Filmmaker reacts to Seven Samurai (1954) for the FIRST TIME! 

FREE FULL LENGTH UNCUT COMMENTARY HERE: vimeo.com/769216206/69e3aa5ba7 Felt that this was one of those films that deserves a free full commentary..mainly to anyone curious, inspired, or motivated...here ya go! Have a great day everyone!

Toshiro Mifune is one of the all time greats, in my opinion. His delivery in the monologue about samurai and farmers is incredible, and when the others are stunned into silence I believe it

A detail people might miss in the beginning is that a samurai's top knot was of utmost importance as a status symbol and source of pride and honour, and that Kambei Shimada willingly shaves it off to save a peasant(!) child really shows what stuff he is made of. The peasants looking for samurai recognize this act of extreme selflessness so it's definitely not just about his brave actions.

I am so happy to see that I am not the only one feeling the same after watching this movie. A Japanese movie, dating back to the 50s, in black and white, starring only men and yet here I am a French woman born at the end of the 20st century and totally stunned by this movie. This is what art is about, isnt'it?

Seven Samurai was the most expensive film in Japanese history at that point, with a 148 day shooting schedule spread out over a year. Toho Studios shut down production twice because of the spiraling costs. Each time Kurosawa calmly went fishing, reasoning that they had invested so much money that they could not afford to leave it unfinished.

Akira Kurosawa did 16 films with Toshiro Mifune and 21 films with Takashi Shimura, and Seven Samurai is like the peak for both actors, I think. Also, love the shoutout to Berserk and Vagabond. They're both absolutely stellar, dude.

MORE AKIRA KUROSAWA YES

An absolute masterclass! Every frame is art. Every scene is perfectly crafted. No filler, no bullshit, just a perfect film. Now go watch "13 Assassins" and see how much influence Kurosawa has had.

This was the first Kurosawa film I saw. Blew me away, and really got me to appreciate eastern cinema.

Kurosawa is just a legendary master of filmmaking. Those that haven’t experienced a Kurosawa movie can’t say they’re a aficionado of cinema.

Fun fact: this movie is the birth of the assemble-a-team-of-experts-to-do-a-job trope. Just one of the ways in which this movie has influenced film making and it is very cool to see it still inspire people today. So glad you finally got to see this masterpiece of cinema. This is one of my most loved movies, Kurosawa is simply god-tier as an artist. If you see grass move in the wind you know it does so because Kurosawa wanted it to. Add to that the amazing actor Toshiro Mifune and it's a golden combination. Also interesting, this being made in the 50's some of the actors came from a traditional Japanese kabuki theatre background, you can also see that in the makeup. I think it gives a nice local and historical flavor to the movie.

Akira Kurosawa was a big fan of John Ford westerns and took a lot of influence from movies like Stagecoach. This led to Kurosawa being underappreciated during his career in the east, but loved in the west.

Takashi Shimura is the actor that plays Kambei, the samurai leader. He was really good in this, but you should see him in Ikiru.

Toshiro Mifune's Kikuchiyo has to be one of the greatest movie characters ever. He is such a joy to watch! Sorry for the many posts but I just love this movie.

My favourite part of the film is the first time the 4 villagers stay at the half way house, the whole scene feels like a movie we're getting a glimpse into, a life for only us to view for a short time. Even the few characters that are introduced in that night are filled with detail and weight to them, you feel like our 4 villagers just stepped into a place they find wild and frightening and can only just view it as it goes on.

When I was in the 7th grade my world history teacher played us the first half of this movie and it absolutely blew my mind. The next night it played in the local public access channel for our city’s university. You could not have taken me away from the tv screen if you tried. Till this day this movie and the battle of Algiers remain my all time favorite films - if they come on I’ll always finish them, can watch them no matter what mood I’m in, etc. the film making is so gorgeous! I laughed when you talked about the charm in them - because that’s EXACTLY what it is - charm my the boatload! Kurosawa was and always will be a master at his craft. And that’s to say nothing of Mifune’s performance! What a dynamo duo!

A masterpiece. One of my favourite films of all time and the running time flies by. Never feels like a 3hr+ film

Every time I watch this film I find something new to look at.

YES, finally! One of my top ten if not top five movies of all time. Sheer brilliance through and through in all aspects of filmmaking. I'm happy for you getting to see this absolute gem of a movie for the first time.

So excited by your reaction to this film! One of my favorites of all-time, starring my favorite actor of all-time, Toshiro Mifune. He’s unbelievable in this movie. The 208 minutes go by as fast as a 90 minute film. Some other Kurosawa + Mifune collabs that should not be missed: Drunken Angel, Stray Dog, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo (A Fistful of Dollars is a scene for scene remake), and Sanjuro. They unfortunately had a falling out after 1965’s Red Beard and never worked together again. Most people feel they both did their best work together.

