I ran into this flick by accident one night. At first I was put off by the foreign language.
Akira Kurosawa directed 31 films during his career. That is a impressive number for any director, but it is even more impressive when you consider how many of theses are truly great films.
Akira Kurosawa's jidai-geki epic 'Seven Samurai' can be counted among the greatest of all battle movies - a majestic tale of heroism, sacrifice and death, that remains unmatched, even today. Set in 1587, it follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven master-less samurai to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops.
Great film. Now I wouldn't say action packed.
I've been meaning to watch this film for some time now but have put it off, mostly due to its length, it being in black and white and it also being subtitled and as someone who is just starting to get into more world cinema, especially from the East, this seemed like a bad place to continue right now. In fact, I thought this film was going to be tedious to watch.
A complex but coherent epic, with rigorous and precise shots and compositions, the characters of the seven samurai and several peasants are vividly depicted Armageddon after "Rest" is bigger and more spectacular.
This is a Japanese tale of a small group of farmers who are tired of being raided by bandits, so they decide to hire samurai. They can't afford to pay them much, and as a result, the seven individuals who agree to help are an eclectic mix of personalities and abilities.
Perhaps the greatest Japanese film of all time and one of the best foreign films ever, Seven Samurai more than compensates for the 3 1/2 hour run time that holds us in its grasp. Some parts may feel a bit stretched or contrived, but the action sequences are absolutely thrilling cinema and some of the best ever shot on screen.
The story at the center of Seven Samurai has been told many times since the film's release: a small village continually hounded by evil bandits sends men to the City to hire defenders. The defenders will seem to be not up to the task and the villagers will learn to find strength within themselves.
