Seven Samurai is one of the best movies that’s one of the hardest movies to recommend to people that don’t have a deep love of film. It has a lot of barriers that keep it from being accessible to modern audiences, including: the movie is over 60 years old, is in black-and-white, is subtitled due to being in a foreign language, takes place in a different culture, takes place in a different time period, and is about 3 and a half hours long. So, I understand that there a lot of things about Seven Samurai that are going to keep a lot of people from watching it, but if you are able to get past these things, you should absolutely watch this movie. It is one of the best movies ever made, and the basis for so many movies that followed.

The movie takes place in the 1500s, and is about a village of farmers that has been looted by bandits. One of the villagers hears that the bandits are planning another attack on their village, and this could potentially destroy the lives of everyone living there. The villagers become desperate, and decide to try to hire samurai to protect their village from the bandits. Led by a samurai named Kambei, a group of seven samurai is gathered together to save the village from the bandits.

You’ve probably seen this kind of plot in plenty of other movies, and the reason for that is Seven Samurai. While plenty of the ideas in this movie were first seen in earlier movies, Seven Samurai is definitely the first movie to put them all together in the way that it does. This movie’s influence has been seen in countless movies by this point, and there are plenty of really interesting videos and articles out there that showcase the proof of this way better than I ever could. Seven Samurai is essentially the first big blockbuster action thriller, and has provided the basis for the genre that came from it.

Aside from being incredibly entertaining, Seven Samurai is also just a master class in filmmaking. Director Akira Kurosawa is one of the most legendary filmmakers of all time, and Seven Samurai showcases all of his talents in spades. The movie is so visually interesting to watch, and that’s in large part due to the authenticity of the sets, the dedication of the actors, and Kurosawa’s style of shooting. There are also many interesting videos and articles about this out there. One of the most interesting ones I watched after seeing the movie was from the YouTube channel Every Frame a Painting, which breaks down how Kurosawa uses movement in his films to craft an interesting scene. Kurosawa crafted something really interesting for the movie, and the whole cast were really dedicated to bringing it all to life.

I mentioned how there are definitely barriers that will keep casual audiences from watching this, but one of the things that I found to be really impressive is that Seven Samurai is an extremely enjoyable experience despite all of those barriers. I’ve never had much of a problem with subtitles or black-and-white movies, and have seen plenty of movies that fall into one or both of those categories. I do tend to dislike movies that are longer than they need to be, so I’m always skeptical when I run across a movie that has a 3 and a half hour runtime. However, much like another old classic Gone with the Wind, the length in Seven Samurai really didn’t bother me at all. I wouldn’t object to it being shorter or anything, but even at its bloated runtime I never felt like it was dragging or that it was too long. This is an epic tale, and sometimes stories of this size need time to tell their story. I also think that Seven Samurai avoids the problem of not being able to connect with the culture by having themes and lessons that transcend time and culture. There are definitely moments that will be weird for modern American audiences like myself, but I was still able to get fully engrossed into the movie.

I think that if you ever think you’re ready to watch Seven Samurai, then you should. It’s definitely far from the first movie I would recommend to anyone starting out on a journey of diving into film classics, but if you ever begin to love film enough to not let this movie’s barriers prevent you from enjoying it, then you should watch this. It’s a truly amazing experience, and one of the best movies of all time that has had a profound influence on the films that followed it. This is the third Akira Kurosawa movie I’ve seen, and I actually personally still prefer Rashomon to this, so also check that out if you’ve liked his other movies. However, Seven Samurai is most commonly referred to as Kurosawa’s masterpiece and has gained more widespread acclaim. I really can’t object to it, either, because I think it deserves its place among the greatest of all time.

5/5