Seven Samurai, review

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Writers: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto

Toshirô Mifune  ... Kikuchiyo

Takashi Shimura  ... Kanbê Shimada

Keiko Tsushima  ... Shino

Yukiko Shimazaki  ... Rikichi's Wife

Kamatari Fujiwara  ... Manzô - Father of Shino

Daisuke Katô  ... Shichirôji

Isao Kimura  ... Katsushirô Okamoto

Minoru Chiaki  ... Heihachi Hayashida

Seiji Miyaguchi  ... Kyûzô

Yoshio Kosugi  ... Mosuke

Bokuzen Hidari  ... Yohei

Yoshio Inaba  ... Gorobê Katayama

Yoshio Tsuchiya  ... Rikichi

Kokuten Kôdô  ... Gisaku, the Old Man

Eijirô Tôno  ... Kidnapper

Sam Glass: A veteran samurai, who has fallen on hard times, answers a village's request for protection from bandits. He gathers 6 other samurai to help him, and they teach the townspeople how to defend themselves, and they supply the samurai with three small meals a day. The film culminates in a giant battle when 40 bandits attack the village. Written by Colin Tinto

In the Sixteenth Century, in Japan, a poor village is frequently looted by armed bandits losing their crop of rice. Their patriarch Grandpa advises the villagers to hire a Ronin to defend their village. Four farmers head to town to seek out their possible protectors, but they just can offer three meals of rice per day and lodging for the samurai. They succeed in hiring the warming-hearted veteran Kambei Shimada that advises that they need six other samurai to protect their lands. Kambei recruits the necessary five samurai and the brave jester Kikuchiyo and move to the village. After a feared reception, Kambei plots a defense strategy and the samurai start training the farmers how to defend their lands and families for the battle that approaches. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A village is constantly attacked by well armed bandits. One day after an attack they seek the wisdom of an elder who tells them they cannot afford weapons, but they can find men with weapons, samurai, who will fight for them, if they find samurai who are in down on their luck and wondering where their next meal will come from. They find a very experienced samurai with a good heart who agrees to recruit their party for them. He selects five genuine samurai and one who is suspect but the seven return to the village to protect it from the forty plus bandits. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

In 16th century Japan, farmers in a small village face the prospect of again losing their crops to a band of roving thieves. Their solution is to go to the nearest city and see if they can hire samurai to protect them. The farmers are poor and can only offer food and lodging but they soon recruit Kambei Shimada who determines that they will need a total of seven samurai to properly guard the village. Slowly, he recruits other samurai for their task and once complete, move tho the village. There they teach the farmers basic self defense and fortify the village itself. When the bandits attack, they are prepared but suffer many losses. Written by garykmcd

Sam Glass: u watched the movie?

Divine_Malevolence: Yup yup. It was a long one. Even had an intermission.  http://www.livestream.com/moneymike9  And then there were three!

Sam Glass: Yea. But a good death!

Divine_Malevolence: Get shot through a door, then continue on to kill the bandit leader. Great way to end a conflict.

Sam Glass: Yea.. but what did you find interesting about the movie?

Divine_Malevolence: Many different thing. Such as the cutting of the daughter's hair. Crazy peasants.

Sam Glass: But you like the girls, yea?

Divine_Malevolence: The important one was weird.

Sam Glass: Cute weird, but the" little chick" samurai figured her out quickly

Divine_Malevolence: He was fooled at first, though. The only one to get fooled by it!

Sam Glass: he was fooled until he was wrestling with her and got a look down her shirt

Divine_Malevolence: Took 'im way too long, it did.

Sam Glass: what, she was a good fighter?

Divine_Malevolence: Doubtful. I just wouldn't e'er figure that figure was a male.

Sam Glass: ahh.. then he would bring her rice but she wouldn't eat it..

Divine_Malevolence: Gave it to the old lady.

Sam Glass: the one who the bandits had liked her son..  no one to look out for her

Divine_Malevolence: Poor old one. Got revenge on the scout.

Sam Glass: oh yea.. out come the hay forks..  but the kids caught coming out of the house... by her father

Divine_Malevolence: Dun dun dun.  "We expect much out of you. Last night, you became a real man."

Sam Glass: exactly.. I was wondering if you would catch that line

Divine_Malevolence: Difficult to miss. Would've been amusing if they didn't stop calling him kid.

Sam Glass: do you think he stayed in the village with her in the end?

Divine_Malevolence: Doubtful.

Sam Glass: poor girl  ...

Divine_Malevolence: Who'd you steal this family tree from?

Sam Glass: u mean Mifune's character... he stole it from any samurai.. with a thirteen year old kid

Divine_Malevolence: Kimikuchi! Divine_Malevolence: I think..... Rippin' off children.

