Seven Samurai - brand new 3 disc DVD set

[horacethegrey]

A new release of the greatest Japanese film, if not one of the greatest films in history, on DVD. You can find more info here.

The Seven Samurai DVD will feature the following bonus materials:

- All-new, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Two audio commentaries: one by film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie; the other by Japanese-film expert Michael Jeck
- A 50-minute documentary on the making of Seven Samurai, part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
Halloween 5 On-Set Footage
- My Life in Cinema, a two-hour video conversation between Akira Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima produced by the Directors Guild of Japan
- Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences, a new documentary lookimg at the samurai traditions and films that impacted Kurosawa's masterpiece
- Theatrical trailers and teaser
- Gallery of rare posters and behind-the scenes and production stills
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- A booklet featuring essays by Peter Cowie, Philip Kemp, Peggy Chiao, Alain Silver, Kenneth Turan, Stuart Galbraith, Arthur Penn, and Sindey Lumet and an interview with Toshiro Mifune.

DVD Cover:

I'd get this, but it's a Criterion release, and sure to be expensive.

 

[Ranger REG]

I'd get this, but it's a Criterion release, and sure to be expensive.

Yeah, that's what is preventing me from getting the currrent version. Unless it is deluxe/collector's edition, I never pay more than $25 for a DVD product.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Bastards! I have the Criterion version and have enjoyed it but a new version? Ugh! Criterion is usually above the whole double dipping the crowd.

 

[JEL]

Another DVD I have to buy.

 

[barsoomcore]

Depends on how much improved the new transfer is over the previous Criterion release, which I have. But most of that stuff has already been released, and I'm not paying another $50 for a couple of documentaries.

Rather spend that getting a Kurosawa film I DON'T already have.

 

[Ranger REG]

You paid $50?!?!?!!

 

[barsoomcore]

Uh, I don't recall what I paid. But yeah, Criterion discs are usually around that. But I was referring to this disc, which I found on sale for $50. So if I were to buy it at that price, I would be paying ANOTHER $50 (on top of whatever I paid for the original disc) for a couple of documentaries.

I watch movies A LOT. $50 for a film like Seven Samurai, which I've probably watched five or six times since we got it, isn't that much money, really. Certainly I look for bargain deals and buy used discs and all that, but sometimes I just want the movie and I'd rather pay a bit extra than wait and hope it turns up in a bargain bin, or take a chance on an eBay purchase.

$50 for Seven Samurai at this point turns out to be about (assuming I've watched it five times), $5 per hour of entertainment (2 hours per viewing). That's not too shabby, and doesn't include the extra features. Certainly not the worst entertainment expenditure of my life.

 

[Dingleberry]

$50 for Seven Samurai at this point turns out to be about (assuming I've watched it five times), $5 per hour of entertainment (2 hours per viewing).

You watch it at high speed? IIRC, the Criterion version is 200+ minutes. Well worth whatever you (and I) paid for it.

 

[Ranger REG]

$50 for Seven Samurai at this point turns out to be about (assuming I've watched it five times), $5 per hour of entertainment (2 hours per viewing). That's not too shabby, and doesn't include the extra features. Certainly not the worst entertainment expenditure of my life.

If it has to do with a certain entertainment ranch in Vegas, I don't want to know.

As I said before, I never paid more than $25 for a DVD product unless I'm certain it is a deluxe edition, like LOTR expanded edition. I have gone to Tower Records & Video and passed on Seven Samurai so many times.

Hope this new packaging will convince me otherwise.

 

[WizarDru]

If it has to do with a certain entertainment ranch in Vegas, I don't want to know.

As I said before, I never paid more than $25 for a DVD product unless I'm certain it is a deluxe edition, like LOTR expanded edition. I have gone to Tower Records & Video and passed on Seven Samurai so many times.

Hope this new packaging will convince me otherwise.

I was lucky enough to see a newly restored digital print at a local theater about a year ago, and was stunned how much improved the quality was. I LOVE this movie. Like Star Wars, Raiders, Yojimbo and several select films, I can sit down and watch this one over and over....and when I come across it when channel-flipping, it's captivates me every time.

But that's true of most Kurosawa films. Although I've never gotten to seeing some of earlier films that I most desire to, like 'Ikiru' and 'Stray Dog'. I've seen parts of 'dodesukaden' which I liked, but I understand was incredibly poorly received. Prior to the US directors intervention, Kurosawa was virtually abandoned in his own country. Luckily, they provided the funding that reversed that.

Now I really feel like sitting down and watching this. For those who are interested, the anime 'Samurai 7' and 'Kaze no Yojimbo', both influenced by Kurosawa's works, are far better than they need to be. 'Samurai 7' uses much of the original dialgoue in parts, and captures the feel pretty well...despite the far future robotic setting. 'Kaze no Yojimbo' is a lot like Twin Peaks mixed with Yojimbo...but is also pretty satisfying, but the pacing is fairly slow. If you come looking for Samurai Action to the latter, you'll be sorely disappointed.