06:03 - 06:05 He's only in frame for three seconds, but the Samurai crossing from left to right in the frame is Tatsuya Nakadai in his first, uncredited screen role. He starred in both Kagemusha, Ran and Hara-Kiri, and was one of Japan's most prolific actors. He was the pistol wielding Samurai in Yojimbo.

Someone has probably already said this in the comments, but in this film Kurosawa somehow revolutionised action cinema by creating the multi-camera setup. The whole main action scene is filmed from afar, with telephoto lenses, and with multiple cameras to enrich the possibilities of building raccords in the editing, which was obviously done by Kurosawa himself. He also defended the use of telephoto lenses for the opportunity to take the camera out of the centre of the action, which allowed the actors not to have to worry about acting specifically for the camera, but to act with their whole bodies, thinking about the 360º environment.

22:15 Takuan's words. "All truly strong people are kind"

I don't know if you've done it yet, but Yojimbo and its sequel Sanjuro are absolute bangers. Mifune was the man.

“Find Hungry Samurai” - my favorite line.

James, after Ran I didn't expect to see more Kurosawa. Then you came back with Rashomon. And now, the legendary Seven Samurai. I can't tell you how much seeing this movie for the first time changed my life. I can tel you that, even before starting to watch your reaction, given your keen observation skill and technical knowledge, I just know I'm going to enjoy all your observations and commentary. I really think you're going to enjoy this. I thank you. Watching you have a smile brought to your face from pure enjoyment immediately makes me smile. It's the mutual recognition of witnessing artistry.

The burning of the mill sceen always gets me. "This child is me..." always got me. A troubled man watching the same curse of a turbulent life being passed onto a another soul, held in his very arms is absolutely haunting.

Throne of Blood by Kurosawa is a must watch. Its an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth set in Samurai times

For me there’s just something about how it’s shot that makes it so real and raw, there’s no veneer of “movie making” that separates you from the immersion and feeling

It was remade as The Magnificent Seven in 1960, which had 4 Sequels and a 2016 reboot with Denzal Washington, Chris Pratt, and Vincent D'Onofrio. The plot was also spoofed in A Bug's Life, The Three Amigo's, and Galaxy Quest.

This is a masterclass in setting the audience up to be torn down. Over an hour is dedicated to building these characters, and that makes the second half devastating.

Ur inspiring bro, ur speech at the end about making art was so impactful Man U inspire me to wanna keep making my art

Seven Samurai is my all time favorite film. Every thing about this is perfect. To call it a masterpiece is a vast understatement. Thank you for finally getting around to reacting to it. Both my parents grew up on a farm under a communist government. So, when Kikuchiyo's character was going off on the group about how it was samurai like them that did this to the farmers. That the farmers are forced to hide their crops just to survive. That hit WAY too close to home. And then to have that come back around when they brought out the sake and when asked where he found it, they just smiled and walked away... Amazing, just amazing to watch. It's really film like this that make me love this medium.

Kurosawa was a genius with sound and action. I am so glad that there are reactions to this one, and yours is one of my favourites!

FUN FACTS: Takashi Shimura- who plays Kambei, the older samurai- also played Dr Yamane in the original Godzilla film, released the same year as Seven Samurai. In addition, the actor who wore the Godzilla suit in that first film (and the following 11) was Haruo Nakajima, who was a friend of Akira Kurosawa and played one of the bandits in Seven Samurai. Toshiro Mifune- Kikuchiyo- was Japan's answer to John Wayne for many years.

Hey, James! This Akira Kurosawa masterpiece was remade as the Western classic "The Magnificent Seven" in 1960 by John Sturges with an all-star cast led by Yul Brynner which, in turn, was remade as an updated "Magnificent Seven" in 2016 by Antoine Fuqua with yet another all-star cast led by Denzel Washington. It was also remade as a schlocky sci-fi film called "Battle Beyond the Stars" in 1980 by Roger Corman with yet another all-star cast led by Richard Thomas. It has the distinction of a screenplay by John Sayles, special effects by James Cameron and a co-starring role for Robert Vaughn who was in the 1960 "Magnificent Seven"! Dave Filoni and George Lucas love this movie so much that they've borrowed the plot twice for Star Wars. It was adapted for episodes of both "Clone Wars" and "The Mandalorian".

in my top 5 of all time. i believe it to be the “objective” best film of all time. glad your making these videos James!