Sam Glass: so what made them samurai? the seven of them...how were they similar?

Divine_Malevolence: They were all crazy?

Sam Glass: naaah...  they all had character

Divine_Malevolence: Very true.

Sam Glass: wanted to make a difference, hungry, poor

Divine_Malevolence: Probably the first. Old man was a good guy, managed to convince others.

Sam Glass: yes, and not all of them were trained as samurai... two were not at all

Divine_Malevolence: I only recall the one who definitely wasn't.  The kid looked trained.

Sam Glass: somewhat trained, but he still lacked a master - and looked to the old ronin

Divine_Malevolence: True. I'd say half-trained.

Sam Glass: 'not all were obviously sword guys, or were they?

Divine_Malevolence: All were more or less capable with one.

Sam Glass: the straight sword

Divine_Malevolence: Don't recall any.

Sam Glass: oh yea, carried it over his shoulder like a rifle

Divine_Malevolence: 'Twas a Tachi.

Sam Glass: yea,, it was straight but very long

Divine_Malevolence: It wasn't straight. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachi

Sam Glass: I'm not so sure my friend...

Divine_Malevolence: Or it was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daito_(weapon)

Sam Glass: remember how they found out he was born a peasant? And they hoarded armor...

Divine_Malevolence: Hoarded. Yup yup. Peasants are very protective of their gains, ill gotten or no.

Sam Glass: I also recall reading somewhere that there were long straight swords from the continent.. from Koreans, and Mongols

Divine_Malevolence: 0.o - Dao.

Sam Glass: http://www.swordsswords.com/Musashi-Handmade-Swords.aspx

Divine_Malevolence: A sixty dollar rapier? Dude, I want.

Sam Glass: anyway back to the movie...

Divine_Malevolence: Skill test. "You've got to be kidding."

Sam Glass: which one was that?

Divine_Malevolence: The guy stood in the doorway with a stick.

Sam Glass: oh yea.. didn't work on the trained samurai.. but did work on your guy.. wazza name?

Divine_Malevolence: Kikuchio! Or perhaps Kikuchiyo.

Sam Glass: drunk.. I thought it was great that after they chased him around, he passed out.. and they all laughed. They didn't try to kill him first.

Divine_Malevolence: http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:yyWF72ML0lT-lM:

Sam Glass: awesome I want one

Divine_Malevolence: 'Tis Kikuchyo.

Sam Glass: what about when he left his post?

Divine_Malevolence: He got a musket. So it worked out half well.

Sam Glass: and the half that didn't work?  which one died here.. one of the samurai was killed when he left his post..  and he mourned after

Divine_Malevolence: I don't recall if one did.....  He was upset about the dead peasants.

Sam Glass: hmm.. I believe there was a sword in the mound he was around

Sam Glass: first sword was at the bandit hideout

Divine_Malevolence: I don't recall. The first, and the last two are those that I remember.  Which is three of the four.

Sam Glass: one was Kikuchyo's fault!!!\

Divine_Malevolence: I'm not sure it was.

Sam Glass: He was the one who made the flag.. and he was on the road...  the woodchopper.. the one to keep them interested in hard times, and the fourth was the one that the kid admired

Divine_Malevolence: That was the first one to go. The third to go was the admired one.

Sam Glass: OK, deal.. and last, what about the trick the old leader did in the beginning?  shaved his head... with the crowd all around?

Divine_Malevolence: Pretended to be a monk.

Sam Glass: yea.. and what was going on? kid hostage of..?

Divine_Malevolence: A thief took a kid hostage.

Sam Glass: ahh.. and the samurai goes in without a sword.. and out comes a man...

Divine_Malevolence: I think he stole the thief's sword.

Sam Glass: but the thief staggered out with the sword.. and collapsed - so he was cut with his own sword

Divine_Malevolence: Yup.

Sam Glass: any other thoughts? I enjoyed it, this one has been copied too

Divine_Malevolence: There seems to be an animated version.

Sam Glass: and a Western in the US

Divine_Malevolence: Oh?  "The samurai train the villagers in the use of bows, building walls, and construct a giant ballista to defend the village against the bandits. After successfully defeating the bandits, the samurai then launch an attack upon the capital to defeat a power-hungry ruler who has recently risen to power as Emperor. After heavy casualties for the samurai, and the near-destruction of Kanna village, the capital is finally defeated." The anime sounds weird.  "Kikuchiyo (キクチヨ?) Voiced by: Kong Kuwata (Japanese), Christopher Sabat (English)
He is a cyborg with a mechanized exoskeleton."

Sam Glass: ahhh.. mine was called The Magnificent Seven, a western..

Divine_Malevolence: O-ho!

Sam Glass: OK, Ran next week, god willing as they say

Divine_Malevolence: Sounds good~