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1.Yojimbo starring: Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tono, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada directed by: Akira Kurosawa June 13, 2000
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $2.29
Yojimbo is Kurosawa's most popular movie both at home and in the West & it is easy to see why. First and foremost, it's just fun. Combining cool, dry wit, black humor and rousing action; even those who don't "get" the mocking of Westerns or Samurai movies will find plenty to enjoy. Shorter than Ran and Seven Samurai, more accessible than Rashomon or Throne of Blood and more exciting than Ikiru or Red Beard. Yojimbo isn't a masterpiece, though Toshiro Mifune gives an incredible performance. Yojimbo has such a relaxed, sardonic tone to it, I don't think Kurosawa was trying for masterpiece. As nearly always with Kurosawa, there is, just beneath the easy to follow story, a clever subtext. Kurosawa was one of the few directors who was able to entertain casual filmgoers and ... Read More

2.Seven Samurai starring: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi, Minoru Chiaki directed by: Akira Kurosawa June 16, 2000
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $2.64
For discriminating film fans, I strongly recommend seeking out older, more nimble translations of Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai," to compare against this latest version by Criterion Collection. Unfortunately, Linda Hoagland's English translation in this version does a grave disservice to viewers and to the filmmakers who created this cinematic masterwork. Throughout the film, Hoagland's translation manages to be at near complete odds with the tone, nuance, subtle yet bracing eloquence, even humor, of Kurosawa's epic drama. (Incredibly, she even makes English sound horrible. She has no sense of cadence, absolutely NO EAR FOR ANY LANGUAGE.) She also demonstrates a woeful inability to grasp and therefore convey the essence of the film's characters. Simply horrible. As a result, the translated ... Read More

3.Throne of Blood starring: Toshirô Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura, Akira Kubo directed by: Akira Kurosawa June 16, 2000
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $4.75
Akira Kurosawa's black and white 1957 film Throne of Blood (Kumonosu Jô- literally Spider-Web's Castle) is a very good film, but not quite up there with the best of his films, like Seven Samurai, Ikiru, nor The Bad Sleep Well, despite its vaunted adaptation from Shakespeare's Macbeth. That said, the hour and forty nine minute long film, written by Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, and Ryuzo Kikushima, features one of the best performances by its star, longtime Kurosawa leading man Toshirô Mifune as Taketori Washizu, the warrior who has the Macbeth role. Yet, in watching this film, I have come to the conclusion that while there is a minor influence from Macbeth, it is in no way merely a Japanized version of the Bard's play. There are just too many significant differences, as well as the clear power and influence of the Noh Theater on this ... Read More

4.Sanjuro starring: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yûnosuke Itô, Yuzo Kayama directed by: Akira Kurosawa June 16, 2000
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $29.95 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $28.45 You Save: $1.50 ( 5%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $1.46
Sanjuro is a vastly entertaining action film with all the elements of that genre: fast pace, surprising plot turns, and a justly famous samurai showdown. But the central theme of the film is the difficulty of properly assessing trust and mistrust, and how the ability to do so is an essential feature of maturing from idealistic youth to seasoned adult. The plot setup is straightforward: nine idealistic samurai youths band together to clean their clan of corruption. The chief administrator is unsympathetic and thus earns their distrust. The friendly chamberlain is keen to help, and they are enthusiastic in their praise of him. Full of trust, they agree to meet him at an abandoned house. Unbeknownst to them, a wandering ronin (masterless samurai) played by the peerless Toshiro Mifune, has been sleeping in the back ... Read More

5.The Hidden Fortress starring: Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Takashi Shimura directed by: Akira Kurosawa June 06, 2000
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $1.58
Those film viewers who equate foreign films with pretense need to sit down for a couple of hours and watch director Akira Kurosawa's first widescreen (Tohoscope) film, the black and white The Hidden Fortress (Kakushi-Toride No San-Akunin- literally The Three Villains Of The Hidden Fortress), from 1958. While it is a very good film, it is a great movie- in the feel good sense of the term. Filmmaker George Lucas claims this film was the inspiration for his third rate Star Wars films. Yes, there are a handful of similarities, but `influence' is usually used when a great work of art is influenced by an equal or lesser work of art, not when bad art rips off greater art. In short, influence occurs in evolution, not devolution, and Lucas's claims bear the stench of a lesser artist trying to parasitically sponge off a greater artist's reputation. The Hidden ... Read More