I caught this at 2 in the morning on some channel my senior year in high school. I was so enthralled by it I didn't realize it was time for me to get up and get ready for classes. Didn't sleep a wink. Not long after I went off to boot camp, I had delayed entry programmed long before 9/11. 3 months at boot camp. Another 3 months for SOI training. 2 or 3 months at my duty station and was off to fight at the front, tip of the spear, in Iraq. Actually sat in Kuwait and Iraqs border for an entire month in the middle of a desert before we got word to go in. Not to knock the film as it is my favorite of all time but I think it's also been so...important to me because of a time in my life that was a turbulent. I recommend the film to everyone. It was the gateway flick that got me into Kurosawas work. Rashomon, Kagemusha, Yojimbo/Sanjuro all of them. The other one I recommend for folks if they need something more...relatable. Is High and Low. Glad to see folks talking about my favorite though. I just wish more folk would look back at what's been done that they may have missed or never heard of rather than looking at "newness". Long winded and ranty post, I'm old and to quote Grandpa Simpson it'll happen to you toooOoOoo" here's some recommendations for anyone reading this. Control (Ray Liotta, Michelle Rodriquez and William Dafoe) Outland (Sean Connery) Black Hole (old Disney Sci fi flick) Ice Pirates (if you like corny Sci fi Stat Wars ripoff but one done well). Jason and the Argonauts (I'm also a huge Harryhausen fan so check out the Sinbad flicks) Bubblegum Crisis (ya odd one right? I'm a fan of cyberpunk and the music is still amazing) Uuuh what else... Dredd (probably hands down the best comic movie ever) Unforgiven (has my favorite movie quote ever "It's a hell of a thing killing a man. You take away all he's got and all he'll ever have".).

This is great!! Seven Samurai is a great story and told in such a compelling way, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone react to it before. My brother introduced me to it years back and I was captivated. 😀

It's such a pleasure watching someone so appreciative watch this film. Thank you James!

More context: Feudal Japan was strictly divided into four classes: Samurai, peasants, artisans and craftsmen, and merchants. They did not mix, especially not a samurai and a peasant girl. Also, samurai have probably been the cause of quite a few horrific things done to the villagers so it's not only a forbidden match by society's strict standards and rules but also a morally difficult one to accept for the father. And the young samurai had dishonoured the group as well as himself and lost "face" which was/is a very bad thing, thus being at a loss for what to do and how to cope and proceed. Under the dire circumstances they try to turn it around to a positive/fun thing to boost morale, when in reality outside this particular setting it would be a very bad thing to have happened for all involved.

Keep hitting the classics, James!

have to recommend Hara Kiri, one of the all time best samurai movies which offers a completely different perspective than most!

This article which mentions SEVEN SAMURAI may be of interest: "Cinematic Explorations on How the Observer’s Vantage Defines Objective and Subjective"

Classic. I love Kurosawa. And Toshiro Mifune might be my all-time favorite actor.

This movie invented the trope of the first act of the movie focusing on assembling the team.

One of my all time favourite films. Beautiful in every way. Goosebumps every time I watch it.

There doesn't seem to be a wasted shot in anywhere in this movie. Even at 3+ hours...every shot has a direct purpose. No filler at all. He just relentlessly works the plot of this gigantic story.

that last shot is so good

A true masters work. Have you tried his 'The Hidden Fortress' (1958) yet? It's a massive obvious influence for Star Wars, even though its set in feudal Japan. A surprising favourite of mine is 'Ikiru' (1952) which is a much smaller personal film, that portrays one mans despair at trying to deal with the monotonous bureaucracy of his 1950's Japaneses local town council, it's very moving and amazingly gripping too.

Gosh darn, James! I waited so so long for this. Finally! One of the most influential movies of all time.

Kurasawa is one of the most incredible geniuses to ever direct a film in the entire history of cinema. That's the comment. Also, this was re-done as a Western for American cinema as the movie "The Magnificent Seven" with such luminaries as Yul Brenner, etc. Would be interesting for you to react to that film, now that you've seen this. That said, if you're going to continue with your Kurasawa journey, three films come to mind: 1) Hidden Fortress, which Lucas has specifically said was an inspiration for Star Wars. 2) Kagemusha for *incredible* cinematography and visuals, and a brilliantly done tragedy in the style of ancient Greek tragedies. Absolutely brilliant, and absolutely haunting. 3) Yojimbo, which was remade by Sergio Leone into the Clint Eastwood Western, "A Fistfull of Dollars." As for more action movies, I'll reiterate my suggestion for Ronin. Another possibility that would *very* much fit is The Crow, which is one of the best action movies of the 90s, and was the final movie for Brandon Lee, tragically.

