Review of Seven Samurai (1954) by Michael C — 12 Apr 2012

For all that many countries have done to try and match the esteem of American movies it was amazing to watch Seven Samurai. Not only is it a movie that is over 50 years old but it's also foreign, and yet watching it the influence on American Cinema is endless.

One thing that I really enjoyed that I haven't seen a lot of in modern Asian cinema was surprisingly the thorough character development. This did draw the movie out some, but it was well worth it.

The story was really heartfelt as well as the effect of each fallen samurai. One thing that I wasn't quite as impressed with as I thought I might be was some of the fight scenes. A handful of them were not well choreographed and at times felt rushed.

With that being said, considering the age that this movie was made in, this type of action was done quite well. My only other complaint was that the ending did drag out a little too long I thought. All in all though, Seven Samurai is a movie I think that everyone should see.

Just for the appreciation of seeing how influential it is makes it worth while, but I also think that this story is ageless as well as the characters.