6.Sure Death! starring: Makoto, Kunihiko, Izumi March 24, 1998
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $4.95
Those film viewers who equate foreign films with pretense need to sit down for a couple of hours and watch director Akira Kurosawa's first widescreen (Tohoscope) film, the black and white The Hidden Fortress (Kakushi-Toride No San-Akunin- literally The Three Villains Of The Hidden Fortress), from 1958. While it is a very good film, it is a great movie- in the feel good sense of the term. Filmmaker George Lucas claims this film was the inspiration for his third rate Star Wars films. Yes, there are a handful of similarities, but `influence' is usually used when a great work of art is influenced by an equal or lesser work of art, not when bad art rips off greater art. In short, influence occurs in evolution, not devolution, and Lucas's claims bear the stench of a lesser artist trying to parasitically sponge off a greater artist's reputation. The Hidden ... Read More

7.The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail starring: Denjirô Ôkôchi, Susumu Fujita, Kenichi Enomoto, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura directed by: Akira Kurosawa June 13, 2000
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $3.85
Suppose we came across an unknown early John Ford film about a moment in US history. Maybe it could be about the Surrender at Appomattox, the first Thanksgiving, the surrender of Sitting Bull, or some other real event that could qualify as both history and folklore. Wouldn't it be worthwhile to see the emerging artistry of the young director and get his take on a popular moment in time? I'm assuming that this was how the Japanese viewed Kurosawa's "The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail". It covers a moment in time in Japanese history but one that is unknown to those of us in the Western World. Kurosawa treats this event with respect for the heroes as well as respect for the audience (by injecting a fair amount of humor). I mention all of this because "The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail" is a movie that suggests that it will turn into an action film yet it never ... Read More

8.Samurai II - Duel at Ichijoji Temple starring: Toshirô Mifune, Mariko Okada, Koji Tsuruta, Kaoru Yachigusa, Michiyo Kogure directed by: Hiroshi Inagaki September 03, 1996
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $0.49
This second installment of the epic samurai trilogy starring Toshiro Mifune, has much more action than in the previous episode. And while one must view all of the episodes in order to get a sense of the film, and how director Hiroshi Inagaki is trying to develop the characters in the film, especially Miyamoto Musashi (Toshiro Mifune) this is still a very good film on its own merits. But the first and second films are only planting the seeds of this character development, which will fully emerge and develop in the final [and best in my opinion] episode of this great samurai trilogy. This second installment, "Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple," begins where the first episode left off. As the headstrong samurai Miyamoto Musashi (Toshiro Mifune) attempts to become a great samurai, we see him battle many opponents, and vanquish them in pursuit of becoming a famous ... Read More

9.Gonza the Spearman starring: Haruko Kato, Hideji Otaki, Kuniko Miyake, Choichiro Kawarazaki, Naoto Takenaka directed by: Masahiro Shinoda June 27, 2000
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $21.94
This is a classic Samurai Film, depicting the highs and lows of Samurai life that delight and confuse us in this modern world. This is one of my all time favorites and is a must for any serious Samurai Film collector. 5 Stars.

10.Samurai Rebellion starring: Toshirô Mifune, Yôko Tsukasa, Takeshi Katô, Tatsuyoshi Ehara, Etsuko Ichihara directed by: Masaki Kobayashi June 13, 2000
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $29.95 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $28.45 You Save: $1.50 ( 5%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $6.29
by far my favorite samurai movie of all time. just can't believe kurusawa didn't direct. not much in the way of special features but a terrific rendition of the film. All the lessons of the zato ichi movies in one congruent powerful film

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