A Masterpiece Is Back in Theaters
Seven Samurai With a Brand New 4K Restoration Is Now Playing in Limited Release
If you haven’t seen Seven Samurai, go watch it!
Have you seen it yet? You haven’t? I understand. It’s a 207-minute (intermission included), B&W, Japanese movie from 1954. It’s not available on Netflix, the streaming service most consumers already subscribe to. Let me be the first to tell you it’s worth seeking this one out.
In Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, a farming village must hire samurai to survive their next meeting with deadly bandits. With no money or titles to offer potential warriors, the farmers bring their remaining rice and hire “hungry samurai.” The intermission acts as a separation between two acts—the first is about the plight of the farmers, amassing a group of samurai willing to help, and setting the seeds of confidence among the villagers. Meanwhile, the second half of the movie showcases the fruits of the villagers’ labor as a prolonged battle plays out.
I could try to explain what makes Seven Samurai the legendary movie that it is, but I’d be here all day. It is one of my favorite movies and in the most recent Sight and Sound poll, Seven Samurai was voted as the 20th-best movie of all time. Plenty of critics have written about it, but if you need the basics, The BBC has an explainer of why it’s so great.
There are plenty of ways to watch Seven Samurai currently—whether you wish to purchase a DVD or Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection, stream it on MAX or the Criterion Channel, or rent the movie from a streaming service.
There is one other way to watch it though…
Seven Samurai is celebrating its 70th Anniversary this year and distributor Janus Films has released a new 4K restoration in theaters for a limited time. I had a chance to see the movie at The Coolidge Corner Theatre in Boston last night and I wanted to share some of my thoughts on the new restoration. It should be no surprise that this is the best way to experience Seven Samurai. The print was spotless and the detail was incredibly easy to pick out. A lot of work went into the various costumes and designs of Seven Samurai and now it’s easier to appreciate than ever.
So if you’ve never seen Seven Samurai, the best time to do so is now. One of the greatest pleasures I got watching Seven Samurai in the theater was the audience laughing at the physical comedy of legendary actor Toshiro Mifune and the admission from patrons that it was their first time seeing Seven Samurai. Click the link to see when the movie is playing near you and grab a ticket—you won’t regret it.