IMDb > Shichinin no samurai (1954)
Shichinin no samurai
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Shichinin no samurai (1954) -- A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves.
Shichinin no samurai (1954) -- Movieplayer.it - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Writers:
Akira Kurosawa (screenplay) &
Shinobu Hashimoto (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Seven Samurai on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
19 November 1956 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The Mighty Warriors Who Became the Seven National Heroes of a Small Town
Plot:
A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(42 articles)
John Woo Returns To American Theaters With Epic 'Red Cliff'
 (From MTV Movie News. 19 November 2009, 11:59 PM, PST)

Carl Rinsch To Direct ‘47 Ronin’
 (From Screen Rant. 18 November 2009, 12:51 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Kurosawa's triumphant epic- totally & successfully driven by character and story more (473 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Seven Samurai (UK) (USA)
Shichi-nin no samurai (Japan) (alternative transliteration)
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Runtime:
160 min (international version) | Argentina:163 min | Japan:206 min (initial release) | Sweden:202 min (2002 re-release) | UK:150 min (original version) | UK:190 min (1991 re-release) | USA:141 min | USA:203 min (re-release) | USA:207 min (restored version) | Spain:202 min (DVD edition)
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Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Early in the writing process, six of the samurai were conceptualized, all loosely based on historic figures. Originally Toshirô Mifune was meant to play Kyuzo, the extremely stoic master swordsman. However, Kurosawa and his collaborating writers decided that they needed a character they could more identity with who wasn't a fully-fledged samurai, so Kikuchiyo was created. Since Kikuchiyo didn't have a historic basis, Mifune was allowed, for a Kurosawa film, to do an unprecedented amount of improvisation in the part. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: In the closing moments of the final battle, the bandits fire two musket shots only seconds apart. It is clear from the plot that at that point they have only possess one musket. The black powder muskets of the age required much more time to reload. This error was pointed out in the commentary of the deluxe DVD edition. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Bandit second-in-command: We'll take this place next.
Bandit Chief: We took it last autumn. They haven't got anything worth taking yet. Let's wait.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Ma vie en l'air (2005) more

FAQ

Any recommendations for martial arts movies like "The Seven Samurai"?
Why don't the Bandits crash through the fence of bamboo spears? One all out charge would have ended it in favor of the Bandits.
Is this movie based on a novel?
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94 out of 105 people found the following comment useful.
Kurosawa's triumphant epic- totally & successfully driven by character and story, 7 December 2003
10/10
Author: MisterWhiplash from United States

Akira Kurosawa was and is considered the master of east-western film-making (in that he made his Japanese films accessible for fans of American westerns while still making the movies his country found popular), and out of the few Kurosawa movies I've had the pleasure of viewing (Hidden Fortress, Rashomon, and this) I'd have to say that while Rashomon is still my favorite, I nevertheless had a blast during this one. The story has become quite influential to filmmakers from the likes of John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven) to John Lasseter (A Bug's Life): a small village has been terrorized by bandits for far too long, amid times of civil war in the nation, and so on the advice of Grand-Dad, they decide to hire four - which soon becomes seven - samurai for the job. There's no money, just food and honor, even though the village isn't exactly pleased to have samurai back in their village. Each character is drawn and executed compellingly, though for my money Toshiro Mifune proves why he became one of Japan's most notorious film actors. His work as the brave, bold outcast of the seven is awe-inspiring practically all the way through, like the hero of a western that anyone can root for since he's a true rebel at heart within a group of men with a task at hand.

Kurosawa directs his tale and main and supporting players like a grand composer, orchestrating a vivid story and extracting from great actors like Takashi Shimura (the old, wise Samurai), Ko Kimura (the disciple Samurai), Daisuke Kato (Schichiroji), and Mifune (Kikuchiyo, which isn't his real name) just the right touches of humanity, humor, tragedy, romance, and intensity. The overall intensity, by the way, isn't over-estimated; its long length (almost 3 1/2 hours) isn't distracting in the slightest since Kurosawa's editing and photography (the later helmed by Asakazu Nakai) are extraordinary. Not to compare the two films, but one thing I saw in common with Seven Samurai and a Lord of the Rings film is that, if anything else, it definitely isn't a boring experience. Along with a score by Fumio Hayasaka that gives the film just a bit more of a pulse, and a showdown that is relentless with excitement, this is one of the must-see action films for film buffs, or anyone with an serious interest in having fun with an epic.

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