More Details

Summary:

This epic masterpiece is about a group of 16th century samurai who are hired to defend a small Japanese village that finds itself annually raided by an army of bandits who steal the meager crops harvested by the peasants. Tired of relinquishing their food supply but woefully inept in combat skills, the villagers decide to hire a band of samurai to protect them. In addition to the primary conflict between the villagers and the bandits, much of the tale revolves around young Katsushiro's coming-of-age, both sexually and emotionally. Kikuchiyo's search for acceptance forms the other major storyline. Indeed, everyone in Seven Samurai is searching: for adventure, for experience, for freedom from their oppressors.

Table of Contents:

• Disc 1. The film
• disc 2. The supplements.

Contributors:

Kurosawa, Akira, 1910-1998 , screenwriter, director

Motoki, Sōjirō , film producer

Hashimoto, Shinobu, 1918-2018 , screenwriter

Oguni, Hideo, 1904-1996 , screenwriter

Mifune, Toshirō, 1920-1997 , actor

Shimura, Takashi, 1905-1982 , actor

Tsushima, Keiko, 1926-2012 , actor

Shimazaki, Yukio , actor

Fujiwara, Kamatari, 1905-1985 , actor

Katō, Daisuke, 1911-1975 , actor

Kimura, Ko , actor

Chiaki, Minoru, 1917-1999 , actor

Miyaguchi, Seiji, 1913-1985 , actor

Kosugi, Yoshio

Hidari, Bokuzen, 1894-1971

Inaba, Yoshio, 1920-1998

Nakai, Asakazu, 1901-1988 , director of photography

Hayasaka, Fumio, 1914-1955 , composer

Tōhō Kabushiki Kaisha , presenter, production company

Janus Films , film distributor

Criterion Collection (Firm) , publisher

Languages:

Japanese
English

Language Notes:

Dialogue in Japanese; subtitles in English.

Main Work:

Seven Samurai

Related Series:

Criterion collection; [volume] 2

Alternate Titles:

Title translation: Seven samurai
Title on container: Seven samurai

Subjects:

Samurai — Drama

Japan — History — Period of civil wars, 1480-1603 — Drama

Genres:

Motion pictures

Samurai films

Action and adventure films

Historical films

War films

Feature films

System Details:

Blu-ray; region A; DTS-HD Master Audio, uncompressed mono, uncompressed 2.0 surround.

Performers:

Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Tsushima Keiko, Yukiko Shimazaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Daisuke Katō, Isao Kimura, Minoru Chiaki, Seiji Miyaguchi.

Production Credits:

Director of photography, Asaichi Nakai ; editor, Hiroshi Nezu ; music, Fumio Hayasaka ; historical research, Kōhei Ezaki [and others].

General Notes:

Description based on: Title from container.
Originally released as a motion picture in 1954.
Full screen (1.33:1).
Special features include: Disk One: 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; Disk Two: 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; a booklet featuring 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.

Audience:

MPAA rating: Not rated.

Physical Description:

2 videodiscs (207 min.) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet.

Physical Characteristics:

4 3/4 in.; monochrome

Audio Characteristics:

digital; optical; surround; mono; DTS-HD Master Audio; sound

Film Characteristics:

1.33:1; full screen

Digital Characteristics:

video file; Blu-ray; region A

Call Numbers:

SEV 1954 BLU

ISBNs:

9781604652475
1604652470

Other Standard Numbers:

Universal Product Code: 715515054911
Publisher Number, The Criterion Collection: CC1877BD (container)
Publisher Number, The Criterion Collection: CC1877BD (disc 1)
Publisher Number, The Criterion Collection: CC1877BD (disc 2)

OCLC Numbers:

665146408