the Seven Samurais

[Trainz]

I just rented the Seven Samurais. Tonight, my best friend will have dinner at my place, after which we'll watch the movie. I'm 35 years old, and I never saw it before. Neither did he.

So I guess we're in for a good time ?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

You're in for a very good time. One of my favorite movies ever made. I can watch it over and over and over. Have fun!

 

[barsoomcore]

If it's not the best movie of all time, it's definitely in the running. The Seven Samurai is one of the undisputed classics of cinema. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone not liking it. I'm sure somebody does, but you know. People.

But seriously, this is a tremendously entertaining, touching, suspense-filled story.

Watch for Sugino Sensei's name in the opening credits, Trainz! And let us know if you liked it. And if you haven't seen other Kurosawa movies, you're in for a whole lot of treats!

 

[Wombat]

One of the single finest movies ever made. Ranks up there with other favourites of mine: Citizen Kane, Ghostbusters, Dr. Strangelove, a few others. Odd mix, but excellent.

Now I'm just waiting for Kagemusha to be released on dvd...

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

One of the single finest movies ever made. Ranks up there with other favourites of mine: Citizen Kane, Ghostbusters, Dr. Strangelove, a few others. Odd mix, but excellent.

Now I'm just waiting for Kagemusha to be released on dvd...

A bit off topic, but I find it very good to see you LIKING something for once.

 

[Celtavian]

re

Spetacular film equal to any film made in the twenty or thirty years. Way ahead of its time. Great story. Superb acting. Unbelievable likeable and believeable characters. Just an all around great film with a really gritty, grounded story. I love this film. It is definitely one of the all time classics. Kurosawa is one of the best directors of all time.

Have a good time and enjoy a true masterpiece of filmmaking.

 

[Crothian]

eh...what a rip off of the Magnificant Seven

Okay, SS was first and its a great movie.

 

[your father is]

^You're in for a treat -- I saw it for the first time about six months ago and really loved it. It was much more realistic and down-to-earth than I would have imagined. The peasants are great!

 

[shilsen]

If it's not the best movie of all time, it's definitely in the running. The Seven Samurai is one of the undisputed classics of cinema. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone not liking it. I'm sure somebody does, but you know. People.

Yeah. I think I saw some of it years ago and turned it off.

 

[Trainz]

If it's not the best movie of all time, it's definitely in the running. The Seven Samurai is one of the undisputed classics of cinema. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone not liking it. I'm sure somebody does, but you know. People.

But seriously, this is a tremendously entertaining, touching, suspense-filled story.

Watch for Sugino Sensei's name in the opening credits, Trainz! And let us know if you liked it. And if you haven't seen other Kurosawa movies, you're in for a whole lot of treats!

Wow. Sugino in the creds. Fascinating.

Well, I just finished watching it. Awesome movie. Well worth it's SEVENTH POSITION at IMDB's best movies of all time. Coincidence ? Eerie...

SPOILERS AHEAD:

Anyways, me, my friend, and my wife really enjoyed it. The only thing that my wife complained about is when the peasant girl is on the floor crying after her father found out she had intercourse with the young samurai. She said "will someone SHUT HER UP ?". Afterwards, the young samurai was crying at one point when the last bandit was killed, and my friend said "Things will get ugly if him and his new girlfriend start crying at the same time !". Heh.

I thought that the bandits were pretty dumb. After you're down to 13 guys from 40, the leader might have said "You know what guys ? Effed this darn rice, we're outta here !". I really liked the pseudo samurai (with the No-Dachi). Very likable and human. Quite insane too, but that's a redeeming trait in my books. Fascinating scene where he goes and sits beside the enemy rifleman.

Every character was 3 dimensional, and I kept telling my friends "Remember guys, this movie was made in 1956 ! ! !". An achievement.

That movie went into detail about the logistics of their reinforcements. I really enjoyed how they made it an important aspect of the battles. I love strategics in war movies, when they're consistent.

Another thing: the test the old samurai created at the door sill with the young samurai with the stick. I'll be damned if that wasn't borrowed straight from an old Nippon legend about a father and his 3 sons, and a pot at the top of a door sill. Very nice touch.

There are some action movies clichés in seven samurais: the brash young hero, the old wizzened warrior, the lone-wolf perfect and brooding warrior, the raging laugh-in-the-face-of-death warrior, the peasant boy who want's to fight, but IMHO, one must remember: many of these clichés have their origin IN THIS MOVIE ! It's the movies made afterwards that are copies (not that it's a bad thing, but one must give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar).

Anyways. I'm a bit overwhelmed.

All that said, Lucas wants to do a remake of that movie. A quote from Lucas about Seven Samurais: "I had never seen anything that powerful or cinematographic. The emotions were so strong that it didn't matter that I did not understand the culture or the traditions. From that moment on, Kurosawa's films have served as one of my strongest sources of creative inspiration".

Allow me to be cynical here: if Lucas learned from that movie about "strong emotions", why oh why, did his characters in SW Ep. 1 and 2 are so devoid of them ? The influence that movie had on Star Wars is very obvious, but he could have kept it up for those two movies. I can't help but shiver at the thought of him toying with such an epic. I hope I'm wrong, and that he's The Man For The Job.