Shichinin no Samurai / Seven Samurai

Film Title: Shichinin no Samurai / Seven Samurai
Year: 1954
MPAA Rating: None
Length: 3 hours and 27 minutes
Film Genre: Action / Drama
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Producer: Sojiro Motoki
Writers: Akira Kurosawa
Players:
Takashi Shimura as Kambei Shimada
Toshiro Mifune as Kikuchiyo
Yoshio Inaba as Gorobei Katayama
Seiji Miyaguchi as Kyuzo
Minoru Chiaki as Heihachi Hayshida
Daisuke Kato as Shichiroji
Isao KImura as Katsushiro Okamoto
Plot: A village of poor farmers is attacked and plundered each year by bandits. Fed up and scared the villagers recruit seven samurai to defend them.
Acting: The acting is very interesting. As you watch this film you being to love each and everyone of the samurai, the movie is long and allows for the characters to really develop. You also develop a severe dislike for the gutless farmers and their fears. This is the second film that Shimura and Mifune work with Kurosawa, their first being Rashomon.
Cinematography: This is the beginnings of action film making and it really is amazing to look at this film and see how far we have come. The camera work is really cool and Kurosawa uses some techniques that become staples in many modern movies.
Visual: This is a black and white film yet at the same time it does not detract from the movie.
Audio: Good audio nothing special but also remember it was made in 1954
When I watched it last: 3 days ago
What to watch for: Everything, it is a great film any cinema lover should see. Acting is great, story is great, and the humor is hillarious. Watch out for a random farmer who gets smashed when a bandits horse comes riding in....it can't be scripted cause he gets nailed!
What to watch out for: 3 hours long. Slow to build up to the finale. Black and White. Japanese subtitled
IMDB Rating: 8.8 out of 10
Roger Ebert Rating: Great Film (4 stars)
The Cinema Standard Overall Score: 8.8 out of 10. A true classic, this film should be watched at least once by any film enthusist. This movie has inspired countless adaptations and spin offs including the western the Magnificent Seven. Akira Kurosawa is one of the most masterful story creaters and tellers in all of cinema history.
--Reviewed by Jason
Brady's Review of Seven Samurai

Seven Samurai / Shichinin no Samurai

Film Title: Seven Samurai; Shichinin no Samurai
Year: 1954
MPAA Rating: unrated (Canada and UK: PG)
Length: 206 minutes
Film Genre(s): Action, Drama, Foreign, Martial Arts, elements of Comedy
Director(s): Akira Kurosawa
Producer(s): Sojiro Motoki
Writer(s): Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
Players:
Takashi Shimura as Kambei Shimada
Toshiro Mifune as Kikuchiyo
Yoshio Inaba as Gorobei Katayama
Seiji Miyaguchi as Kyuzo
Minoru Chiaki as Heihachi Hayshida
Diasuke Kato as Shichiroji
Isao Kimura as Katsushiro Okamoto
Keiko Tsushima as Shino
Kamatari Fujiwara as Manzo
Kokuten Kodo as Gisaku, "Grandad"
Plot: Each year, bandits attack a small village and pillage the farmers' crops and burn houses. The farmers decide to hire samurai to protect the village. Two worlds come together for a striking action drama for the ages.
Acting: Classic foreign films have always been hard to watch. Subtitles, poor dubbing and cultural differences have often ruined perfectly good classic foreign films (and even some newer foreign movies). This movie is a grand exception to that stereotype. With Shimura and Mifune - by now a seasoned duo - Seven Samurai is pure magic, not to mention the other five samurai who each bring another necessary role to the screen.
Cinematography: Kurosawa was a groundbreaking director as far as the camera is concerned. This was probably his most progressive area of direction. Seven Samurai is yet another example of his dramatic vision. The camera stays still when it should and moves at the perfect time. At times, the viewer feels as though he is watching a documentary of life in feudal Japan, experiencing the joys and trials, victories and defeats and the mudane and exciting lives of the people onscreen. You quickly become empathetic towards them, hurting and hoping with them.
Visual: So many times in Kurosawa films, the camera purposefully peers through set pieces and props. It gives you the feeling of being in the action, a bystander hiding in the background. Mifune's outrageous sword mirrors his confidence and contrasts his naivete.
Audio: The audio is often nothing more than dialogue, which is not strange for the time period. Sound effects were not used often. If you can get past this, you should enjoy the film.
What to watch for: Everything - incredible acting, unforgetable characters, a wonderful plot, perfectly placed humor, forbidden romance, great cinematography and the list goes on and on...
What to watch out for: Language (in subtitles, unless you can understand Japanese)
When I watched it last: One night prior to review
IMDB User Rating: 8.8 out of 10; #7 of the top 250 movies of all time as rated by users.
Roger Ebert Rating: Included in his list of "Great Movies" (his highest honor). "[N]ot only a great film in its own right, but the source of a genre that would flow through the rest of the century. The critic Michael Jeck suggests that this was the first film in which a team is assembled to carry out a mission..."
The Cinema Standard Overall Score: 8.9 out of 10; One of the best...ever. Quit your job and buy this movie.
- - Reveiwed by JB
Jason's Review of Seven Samurai

