Akira Kurosawa: Four Samurai Classics
Details by Film
Sanjuro
Streaming Options
Seven Samurai
Streaming Options
The Hidden Fortress
Streaming Options
Yojimbo
Streaming Options
Seven Samurai
A desperate village hires seven samurai to protect it from marauders in this crown jewel of Japanese cinema. No other film so seamlessly weaves philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action. Featuring Japan's legendary star, the great Toshiro Mifune, Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai is an inspired epic, a triumph of art, and an unforgettable three-hour ride.
The Hidden Fortress
A general and a princess must dodge enemy clans while smuggling the royal treasure out of hostile territory with two bumbling, conniving peasants at their sides; it's a spirited adventure that only Akira Kurosawa could create. Acknowledged as a primary influence on George Lucas' Star Wars, The Hidden Fortress delivers Kurosawa's inimitably deft blend of wry humor, breathtaking action and humanist compassion on an epic scale. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this landmark motion picture in a stunning, newly restored Tohoscope edition.
Yojimbo
The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa's visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo (The Bodyguard). In order to rid a village of corruption, masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade both as A Fistful of Dollars and, more recently, Last Man Standing, this exhilarating gangster-Western remains one of the most influential and entertaining genre-twisters ever produced. Criterion is proud to present Yojimbo in a luminous Tohoscope transfer.
Sanjuro
Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this companion piece to Yojimbo, jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a "proper" samurai on its ear. Criterion is proud to present Sanjuro in a gorgeous Tohoscope transfer.
Technical Specifications
Supplements
- Audio commentary by Michael Jeck
- Original US theatrical trailer
- Essay by David Ehrenstein
- Theatrical trailer
- Insert featuring an essay by Alexander Sesonske
- Original theatrical trailer, with rare behind-the-scenes footage
- Insert featuring an essay by Michael Sragow
- Interview from 2001 with filmmaker George Lucas about Kurosawa
- Trailer
- Insert featuring an essay by Armond White