Toshiro Mufune is amazing. You will like all the movies he acts in

One of my favorite all time films. I make a point to re-watch this every couple of years minimum. A true classic.

Wow! This is a great movie. 😀 I saw this one in the early 90s when I was a little girl. My dad recorded this movie on a tape cassette (VHS?). It was one of his favourites and we watched it together several times when I was a kid. I have to watch this one again..

growing up I loved the Magnificent Seven. and then I learned where the idea came from, and once I watched the Seven Samurai, I just love both movies!

I am so obsessed with this movie. It’s in my top 25.

7:48 that's Takaski Shimura a great and versatile actor. In this film, a wise and heroic samurai who also plays a pitiful bureaucrat in Ikiru, a cowardly peasant in Rashomon and played the older scientist in the original Godzilla.

It's so amazing watching your reaction, and thanks so much for putting your entire commentary on Vimeo, that's an amazing way to honour both the film and your audience. Kurosawa was one of the true greats of cinema, and hugely influential, so there are many, many references in films by other directors to Kurosawa films. As also was Kurosawa also influenced by other directors, particularly John Ford. And I'm so glad that we all were witness to your first viewing of this classic movie, lucky you.

ALL RIGHT: SAMURAI MOVIE RECOMMENDATION TIME! 1. 13 Assassins (2013) - one of the best Takashi Miike movies out there (actually a remake of a 60's movie). Also, a fairly good introduction to Miike's less insane side. 2. Samurai Fiction (1998) - a bit of an oddity as it is a 90's samurai film but shot in b/w (mostly) and it is also a love story. 3. Sukiyaki Western Django - again Takashi Miike but this one's... this one's wiiiiild. Imagine a western... but with samurai... and it's in Japan... but it's fully shot in English... and since it explores spaghetti western tropes but is happening Japan... ergo Sukiyaki Western. It's amazing :D 4. Zatoichi (2003) - Takeshi Kitano's take on the famous blind swordsman (I could probably recommend here one of hte original movies but there's a bunch and a tv series and this is a standalone).

Like Lawrence Of Arabia, The Third Man and others this passes the 'time test' with ease. A fabulous film that flies by and feels half the length it is or less. I love it.

The leader of the samurai is Takashi Shimura and the wild, bearded samurai is Toshiro Mifune, both are frequent collaborators with Akira Kurosawa.

This movie changed cinema forever. Will always be one of my favourites. And yes it’s actually more like 3 hours 45 minutes along with an intermission. Old school epic type length for sure

Oh boy. Here we go. Toppermost of the toppest shelf.

I must have lost a day to this movie running at 3hrs+ Worth every minute ❤

There are a few different cuts of this so I'm glad you're getting the original Japanese release long version. I think the 2.5 hour version was presented to western audiences and may still be the most common one(?) but the original version is well worth the extra time IMO and will fly by in the master's company. ;)

My favorite film, and for good reason. The Criterion collection version has an *amazing* commentary which is worth the 3 1/2 hours listening to.

OHHHH yes I am so excited to see you jump into this. One of my all time favorites.

Seven Samurais is one of my favorite films of all time and it happened to inspire so many iconic films, including the OG Star Wars!

One of Kurosawa's biggest influences as a filmmaker was the old Ford Westerns, and it's probably no more obvious than here. And if you loved Mifune's performance here, just contrast it with him as the Bodyguard in Hidden Fortress, also directed by Kurosawa. Mifune's skill as an actor and the versatility of the types of roles he could pull off is something to behold.

Finally someone reacting to Seven Samurai!

A preemptive thumbs up. Thanks for watching this great movie.

Oh HELL YES! I love this movie so very very much!! Glad to see someone give a reaction to it!

This probably the best three hours movie I have ever watch :)

This is what great about great reactors. They appreciate the ART in all it's greatness. Great reaction))

Always nice to see people getting into classic eastern kino. Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, and a lot of others really made some of the greatest contributions to the art of film. I hope you (and anyone else who decides to start) find this journey as rewarding as I have.

An absolute masterpiece, and the runtime flies by in no time. Every shot is a piece of art with perfect character blocking and composition, the characters are great and so is the humor and the action. Great music too. A near perfect movie.

Loved your outro! I got goosebumps! Amen to all of that :) (And I totally get the massive inspiration Kurosawa gives you - everything he makes every second is so rich & on another level. Made me realize how much can be said without dialogue. And thats just the start!)

