that the magnificent seven, a modern day remake of akira kurosawa' s cult classic seven samurai, will be filming in the state. directed by antoine fuqua (south paw, the equalizer), the movie stars denzel washington, chris pratt, ethan hawke, vincent d’onofrio, byung - hun lee, and peter sarsgaard. the magnificent seven will be the first reunion for fuqua, washington and hawke who teamed together 10 years ago in training day .
he’s known now as the genre’s greatest master, but kurosawa was more than a decade into his career as a director before he made seven samurai. it’s the most ambitious and praised of all of his samurai films, but while other directors might have built up to such a massive project, this was actually his first samurai movie. other classics, including yojimbo (1961) and sanjuro (1962), would follow .
seven samurai features a remarkable scene where mifune / kikuchiyo vents his anger when kambei and the others see the armor of dead samurai. at first, he agrees with the samurai that the villagers are liars and not worth defending; even that they should be killed. but then his rage turns toward his stunned comrades. kikuchiyo leaves, huffs at katsushiro, and later rejects the advances of a flock of children as well .
there’s an old chinese curse that runs, “may you live in interesting times. ” and sixteenth - century japan was certainly an interesting time from a dramatic point of view—which is undoubtedly why akira kurosawa chose it as seven samurai ’s …
whatever the film’s possible social and political interpretations, on the surface seven samurai has three very distinct groups: the samurai, the farmers and the bandits. yet, on closer inspection these group lines become blurred. the bandits and the samurai are, after all, both masterless samurai, products of a tumultuous era, and therefore “of the identical social group, driven by the same condition to opposite choices”, as mellen puts it in waves at genji’s door (91). in the two groups, we witness a situation similar to the one that forms the basis of stray dog, where identical circumstances have led characters to two very differing outcomes, with some individuals choosing to blame their environment, ignore morals and go down the road to lawlessness, while others like the noble samurai in seven samurai remain strong and honourable, albeit no less suffering .
: subverted. the samurai are enraged when they discover that the villagers whom they are defending have in the past sometimes killed samurai escaping from battles and stripped them of their armor and weapons. as the other samurai begin muttering about how they' d like to slaughter the entire village, kikuchiyo
the original six samurai monsters debuted in strike of neos and depended on having another
six samurai
on the field to activate their effects. they also all shared the effect of
if this card would be destroyed you can destroy another
six samurai
monster you control instead
.
but these values are increasingly hard to come by, even in the world depicted in the film. as mellen points out, as the story progresses, “the samurai begin to fade from importance in the structure of the film. ” for, while the peasants can acquire battle skills from the samurai, the samurai remain unable to integrate themselves into the peasant society. “their class is truly obsolete and they must disappear. ” (waves 98) in mellen’s views, as well as in the view of many others, seven samurai is ultimately a mournful lament about the death of the samurai class and its codes of conduct .
we only see the bandits at the beginning and at the end of the film. none of them is a darth vader despite george lucas' latter - day attempts to cite seven samurai as an influence for his puerile star wars saga .
seven samurai is the highest reviewed movie at rotten tomatoes with the highest number of votes that is listed as an action / adventure film on the site. it is also ranked number two on rotten tomatoes' top 100 foreign films list .
some films get better after repeated viewings. akira kurosawa' s 1954 black - and - white drama seven samurai / shichinin no samurai is one of them. it fully deserved winning that year' s silver lion at the venice film festival, as well as its academy award nominations for best art direction - set decoration (black and white) and best costume design (black and white). additionally, seven samurai deservedly became an international sensation and it' s reported to have been the highest - grossing japanese film of its day. [ warning: spoilers ahead. ]
for this week’s film, i decided to watch seven samurai, edited and directed by akira kurosawa. this film follows the journey of samurai warriors who agree to help local farmers against bandits. this film used several interesting editing techniques to create an entertaining movie, including establishing shots, transition wipes, eyeline matches, and continuity of action .
in fact, although seven samurai is probably the most popular of kurosawa’s films, views on how it ranks in the director’s oeuvre have been varying. at one end of the scale, we have noël burch who has once called seven samurai nothing more than the finest of kurosawa’s minor jigaigeki (quoted in mellen, 63 - 64). stephen prince ranks it higher, labelling seven samurai “one of [ kurosawa’s ] most richly textured philosophical works” (204). meanwhile, stuart galbraith calls it kurosawa’s best film (174), while donald richie goes a step further and insists that it is not only kurosawa’s best film, but also possibly the best made in japan, and among the best made by anyone anywhere.
seven samurai ( 七人の侍 shichinin no samurai ) is a 1954 japanese samurai adventure drama film co-written , edited , and directed by akira kurosawa . the story takes place in 1586 during the sengoku period of japanese history . it follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven ronin ( masterless samurai ) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops . since its release , seven samurai has consistently ranked highly in critics ' lists of the greatest films , such as the bfi 's sight & sound and rotten tomatoes polls . it has remained highly influential , often seen as one of the most " remade , reworked , referenced " films in cinema . 
seven samurai (七人の侍 shichinin no samurai) is a 1954 japanese samurai adventure drama film co-written, edited, and directed by akira kurosawa. the story takes place in 1586 during the sengoku period of japanese history. it follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven ronin (masterless samurai) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops. since its release, seven samurai has consistently ranked highly in critics' lists of the greatest films, such as the bfi's sight & sound and rotten tomatoes polls. it has remained highly influential, often seen as one of the most " remade, reworked, referenced " films in cinema.
seven samurai (七人の侍 shichinin no samurai) is a 1954 japanese samurai adventure drama film co-written, edited, and directed by akira kurosawa. the story takes place in 1586 during the sengoku period of japanese history. it follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven ronin (masterless samurai) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops. since its release, seven samurai has consistently ranked highly in critics' lists of the greatest films, such as the bfi's sight & sound and rotten tomatoes polls. it has remained highly influential, often seen as one of the most " remade, reworked, referenced " films in cinema.