Seven Samurai (The Criterion Collection) [4K UHD]

The Criterion 4K release of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai isn't just a movie; it's a cinematic pilgrimage, now in glorious, eye-watering detail. If you thought this nearly four-hour masterpiece couldn't get any more epic, prepare to have your socks knocked off by the stunning new 4K restoration. Every grain of rice, every weathered face, and every torrential raindrop in that legendary final battle is rendered with astonishing clarity, making the film feel simultaneously timeless and brand new. Criterion, as always, treats this classic with the reverence it deserves. The transfer is immaculate, showcasing incredible depth and a nuanced grayscale that truly brings out the artistry of the cinematography. And the special features are, as expected, a treasure trove. You'll get multiple commentaries, extensive documentaries delving into the film's origins and influence, and even a two-hour conversation with Kurosawa himself. This isn't just a physical media release; it's a comprehensive masterclass on a film that continues to inspire. Be warned: once you see Seven Samurai in this pristine 4K, all other black-and-white films might just look a little... peasant-like.

Just as pictured above, the collector's boxset comes in a black box containing 2 items. The first item is a supplemental booklet containing film pictorials and literature about the history of Samurai, Japanese movie making, etc. It's informative and interesting, however, a one-time read. The second item is a foldout case film pictorial with 3 DVDs that resemble umbrellas from top view with their own distinct colors to distinguish their content. Overall design style gives one the mood of the film in mind. The 1st disc contains the first half of the film up to the intermission and the picture quality compared to the 1998 Criterion is undeniably superior. The film itself is in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio with slight borders around the frame inorder for better viewing with most monitors. This edition contains the original mono sound track as well as a new stereo sound track, however, I prefer the original mono due to being an enthusiast. There are also two commentary selections. One is the original 1988 commentary of Michael Jeck from the 1998 Criterion, which is fantastic! The second commentary is comprised of 5 film scholars, and each are given roughly 40 minutes of commentary spotlight in various parts of the film, which is also fantastic! Listening to both commentaries gives you a greater understanding of this superb film. The first disc also contains some production photos from the film as well as some posters of the film from several countries. The second disc contains the second half of the film right after the intermission with the continuation of the audio tracks. This second disc contains an extra feature called "It Is Wonderful To Create", which is a 55 minute documentary of Akira Kurosawa's films with his collaborators. The third disc contains a two hour interview with Akira Kurosawa as well as origins and influences of how this film came to fruition. I really wanted to see more interviews from the stars themselves, especially the great Toshiro Mifune. The third disc will probably be a one-time view. I believe, Criterion could've contained the film in its entirety on one disc and included all the extra features on the second disc inorder to streamline this otherwise great release. Overall, an extremely satisfying new release of Seven Samurai that should definitely be included in any fans dvd collection. I have watched this film over a dozen times with great joy and satisfaction and now I can enjoy it even more with this wonderful collector's edition!

For me only.

THE FILM What does one say about Shichinin no Samurai? For me it is the greatest film ever made. Friendship, class warfare, romance, battle and a slice of life - Kurosawa packed this one dense. We reap the rewards of the master at the top of his game. Seven Samurai is an aural, emotional journey into Japanese history and human nature. Though there is an endless cast, each part comes through as memorable, a credit not only to Kurosawa's direction and editing, but the thoughtful performances of the actors. There is no glory here. In the end, this is a profound story of survival. Stray bullets cut down the bravest and the strongest just when victory seems secure. The ones left standing, in the end, are not heroes. They are just lucky to be alive. THE BLU-RAY Having shot Hasselblad for many years, the square frame feels natural to me, even on my Sony Bravia. Asakazu Nakai and Kurosawa's calculated photography brings us the story in a strong graphic way. This is an intimate story that comes through in the Blu-Ray more so than the older releases. I wouldn't say it is a huge leap, but details, including the celluloid degradation, are accurately captured. Any softness I could spot, I would attribute to the limitations of the glass in the lenses Nakai was shooting with at the time. Grain and reticulation in the emulsion look accurate and don't appear to have been tampered with with any sort of noise reduction. And if there has been some digital tuning, it appears to be almost invisible. There are plenty of scratch marks on the print but naturally, this is a hard thing to avoid for such an old film. I have owned every release and I've already given the other ones away. This Blu-Ray isn't on par with a modern technical marvel such as The Dark Knight. But it is a faithful representation of the masterpiece I love. You'll never see it better.

