Seven Samurai – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #2: First Release (a J!-ENT DVD Review)
May 15, 1999 by Dennis Amith
TITLE: Seven Samurai – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #2
MOVIE COMPANY: TOHO
CAST: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Daisuke Kato, Isao Kimura, Minoru Chiaki, Seiji Miyaguchi, Yoshio Kosugi, Bokuzen Hidari and Yoshio Inaba.
DIRECTED BY: Akira Kurosawa
PRODUCED BY: Sojiro Motoki
TYPE OF MOVIE: Drama, Action
DURATION: 207 minutes
A desperate village hires seven samurai to protect it from marauders in this crown jewel of Japanese cinema. No other film so seamlessly weaves philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action. Featuring Japan’s legendary star, the great Toshiro Mifune, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is an inspired epic, a triumph of art, and an unforgettable three-hour ride.
DVD EXTRAS:
• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Black & White
• Commentary by Japanese film expert Michael Jeck
• Original U.S. Theatrical Trailer
KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None at this time
NOTE: This review is for the first “Seven Samurai” DVD release from THE CRITERION COLLECTION from 1999. The company released a superior version featuring better picture quality back in 2006.
Seldom do I give a DVD or a movie a perfect rating but I’ve never felt so intense for a movie that just really hooked my attention as “Seven Samurai” did for me.
The legendary director from Japan, Akira Kurosawa really created a milestone in film history with “Seven Samurai” and even though it was released in 1954, it’s definitely a great film to keep your eyes on.
If you can just open your mind to a foreign film, a classic film made in the 50′s, a film that is not Widescreen (Akira Kurosawa went towards widescreen in the later 1950′s), you will love this movie.
It has love, action, intrigue…so much in three wonderful hours that will keep you hooked.
The video is black and white and Criterion did their best to make this in optimal image quality. The audio is mono but the sound and picture has been restored. For special features, the DVD comes with it’s original theatrical trailer and an interesting audio commentary by Japanese film expert Michael Jeck who seems to know a lot about the filming/lighting styles of Kurosawa.
This is one DVD that is a definite must buy in any movie watcher’s collection!
THE MOVIE: A+
THE DVD EXTRAS: A+
THE DVD OVERALL: A+
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