Yojimbo

Okay we all know Kurosawa is good. Really good. Like so good you may just have heard of him and perhaps are not yet initiated into the club that holds his movies as some of the finest ever made. Then Yojimbo is one to see. Maybe not his best but perhaps my personal favorite. This is the greatest example of the sublime interaction between the masters Kurosawa and Mifune at its best. The movie is just exciting and original as I have seen from them. Yes I do know Red Harvest and Dashiell Hammett’s influence are here, but this is a different era and the story is new enough. Mifune by himself is enough to merit a purchase or rent of this movie. But then with Kurosawa and his brilliant ability to bring a sort that much better to life, then it is another reason. I really like the supporting cast. Those who know Kurosawa will easily spot many faces from different movies. See this. I am so positive you will not be disappointed.

Akira Kurosawa is widely thought of as one of the most important filmmakers in the history of motion pictures. "Yojimbo", one of the masterpieces that have earned him this more than deserved reputation, is not only one of the best, but also one of the most influential movies ever made. Only three years after its release another great director, Sergio Leone, who named Yojimbo one of his favorite movies, used it as the model for another masterpiece, "A Fistful Of Dollars" and rose the Italian Western to an international level. In 1860, a time when the sword is still the most common weapon in the Japanese province, but gradually gets replaced by the revolver, a lonely Ronin, a Samurai without a master to serve,(Toshiro Mifune) who dashes around the county, comes to a little town terrorized by two bosses and their criminal gangs and decides to end the people's suffering and free the town. He is hired by one of the gangs as a bodyguard, only to switch sides and pit the two, already hostile, gangs against each other. Toshiro Mifune, one of the greatest character actors of all time, is impressive in his role of the Samurai, generally the acting is great in this movie, the supporting cast contains such actors as the great and unforgettable Takashi Shimura. The cinematography is great and the movie's brilliant score, composed by Fumio Hayasaka, is one of its kind. The writing and directing by the inimitable Akira Kurosawa is more than brilliant. One of the greatest movies by one of the greatest directors of all-time, and an absolute must-see for everyone interested in cinema!

Although this movie is subtitled, it is definitely worth the time and expense to watch. Very entertaining, don't disappointed at all !!

This is my favorite Akira Kurosawa movie and for a good reason. Toshiro Mifune was great as the indifferent, pitting both criminal gangs at each others' throats, no named ronin. Akira Kurosawa made it as his tribute to the John Ford/John Wayne Westerns but with a unique twist to it. Rather than making the hero a saint, he created such an inspirational antihero that set the stage for many later Westerns. This movie has been remade so many times (A Fistful of Dollars, Django, Last Man Standing, and Sukiyaki Western: Django) its that good. So, check it out! Here's a bit of trivia for you: everyone knows that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were inspired by Akira Kurosawa's work to the point they used references to his work in Star Wars. What most people don't know is that they did the same thing for the Indiana Jones films too. They directly made a reference to the opening of this film in the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The movie that spawned all those man with no name Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns. Mifune and Kurosawa at the top of their samurai movie game. The first is still the best.