Waste of time

Absolutely the worst movie.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Reviewing classics is like reviewing the invention of the wheel. The most important thing is that the invention has overgrown its inventor and has become much more than "just another wheel" or probably the beginning of something great. Seven Samurai was my first movie from the filmography of this wonderful japanese director and I can say only one bad thing about - it's long. Unbearably long. Don't take this the wrong way, I like when the movie pushes boundaries of running time and shows you the greatest story that you enjoy watching every second. Gone with the wind. Ben-Hur. Lawrence of Arabia. Even the silent ones, Dr. Mabuse and Die Nibelungen (which both are over 4 hours) have got that something that glues you to your seat until the very end. It's the story. The story that doesn't allow you to leave for a second. Sadly it's not the case with Seven Samurai. Maybe because the story itself isn't that exciting and the plot is very simple so you can easily skip some scenes, delete an hour of running time and it will be perfect. A masterpiece. And again, don't take this the wrong way, this movie is a masterpiece. The characters (especially Kikuchiyo), music, cinematography, editing, locations; everything was superb. Except for the fact that you could easily fall asleep starting 35 min mark running time. A must watch for true fans of cinema as an art.

This is mostly spoiler free, due to not giving anything away, but I do mention some obvious end-film scenes without mentioning anything specific. I am a fan of Toshiro Mifune. That is one of the reasons I decided to watch this movie. He is one of the best Japanese actors, although my knowledge of Japanese cinema is severely lacking. This movie is up there with The Godfather trilogy, 2001 A Space Odyssey, and many other great movies. One thing to know going in is that this is not an action movie first, this is a drama first, and an action movie when the time for the action is right. Like any good movie, the characters come first. While there are no downsides to this movie that I have noticed, some may be turned off my the length and the lack of knowledge of Japanese culture. This, for the moment, is the longest movie I have seen besides the Extended Lord of the Rings (counting it as one movie as it was filmed that way and written that way. The 3 and a half hour runtime is perfect for this movie. It may feel long but not 200+ minutes long. The drama is engaging, the comedy (mostly from Mifune) is great, and when the action starts it is edge of your seat. The early fight scenes are intense as they are shown to be what a real samurai fight would be like.

It's hard to heap more superlatives on this film given all those that it's received from countless critics and viewers over the years. It's certainly worthy of them. The story is perfect. The characters and acting are memorable. Director Akira Kurosawa has a fantastic sense of pace, and even at three and a half hours, every scene seems important. We're transported to 16th century Japan, a time when bandits terrorize the countryside and a village of farmers, but the film's themes are timeless. As epic as the movie is, with a samurai team of six assembled one by one by its leader (Takashi Shimura), it would not have been the same without the seventh, a samurai-wannabe played by Toshiro Mifune. He's brash, exuberant, funny, brave, foolish, and heartfelt. He's in many brilliant scenes, but my favorite is when he describes what tricks the farmers may be up to, and we gradually understand that he himself was a farmer's son, with a tragic past. His performance is right up there with Brando in terms of intensity and honesty.Kurosawa is smart in so many ways here, one of which is to orient the viewer to the village and its surroundings by showing the leader of the group plan its defense. In addition to Mifune's character, he also lightens the mood with the forbidden love between the young samurai apprentice (Isao Kimura) and a young woman masquerading as a boy (Keiko Tsushima). Their scene in the woodland flowers is gorgeous. I love how the samurai are as tough as nails, but know they don't need to show it, and instead exude a sense of calm, playfulness, and understanding. With the exception of an extremely skillful and solemn swordsman (Seiji Miyaguchi), they smile in many scenes, and all of them accept the difficulty and danger of their fate. Despite their skill, they do not seek out violence. They are calm in moments of peace, intelligent in planning for battle, and brave and unflinching under attack. While the film and these character types have been emulated many times over the years, the difference between these samurai and western action heroes is still stark, and refreshing. In this little village and the situation it faces, we see a microcosm of the world. We see all of the very natural reactions to pressure, and despite the mythic quality of a small outnumbered band of heroic samurai, the film has an authenticity to it. We see all of the very natural reactions to pressure. There are themes you might expect: honor, duty, discipline, and that sort of thing, but at its core, the message is the need to stand up to evil, and the great debt that we owe to those who have done so.

The Seven Samurai is the most important work in the history of Japanese cinema and was voted No. 1 in the history by the "Newspaper of the Year". Akira Kurosawa fighting scenes are very exciting and realistic pats, Gunma rushed, muddy battles even battle, in the fast splicing, long focal length newspaper and the use of slow motion mirror, all the images come together, exciting, not only change The tradition of Japanese martial arts films, but also for many martial arts films have a profound impact.