Hero; Ying Xiong

Film Title: Hero; Ying Xiong
Year: 2004 (USA release)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Length: 99 minutes
Film Genre(s): Foreign, Martial Arts, Action, Drama, Adventure, Fantasy, History, Art
Director(s): Yimou Zhang
Producer(s): Yimou Zhang, Weiping Zhang, Shoufang Dou
Writer(s): Feng Li, Bin Wang, Yimou Zhang
Players:
Jet Li as Nameless
Tony Leung Chiu Wai as Broken Sword
Maggie Cheung as Flying Snow
Ziyi Zhang as Moon
Daoming Chen as King of Qin
Donnie Yen as Sky
Plot: A town prefect claims to have killed the three most dangerous assassins in the land of Qin. As a reward for his courage and bravery, the king of Qin allows the man to come close to the throne and drink with the king to tell the stories, but the king suspects that the prefect is a liar. It’s the tale of an unsung warrior becoming a national hero…in true Chinese mythical style.
Acting: The cast of this film is a veritable walk of fame as far - as Chinese actors are concerned. One could not ask for better performances of the players. Even if the story does not suit a person’s taste, the cast deserves lauds. Emotive and stirring performances pull one right into the action.
Cinematography: One would be hard-pressed to find a more awe-inspiring vision of China, or any part of the world for that matter. Rivaling New Zealand in The Lord of the Rings, the landscapes of the film are incredibly beautiful.
Visual: A-ma-zing! Few films can compare chromatically to the oversaturated palette of this movie. Color permeates the film making it seem surreal and dream-like, above and beyond reality, much like the choreography. “[T]he sets, costumes and special effects are of astonishing beauty” (rogerebert.suntimes.com). As with other Chinese fantasy-fables, physics is not even considered. Fight scenes make use of cables and digital effects. The characters whimsically float about, hang upside down and move with speed and fluidity that blurs time.
Audio: This movie is an audiophile’s dream. The music is wonderful. The best example of the film’s sound quality is in a fight scene between Nameless and Sky. Raindrops falling from eaves can be heard all around. The sounds of the fight envelope you in the action, making it seem as though you are right in the middle of the swordplay. An old man sits and plays a Guzheng (a popular, ancient Chinese, stringed musical instrument which is still played today). The music parodies the fight and at the climax of the scene the old man is playing so violently fast that he breaks all of the strings. That cacophony is the perfect peak point to the scene.
What to watch for: Jet Li’s best; Awesome choreography; Vivid color and imagery.
What to watch out for: A couple of places where the wire work was not fluid.
When I watched it last: One night prior to review
IMDB User Rating: 8.1 out of 10 stars; #153 on the top 250 movies of all time as voted by users.
Roger Ebert Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars; "[B]eautiful and beguiling, a martial arts extravaganza..." "[A] visual poem of extraordinary beauty."
The Cinema Standard Overall Score: 8.2 out of 10; A must-see! One of the great Chinese martial arts movies.
- - Reveiwed by JB