Akira Kurosawa

Seven Samurai

Seven Samurai

One of the most thrilling movie epics of all time, Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) tells the story of a sixteenth-century village whose desperate inhabitants hire the eponymous warriors to protect them from invading bandits. This three-hour ride from Akira Kurosawa—featuring legendary actors Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura—seamlessly weaves philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action, into a rich, evocative, and unforgettable tale of courage and hope.

Film Info

  • Japan
  • 1954
  • 207 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.33:1
  • Japanese
  • Spine #2

TWO-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with the original uncompressed monaural soundtrack and an optional DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Two audio commentaries, one featuring film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie, and the other Japanese film expert Michael Jeck
  • Fifty-minute documentary on the making of Seven Samurai, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
  • My Life in Cinema, a two-hour video conversation from 1993 between directors Akira Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima
  • “Seven Samurai”: Origins and Influences, a documentary looking at the samurai traditions and films that helped shape Kurosawa's masterpiece
  • Theatrical trailers and teaser
  • Gallery of rare posters, behind-the scenes photos, and production stills
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: Essays by Kenneth Turan, Peter Cowie, Philip Kemp, Peggy Chiao, Alain Silver, Stuart Galbraith, Arthur Penn, and Sidney Lumet and an interview with Toshiro Mifune from 1993

Cover by Neil Kellerhouse

Purchase Options

On back-order

Collector's Sets

Collector's Set

AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa

AK 100: 25 Films by Kurosawa

DVD Box Set

25 Discs

$319.00

Out Of Print

Collector's Set

Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films

Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films

DVD Box Set

50 Discs

$650.00

Out Of Print

TWO-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with the original uncompressed monaural soundtrack and an optional DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Two audio commentaries, one featuring film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie, and the other Japanese film expert Michael Jeck
  • Fifty-minute documentary on the making of Seven Samurai, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
  • My Life in Cinema, a two-hour video conversation from 1993 between directors Akira Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima
  • “Seven Samurai”: Origins and Influences, a documentary looking at the samurai traditions and films that helped shape Kurosawa's masterpiece
  • Theatrical trailers and teaser
  • Gallery of rare posters, behind-the scenes photos, and production stills
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: Essays by Kenneth Turan, Peter Cowie, Philip Kemp, Peggy Chiao, Alain Silver, Stuart Galbraith, Arthur Penn, and Sidney Lumet and an interview with Toshiro Mifune from 1993

Cover by Neil Kellerhouse

Seven Samurai
Cast
Toshiro Mifune
Kikuchiyo
Takashi Shimura
Kambei
Keiko Tsushima
Shino
Yukiko Shimazaki
Wife
Kamatari Fujiwara
Farmer Manzo
Daisuke Kato
Shichiroji
Isao Kimura
Katsushiro
Minoru Chiaki
Heihachi
Seiji Miyaguchi
Kyuzo
Yoshio Kosugi
Farmer Mosuke
Bokuzen Hidari
Farmer Yohei
Yoshio Inaba
Gorobei
Credits
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Screenplay
Akira Kurosawa
Producer
Sojiro Motoki
Cinematography
Asakazu Nakai
Screenplay
Hideo Oguni
Screenplay
Shinobu Hashimoto
Music
Fumio Hayasaka
Editing
Hiroshi Nezu

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Explore

Akira Kurosawa

Writer, Director

Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa

Arguably the most celebrated Japanese filmmaker of all time, Akira Kurosawa had a career that spanned from the Second World War to the early nineties and that stands as a monument of artistic, entertainment, and personal achievement. His best-known films remain his samurai epics Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, but his intimate dramas, such as Ikiru and High and Low, are just as searing. The first serious phase of Kurosawa’s career came during the postwar era, with Drunken Angel and Stray Dog, gritty dramas about people on the margins of society that featured the first notable appearances by Toshiro Mifune, the director’s longtime leading man. Kurosawa would subsequently gain international fame with Rashomon, a breakthrough in nonlinear narrative and sumptuous visuals. Following a personal breakdown in the late sixties, Kurosawa rebounded by expanding his dark brand of humanism into new stylistic territory, with films such as Kagemusha and Ran, visionary, color, epic ruminations on modern man and nature.