Brilliance of this film can be found in other people's reviews. What I'd like to do is speak to those who have prior version of this film and are on the fence about getting this Blu Ray version. Disc 1 Resolution Hands down the Blu Ray version is superior. I have the prior Criterion version and compared them. There is no comparison especially if you have a large screen TV like I do. Small scratches you see in the old Criterion version are still there. But, the picture is much sharper. Commentaries New commentaries by 4 film scholars: each takes 1/4 of the movie and comments on filming techniques, behind the scene stories among other information to make this commentary entertaining. Then in a separate track there is the commentary found in the old Criterion DVD. Both of these run the length of the entire film. I personally enjoy commentaries of this type. So, this was quite enjoyable. Disc 2 Akira Kurosawa (49 min) This is a wonderful addition to this Blu Ray set. Some of what it talks about are: -How Kurosawa and 2 other writers holed themselves in an inn for 45 days to write this. Kurosawa had each samurai's personality, how they'd react in certain situations all preconceived already. He even had drawings of each character-each very much resembling the actual characters in the movie. -How one of the last fight scene was filmed a day after a snowstorm (picture of that day included) and it had to be melted with water before filming! And how cold it was for everyone. -The actual screenplay/script-hand written. -There are 9 total subsections that discuss above stuff along with other insightful info. My life in cinema: Akira Kurosawa (2 hrs) An one on one interview of Kurosawa that covers various topics from his early years to how he came to become a director etc... Seven samurai: origins and influences (55 min) Various film scholars discussing what samurai meant to Japanese culture, how prior samurai films portrayed samurai, and social/political background in which Seven Samurai was introduced to the audience among many other topics. Trailers (3 of them) and teaser (1). Photo gallery If you love this movie, whether you have the prior version or not you should purchase this Blu Ray version. I was on the fence about it for a while. But, I'm glad I bought this even if it's just for the improvement in resolution of picture quality. Disc 2 is absolutely great as well.