2½ hrs is the version distributed outside Japan. The bits cut out include the no good "zeroeth" Samurai the peasants try to employ before the Shaved Head (Shimada), and the scene with the lost rice grains gathered like diamonds.

I've seen most of Kurosawa's films, not all, but most and in my humble opinion, this is the single greatest film, made by the single greatest film maker of all time.

I stand by it, this is the best film ever made, the most universal story put to film we all get: fight and survive or die trying.

You really gotta watch Sanjuro, the final duel changed cinema and anime forever. The man whose name you didn't know, Takashi Shimura, I believe he's been in just about every Kurosawa film. Kurosawa had a stable of actors that he used over and over again.

Toshiro Mifune's facial expressions and energy is fantastic. The weird thing is I first saw The Magnificent Seven before this one. Please don't get me wrong also a great movie, but this one is on another level.

dang! i am so happy for you watching this for the first time. i am on my 10th time. LOVE this EPIC

In this era of Japan, the different "castes" or lifestyles didn't mix, out of necessity. Part of the theme of this movie is that Samurai were as FEARED by farmers and villagers as they were wanted for their help. Weak, unarmed, untrained people in poor villages spent their entire lives at the mercy of stronger, more dangerous men. The villagers were super fearful of the Samurai just "taking" their women, because it was an extremely socially conservative culture, and the villagers knew that these types of mercenary/warrior types would take advantage of the women and then just split town when the battle was over.

I was totally forming their thoughts when they had to 2 shot of the master and student with the line of sight thing. Awesome And you KILLED it with the mugen reference lol I thought the same thing

I really need to rewatch this. Ive been meaning to

Welp, this is my favorite film of all time. It's simply the perfect tale of heroism and tragedy, beautifully shot and expertly acted.

This is prob the breeziest long/epic film made for me. It’s so entertaining and heartfelt it flies by

He directed Ran while literally being blind. Seven Samurai has consistently been in the top ten films of all time for decades. The runtime glitch is because over the years it has been edited and restored. Three and a half is the ultimate version I believe.

It was interesting to read in the comments that Kurosawa was influenced by John Ford's Westerns; When "Seven Samurai" was re-made as "The Magnificent Seven" it was like the wheel turning full circle..

ive been waiting for this since Ran! i didnt notice you made a reaction!

One of the best movies ever made. Everyone ist fantastic and Toshiro Mifune is something else.

Thirteen Assassins (2010) is similar and its film style and direction certainly seem like something you'd zone in on. Also, of course, there's a western remake of Seven Samurai and it's different enough to be its own thing: The Magnificent Seven (1960).

OMG! One of the most amazing movies ever made. Every moment is done perfectly.

One of (if not THE) greatest movies of all time.

Yojimbo - must do. Seven Samurai was the inspiration for The Magnificant Seven, Yojimbo was the inspiration for the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns, and many more things.

Seven Samurai is not only a masterpiece by itself (everything is top-notch - direction, acting, cinematography, set design, etc.), but it's one of the most culturally impactful films ever made. Here's an extract of Seven Samurai's Wiki page: "Seven Samurai is largely touted as what made the "assembling the team" trope popular in movies and other media. This has since become a common trope in many action movies and heist films. Seven Samurai spawned its own subgenre of "men-on-a-mission" films, also known as the "Seven Samurai formula" where "a team of disparate characters are grouped to undertake a specific mission." The formula has been widely adopted by many films and other media. Along with remakes already listed above, other examples of the "Seven Samurai formula" can be seen in films such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Star Wars (1977), The Savage Seven (1968), The 13th Warrior (1999), The Expendables and Avengers: Endgame, as well as television series such as The A-Team and The Walking Dead. According to Stephen Prince, the film's "racing, powerful narrative engine, breathtaking pacing, and sense-assaulting visual style" (what he calls a "kinesthetic cinema" approach to "action filmmaking and exciting visual design") was "the clearest precursor" and became "the model for" the Hollywood blockbuster "brand of moviemaking" that emerged in the 1970s. The visuals, plot, dialogue and film techniques of Seven Samurai inspired a wide range of filmmakers, ranging from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas to Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. According to Prince, Kurosawa was "a mentor figure" to an emerging generation of American filmmakers, such as Spielberg and Lucas, who went on to develop the Hollywood blockbuster format in the 1970s."

Man dude, so glad you got to watch this one. An all-time favorite of mine. Just can't watch it often due to the runtime.

Was waiting for you to get here. Possibly the greatest movie ever made. At least in my top 5 for sure, along with Ran. And so influential. Not just the framing and storyboarding as you pointed out, but basically any movie gathering a group of vagabonds together for a mission.