Amazon.com Essentials:
Unanimously hailed as one of the greatest masterpieces in the
history of the motion picture, Seven Samurai has inspired
countless films modeled after its basic premise. But Akira Kurosawa's
classic 1954 action drama has never been surpassed in terms of sheer
power of emotion, kinetic energy, and dynamic character
development. The story is set in the 1600s, when the residents of a
small Japanese village are seeking protection against repeated attacks
by a band of marauding thieves. Offering mere handfuls of rice as
payment, they hire seven unemployed "ronin" (masterless samurai),
including a boastful swordsman (Toshiro Mifune) who is actually a
farmer's son desperately seeking glory and acceptance. The samurai get
acquainted with but remain distant from the villagers, knowing that
their assignment may prove to be fatal. The climactic battle with the
raiding thieves remains one of the most breathtaking sequences ever
filmed. It's poetry in hyperactive motion and one of Kurosawa's
crowning cinematic achievements. This is not a film that can be well
served by any synopsis; it must be seen to be appreciated (accept
nothing less than its complete 203-minute version) and belongs on the
short list of any definitive home-video library. --Jeff Shannon
