Seven Samurai

[John Holmes]

Three and a half hours of a 50 year old, sub-titled film! And more than worth it. :T

For those unfamiliar with it's story. There's a group of bandits that make repeated raids on a small farming village. Unable to defend themselves, they set out to hire Samurai to help them. However, these are poor farmers and can only pay with food.

The thing that was most suprising with this film for me was it's comedy. The story is so well written that, you can feel all the pain and despair of the villagers, yet totally get the well placed humor of the moment.

The one thing that will be a problem with some viewing this dvd is it's transfer. While I didn't have an issue with it, it does show it's age. Many places has dirt, streaks and light flickers. But again, this is a 1956 production.

I thought the mono track was very robust. More than enough to set you in the period.

Last: I hope that DVD technology has advanced enough to, clean the transfer up a tad more. It is the weak link to what is a very solid film! :5:

[Lex]

I have the film. Been a long time since I have viewed. Maybe I will dust it off and give it a spin.

It is Criterion collection, so they did work on it already I am sure. Today, they might improve it even more, perhaps.

Lex

[Danbry39]

Yes, I own and love it too. Like Lex, it's about time for another viewing. One of my favorites.

[David Meek]

I know everyone already knows this, but just in case. . . . This is the movie that John Sturges based his 1960 western The Magnificent Seven on.

[Burke Strickland]

Yep, "Seven Samurai" is a magnificent movie. :>) This was about the first Criterion title I bought in the early days of DVD. From your description, it sounds like the image quality hasn't changed much from that first release. But it is still a great flick, well worth the effort to follow the subtitles.

Burke

[John Holmes]

But it is still a great flick, well worth the effort to follow the subtitles.

Very good point! Funny thing is, ten yrs or so ago, I would have never watched this film. I just saw subltitles as a waste of time, taking away from the onscreen action. ops: I guess age or maturity makes one see things differently. :W Man...how many good films have I missed out on??? :cry:

[David Meek]

Six. :

[Rustynuts]

Another thing to do after you watch the movie, is watch it again! This time with the commentary on. It's by a Japanese culture and movie expert forgot his name (on the Criterion edition). Really adds to the background of the period and what Kurosawa was actually going for in many shots. A lot of stuff you would normally miss.