Directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa, "The Seven Samurai" is one of the most famous and highly praised of all Japanese films. It is often seen on many critic's all-time top ten lists. "The Seven Samurai" takes place in feudal Japan. A small farmer's village will soon be raided by bandits after the harvest. The village elder decides to hire Samurai (proud, experienced mercenaries) for its defense. Thoughtful Kambei (Takashi Shimura) is the first to join, and as the leader recruits others, notably young Katsushiro (Isao Kimura) and aboriginal, emotional Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune). The villagers are trained as soldiers, and the village is quickly fortified. The bandits attack on schedule. Will the village be successfully defended?

Summary by Brian Koller

The first thing you need to get past in this film is the Japanese method of acting. The commentary refers to it as "big," which is a good euphemism. It's the reason I've not enjoyed many older Japanese films. I always found it curious that the reserved Japanese had this grand overacting style. I would have expected them to be much more subtle like the Chinese. Here, the overacting is reserved for the farmers and Kikuchiyo, the buffoonish samurai, while the others act more naturally. In fact, some of the samurai, most notably Kambei, have a cool that would be right at home with American WWII films. During the first half of the film, I was rather irritated with the character of Kikuchiyo, whom I found as annoying as any Chris Tucker or Martin Lawrence character. His character's backstory is well developed later, however, and he proves to be one of the most valuable samurai. He was obviously there for comic effect, which I hated at first but grew to appreciate. He even brings poignancy to the film's story.

The second half of the film deals with the battles. The strategy is described well to the audience, and the battle scenes are wonderfully filmed. There are no supermen here. They're all vulnerable, and many die, which is different than  normal samurai films. The battles are chaotic, which gives them realism and elevates their dramatic effect. The only negatives for these scenes would be that the bandits are barely seen and are very dumb militarily.

Overall, this is a great film. -- Bill Alward