There are few directors who have had close to the lasting legacy that Japanese Akira Kurosawa has had. There have been many excellent film directors who have had a great influence on other directors, TV, Films and pop culture like George A. Romero, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick and Quentin Tarantion, but none has had the impact that Kurosawa has had on people, the media and pop culture and even these outstanding and influential directors were influenced by Kurosawa and his films and perhaps Kurosawa's greatest masterpiece and influential film is the Seven Samurai. The 1954 film is considered one of the most influential and best films on all time that has a lasting impact that has stood the test of time as well leaving an indelible mark on the entertainment world, but the film more than a excellently written story full of Samurai, action and drama as it deals with heavier topics than that as the Seven Samurai takes place in 1587 during the "Warring States Period". Since before the Ōnin War (1467-1477) the Ashikaga Shogunate was in decline as Japan had erupted into a continuous civil war as lords fought for power. By then 1587 Japan was in total chaos which caused the rise of ruthless warlords, bandits, wondering Ronin (Samurai warriors without masters) rape, pillaging, death and class conflict which Kurosawa showcases in the Seven Samurai. The great script co-written by Kurosawa starts out in a small farming village in the mountains. The citizens of the village learn of a band of bandits plan to raid their village when their harvest is complete later in the year and take all the harvest and food they had worked so hard on during the year. Some of the villagers want to search for and hire some Ronin samurai, but others don't want outsiders like the samurai in the village and would rather appease the bandits, and even if they agreed to hire some samurai how could they pay them. The village was just some poor mountain farming village with nothing of real value to the likes of samurai. The village elder Gisaku (Kokuten Kodo) makes a decision to hire some Ronin Samurai, but only to "find hungry samurai." as the elder puts it. A small group of villagers goes in search of some hungry samurai, but get turned away again and again at every village and town they travel to until they meet the samurai Kambei Shimada (Takashi Shimura) a veteran and battle hardened samurai. It takes the villagers some time, but they manage to convince Shimada to help them and Shimada and the villagers go about recruiting other samurai for the mission. Shimada brings together a rag tag team of five other samurai along with the wannabe Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune). The samurai team and villagers travel back to their village, but are not hailed as heroes and saviors and instead looked upon with distrust and suspicion. The villagers are wary of the samurai who they believe will eat what little foot they have left, sleep with their daughters and even take what they want like they bandits will who the villagers have hired the samurai to protect them from. The situation quickly worsens when the samurai learn that the villagers have robbed and killed other wondering Ronin, but it is Kikuchiyo who understands the villagers plight and puts his comrades in place explaining that the villagers have suffered so many hardships because of the noble and warrior classes that the villagers have been forced to do what they have to survive. Shimada and his fellow samurai come to a truce and begin to prepare for the coming raid of the bandits and through this begin to understand and even respect each other. When the bandits come the samurai and villagers are ready as they battle each other for two days and nights until the samurai and villagers manage to defeat the bandits, but at a high price for the samurai, for only three have survived in Kambei Shimada, Katsushirō Okamoto (Isao Kimura) and Shichirōji (Daisuke Katō). With their mission complete the three remaining samurai begin to leave the village with little or nothing to show for it and losing their friends and comrades, but Shimada and the three stop and look down at the village and the villagers who have gone back to their farming ways as if nothing has happened and then at the graves of their fallen comrades and says "Again we are defeated. The winners are those farmers. Not us." It is a fitting end to the Seven Samurai. The story is beautifully written and put to film, but admittedly when I first saw the Seven Samurai on AMC at the age of fourteen I didn't understand or know exactly what was going on. In school history classes didn't teach much about Japanese history outside of World War II, so all I had to go on was what I saw in films and anime. Still that didn't keep me from falling in love with the film. Who doesn't love samurai and a film about them along with action and killing? That along with the story made this one of my favorite films of all time and eventually made the Seven Samurai the greatest film of all time or at least in my opinion. With age came better knowledge and understanding of the film and the themes in it. Kurosawa's story does an exceptional job of showing off the tumultuous time period in Japanese history and the class conflict that came to life because of it. The lower class and poor felt betrayed, used and abandoned by the nobles and upper class of Japan as they used them for soldiers, taking their crops and taxing them with getting little or nothing in return yet Kurosawa's story also wonderfully display's their misconceptions on both the villagers and samurai's sides as well as showing both are human also. The lasting legacy from the Seven Samurai story in that it is the first film and one of the first stories about bringing together a group of men or women for a mission, and films and filmmakers have been using that concept since in the likes of The Dirty Dozen, Ocean's Eleven, The Guns of Navarone, A Bugs Life, Ronin and countless others. I guess I should point out a flaw with the story, which is extremely hard to find, but if there was one thing I could find is that the film is long at a running time of over three hours and methodically paced and I could see how some people might not like this style of filmmaking. I guess that is a flaw for some, but it isn't for me as the length and pace of the film didn't bother me at all. While the story was excellent, it would not have been so good without the remarkable acting by the Japanese cast. Takashi Shimura was outstanding as Kambei Shimada the wise leader as did Daisuke Katō who played Shichirōji another veteran samurai and Shimada's friend and lieutenant. Katō easily showcased his wonderful acting ability especially at the end of the film when he figured out he the war torn and battle hardened samurai had survived while all his younger comrades had perished. You could just tell from his display of emotion that he would have preferred to die in their place and to be honest I think he wanted to and maybe expected to die. Keiko Tsushima does a splendid acting job as Shino the daughter of a villager who falls in love with Katsushirō (Isao Kimura). Perhaps the backbone of the cast is Toshiro Mifune who played Kikuchiyo. Kikuchiyo is a would be samurai from a common birth who dreams of coming a samurai. Kikuchiyo is a lively and temperamental man who while wanting to become a samurai he also has come from the lower class and understands their plight. Mifune brilliantly brings his character to life and is perhaps the best all-around character in the film and that is lofty praise since all the characters are well written and all the actors and actresses to a tremendous job in their roles. With his direction of the Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa demonstrates the epitome of filmmaking. In the Seven Samurai Kurosawa shows growth is his directorial leadership, writing and organization from his earlier films such as Ikiru, The Quiet Duel and Rashomon. Akira Kurosawa helped write a unique and original story demonstrated his craft and leadership as he brought the story, actors, music and cinematography together perfectly to create an artistic masterpiece. With the Seven Samurai, Kurosawa truly put his stamp on filmmaking for generations to come. What more can be said about the Seven Samurai besides near that it is near perfection in filmmaking, but the Seven Samurai is more than that as it showcased a tumultuous Japan and the class conflict it brought with it along with an excellent and original story with compelling characters, beautiful cinematography and wonderfully choreographed action. People were captivated by the samurai of Japan before the Seven Samurai, but with the Kurosawa's Seven Samurai the samurai and their way of life were brought to the eyes of the world and the growing film audience in the United States and around the world. That is just one of many things that came out of the film along with the other points I talked about earlier, like the influence of the story as well as directing and filmmaking. I know the Seven Samurai is one the most beloved films of all time, but for me it is the greatest film of all time, and if the Kurosawa had never made the film I don't think we would have films like Star Wars, The Dirty Dozen, The Wild Bunch and The 13th Warrior, or at very least they would be very different from the films we have today. I without a doubt highly recommend the Seven Samurai, and is a must if you are a true fan of movies and the filmmaking process.

This is only the 4th Criterion Blu-Ray release that I've seen after M (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray ], Modern Times (The Criterion Collection)...

This has been one of my favorite movies for over four decades. I first saw it while in college (as it was all but required for film students, UT would run it in the on-campus theaters a couple of times a year). While I have seen it numerous times in the theater, and innumerable times on VHS and DVD, all of those viewings were from very old, washed out, beat up prints, or from videos/DVDs made from such prints. Indeed, the old Criterion Collection copies were of an edited version for the US market. This new 4K restoration finally allowed me to see the entire 210 minutes of the movie exactly as Kurosawa intended. The digital restoration / enhancement is astounding and perfect. The sound track has also been cleaned up, and the subtitling is much better / more accurate as well. Note that to watch it in 4K, you’ll need a DVD player that supports UHD (conventional BluRay players don’t), as well as of course a 4K TV. But with all that in place, we can all finally see one of the very best movies of all time as the director intended. Highly recommended.