Seven Samurai Resources

If you need the basics on the film, this is the place to go.

Let's see what the critics have to say… um, yup. They dig it.

Toho Studios has its own web page, if you ever decide to bankroll your own Godzilla movie.

The Criterion Collection has a centralized link to exploring most of Kurosawa's big films.

A summation of Mifune's life, courtesy of the New York Times.

Kurosawa loved the Western, and the Western soon returned the compliment with this 1960 English-language film that replaced the samurai with American gunslingers. It's not quite as good as Kurosawa's version, but still pretty darn snazzy in its own right. Check out this duel from Seven Samurai's American counterpart.

This movie stinks. A lot. It's a quickie attempt to cash in on the sci-fi bounty created by Star Wars that basically takes the Seven Samurai formula and sticks it in outer space. But if you're going to steal, you'd better steal from the very best, and in that sense, at least Battle Beyond the Stars gets it right.

John Landis and his gang of merry pranksters decided to do their own version of Seven Samurai, featuring three silent film stars who head off to what they think is a paid appearance but which turns out to be an actual Mexican village besieged by bandits. Wacky mayhem ensues, and while we always hate ourselves in the morning, just can't turn it off whenever we spot it on our Netflix cue. Hit it boys!

Pixar may rule the animation world these days, but they were still establishing themselves in the 1990s. So after their first big hit Toy Story, they decided to follow it up with their own version of Seven Samurai.

You gotta love the Italians, who took Lou Ferrigno and Sybil Danning and made a cheese-tastic swords-and-sandals version of Kurosawa's masterpiece. Stay classy guys.

We're back to Japan for this piece of steampunk anime that wears its influences right there in its title.

Moviefone delivers the 411 on how many movies owe this one a hug and a thank-you.

George Lucas's gang are quick to point out which this movie did for their beloved space opera.

Here's a great analysis of that famous final battle scene.

Why is this a great film? Let the greatest film critic of all time spell it out.

Writer Laurence Topham writes up his thoughts.

A piece on Kurosawa's essentials for you.

The famous Texas theater gives us their own write-up.

A quick look at the film from the gang at Turner Classic Movies.

A very informative video about how Kurosawa uses movement to convey theme and meaning in his movie.

Here's the original trailer for the movie.

When asked which films influenced Star Wars, George Lucas is quick to point out Kurosawa. Seven Samurai was definitely one of them, but he also cites a later Kurosawa film called The Hidden Fortress. It features (among other things) a bickering pair of peasants, one short and fat, one tall and thin, who certainly don't bear any resemblance to a certain beloved robot duo…

In 2010, the 100th anniversary of Kurosawa's birth, Anaheim University's Akira Kurosawa School of Film honored the sensei with this video tribute from Scorsese, Spielberg, Lucas, Oliver Stone, and Richard Gere.

Presented in Japanese for that authentic sense of snazz.

We're not sure how "official" this one is, but it sure looks awesome.

A behind-the-scenes shot of Kurosawa and his cast during the shoot.

Another shot of Kurosawa doing his thing.

Kurosawa and two of his then-young devotees. Guess who they are. (Hint: Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas)

Lucas and Spielberg present an honorary Oscar to the master.

Martin Scorsese gets in line, too.

A short list of the world's most famous directors get together to toast Kurosawa at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990. Ten years earlier, his film Kagemusha won the Palme D'Or (kinda like Best Picture) at Cannes.

Mother Nature gets a little help for the final scene.