Akira Kurosawa 4 Samarai Classics - $149 - CDN

[Damelon]

I didn't know this thread was here!

I've been on a Kurosawa kick the last few weeks, I just got done watching Yojimbo the other night and Ran last weekend. I'm waiting for 3 free hours in order to play Kagemusha.

[Montresor]

bump for Montressor

Why thank you...

I am a committed and die-hard Kurosawa fan.

The films I own of his are:

Drunken Angel
Stray Dog
Scandal
Rashomon
Ikiru
Seven Samurai
I Live in Fear/ Record of a Living Being
The Throne of Blood
The Lower Depths
The Hidden Fortress
The Bad Sleep Well
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
High and Low
Red Beard
Dersu Uzala
Kagemusha
Ran
Maadadayo

My personal favourite film of all time is Seven Samurai, but so many of his films are just sheer genius. Steven Spielberg once described him as the Shakespeare of cinema, and I think that's probably as apt a description of the master as any.

I have always been into Japanese history and culture since I was a little boy, but it's probably discovering Kurosawa which made me launch into serious study of Japanese history. I'll be forever thankful to him for that.

[Worm of Despite]

My personal favourite film of all time is Seven Samurai, but so many of his films are just sheer genius.

Seven Samurai has been my #1 film for some time, as well--not just Kurosawa but any filmmaker, period. My second favorite Kurosawa film is Ran. Samurai feels more authentic, more loose and able to alternate smoothly between tragedy and comedy. Ran is pretty much a tragic beast. A beautiful one, though.

[Montresor]

Seven Samurai has been my #1 film for some time, as well--not just Kurosawa but any filmmaker, period. My second favorite Kurosawa film is Ran. Samurai feels more authentic, more loose and able to alternate smoothly between tragedy and comedy. Ran is pretty much a tragic beast. A beautiful one, though.

Seven Samurai absolutely floored me the first time I saw it. I was frankly staggered that such a perfect film was made. The second time I watched it was in a cinema, and the experience was even more profound. The audience seemed simiarly moved. At the death of one of the major characters at the end (won't say which, so as not to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it), I experienced the most profound case of "you could have heard a pin drop" I've ever encountered. The crowd just went deathly silent, and was in shock.

Ran was the first Kurosawa film I saw, and that was just sheer genius, though I'd be hard pressed to pick a second favourite. Perhaps The Throne of Blood or Ikiru.

The world lost the greatest artist of the twentieth century when Kurosawa died, in my view.

[Damelon]

I would rank Ikiru first of the Kurosawa films. It's a very personal film. The scene in the piano bar and the one in the restaurant where the birthday party is going on in the background are among the greatest in film. And yet, such a subtly mixed message at the end! An individual victory, yet the system endures.

Second would be Seven Samurai and third would be Rashomon.

[Montresor]

I would rank Ikiru first of the Kurosawa films. It's a very personal film. The scene in the piano bar and the one in the restaurant where the birthday party is going on in the background are among the greatest in film. And yet, such a subtly mixed message at the end! An individual victory, yet the system endures.

Aye, a bitter sweet ending if ever there was one.

Those two scenes you mention are fantastic. I'm of the firm opinion that no-one does communal revelry scenes like Kurosawa. There's one in Scandal that leaps to mind as being just brilliant (the crowd sings Auld Lang Syne), as well as a great scene where the cops are trailing the villain in a bar in High and Low while people dance the night away.

[Usivius]

As you can see in the earlier posts I too am a huge fan.
I think the death from SS you are mentioning Montressor is

Spoiler

The kick-ass silent samurai, with the face of a horse

That's the death that me go "holy frik!"
Just last month a friend got me the newest Criterion special editon of SS. The print is fantastic!

I think SS and Hidden Fortress are about a perfect as you can get. The storytelling is imaculate, camera work, and acting (although a little dated in some instances) is great.
But I still have a soft spot for one of my faves, Sanjuro!

[Montresor]

As you can see in the earlier posts I too am a huge fan.
I think the death from SS you are mentioning Montressor is

Spoiler

The kick-ass silent samurai, with the face of a horse

That's the death that me go "holy frik!"

That got a reaction, but the big one was:

Spoiler

When Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune) gets shot by the last bandit leader, stabs him, and then collapses lifeless on the bridge. The audience was as quiet as the grave with shock.

Ahh, what a movie . . . I'm starting to feel a strong urge to rewatch that again soon.

Sanjuro is great. A very funny film, and it has the most gloriously over-the-top and tense showdown between the hero and villain I think I've ever seen. 27 seconds of sheer tension . . .