Rent Seven Samurai (1954)

Rain, Rice, and Reckoning - Seven Samurai review by griggs

Three and a half hours and not a wasted frame. I was prepared for endurance, and ended up wondering where the time went. It's a big, yes—epic in length, theme and scale—but it moves with purpose. Every look, every pause, every gallop through the mud builds toward something.

What caught me most wasn't the action (though that's brilliantly staged), but the humanity. The samurai aren't superheroes—they're flawed, tired, sometimes funny, always honourable in their own messy ways. You come for the swordplay and stay for the quiet moments: the laughter, the grief, the tension between pride and poverty.

Shimura holds the centre with calm authority, while Midune practically bursts out of the screen—wild, tragic, unforgettable. It's a film about duty, community and sacrifice, but also about what it means to protect people who can never repay you. It feels elemental—like storytelling carved in stone, which, I suspect, is what true greatness look like.

Japanese Epic Adventure - Seven Samurai review by GI

This is a real action epic with a driving narrative energy even though it's a very long film and considering when it was made. The story has taut pacing, an innovative editing style and cinematography utilising multiple cameras, a sharp sense of humour and swift, violent action. It's a real masterpiece of film and one that you should see at least once. Set in the sixteenth century in feudal Japan and a humble and poor farming village is plagued by a bandit gang who annually rob them of their precious food supplies. The village elder implores them to hire samurai warriors to protect and fight off the bandits. But the villagers have little to pay and are suspicious of samurai who they don't trust and have murdered in the past. Some of the villagers recruit Kambei (Takashi Shimura) after they see him rescue a child held hostage by a thug and he agrees to help them. With his guidance they set about hiring six more and these seven help train the villagers to fight a battle with the bandits who have the advantage of numbers, horses and guns. This film builds gradually but surely towards the climactic battle fought out in torrential rain and mud splattered streets. It is an exciting film and tempered with a sense of melancholy and there's a poetic serenity to the story even when it explodes into action. Akira Kurosawa uses some slow motion to emphasise the lyrical nature of his story at moments of violent death. Well ahead of its time and much applauded since this really is a fantastic film, shot on location and featuring Toshiro Mifune who is probably one of Japans greatest actors. The theatrical acting style may appear unusual when viewed today but look past this and you'll see some fantastic characters. A real treat and highly recommended if you've never seen it. Many will of course recognise the story as it was remade by Hollywood in 1960 as The Magnificent Seven.

Better even than my expectations - Seven Samurai review by AH

I saw it first a year or two after its release. It is an extraordinary film. It has the power to make you forget that it is fiction. It felt more like a documentary. The acting was brilliant, the narrative compelling and subtle. I watched it without break throughout the 3 hours and 10 minutes of its performance. Are there any more such films from the same source?