Samurai vs. Western

[tyzack]

Interleaved with B\'fast shows this weekend, I decided to watch two pairs of samurai / western films;
Seven Samurai / Magnificant Seven
Yojimbo / A Fist Full of Dollars

In each chase, I found the Samurai one, well, just better.

Comments?
And/or further recomendations of samurai / western pairs.

[Blackieshamps]

Shogun assassin/The searchers
Ghost Dog/Dead Man

[booztravlr]

I am a big fan of Akira Kurosawa movies. I bought his Criterion Collection a few years ago. It includes Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro and The Hidden Fortress. They are all quite good and the cinematography is just amazing. This lead me to purchase Rashomon  as well as Red Beard, also Kurosawa movies. The concept behind Rashomon is quite interesting.

"Rashomon", Akira Kurosawa\'s 1950 film about a horrible crime and the various versions of the "truth" that come to fruition during the investigation is absolutely amazing, pure and simple. The story is told four different times, each time from the point of view of one of the participants. The basic story of the crime is that a bandit (Mifune) comes across a husband and wife traveling through the forest. The bandit, Tajomaru, seduces/assaults the Masako (Kyo) after tying up her husband Takehiro (Mori), and soon after, Takehiro is dead. What happens between the times Tajomaru encounters the couple and the discovery of Takehiro\'s body is what is left to be discovered. Masako, Tajomaru and even Takehiro (with the assistance of a medium) each tell their account of the story, each taking blame for Takehiro\'s death. The fourth telling is from a passer-by, and the audience is left to decide which is the true account.

Red Beard was the last movie Kurosawa did in black in white and also the last movie he made with Toshiru Mifune. It\'s not a thriller by any means but is gives quite an outlook on life.


My all time favorite movie is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I watch this movie every couple months. I love the cinematography, acting, overall story line and of course the perfect soundtrack. I picked up the extended edition (~18 extra minutes) 3-4 years ago and really think it adds much more to the movie. The preceding movies, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More are also great Western movies.

I prefer the Samurai versions of all these movies over the Western remakes. I feel Kurosawa is able to better direct the viewers eyes without having to use close ups or empty sets. The acting by Toshiru Mifune is incredible. I\'m not sure of any other director/actor pairings out there but Kurosawa and Mifune has to be one of the best combinations that\'s existed.

[peaches626]

i\'ve never much gotten into samurai\'s or western\'s.....

hmm

[SlimPickens]

I am a big fan of Akira Kurosawa movies. I bought his Criterion Collection a few years ago. It includes Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro and The Hidden Fortress. They are all quite good and the cinematography is just amazing. This lead me to purchase Rashomon  as well as Red Beard, also Kurosawa movies. The concept behind Rashomon is quite interesting.

"Rashomon", Akira Kurosawa\'s 1950 film about a horrible crime and the various versions of the "truth" that come to fruition during the investigation is absolutely amazing, pure and simple. The story is told four different times, each time from the point of view of one of the participants. The basic story of the crime is that a bandit (Mifune) comes across a husband and wife traveling through the forest. The bandit, Tajomaru, seduces/assaults the Masako (Kyo) after tying up her husband Takehiro (Mori), and soon after, Takehiro is dead. What happens between the times Tajomaru encounters the couple and the discovery of Takehiro\'s body is what is left to be discovered. Masako, Tajomaru and even Takehiro (with the assistance of a medium) each tell their account of the story, each taking blame for Takehiro\'s death. The fourth telling is from a passer-by, and the audience is left to decide which is the true account.

Red Beard was the last movie Kurosawa did in black in white and also the last movie he made with Toshiru Mifune. It\'s not a thriller by any means but is gives quite an outlook on life.


My all time favorite movie is The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I watch this movie every couple months. I love the cinematography, acting, overall story line and of course the perfect soundtrack. I picked up the extended edition (~18 extra minutes) 3-4 years ago and really think it adds much more to the movie. The preceding movies, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More are also great Western movies.

I prefer the Samurai versions of all these movies over the Western remakes. I feel Kurosawa is able to better direct the viewers eyes without having to use close ups or empty sets. The acting by Toshiru Mifune is incredible. I\'m not sure of any other director/actor pairings out there but Kurosawa and Mifune has to be one of the best combinations that\'s existed.

Nice freakin\' breakdown guy.  I recently caught "Fearless" and "Curse of the Golden Flower", which wet my appetite for some samuri movies.  I\'ll have to check these out.

[tyzack]

i\'ve never much gotten into samurai\'s or western\'s.....

hmm

I\'d recomend Ran as an accessable intro into the genere.

It\'s kiroshowa\'s rough adaptation of king lear, and it\'s in colour.