The glorious vigour and strength of this film is presented with such theatrical relish and flair: its energy flashes out of the screen like a sword.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 27, 2021

There are many excellencies in [Seven Samurai]. The acting of the men who are unknown to American audiences but whose talents are obvious; the careful building of suspense; the realism of the battle scenes... [and] the beauties of the countryside.

| May 4, 2021

[Seven Samurai ] rates my unqualified whoops of approval.

| May 4, 2021

Those who enjoy a good wild Western will find this picture to be great sport.

| May 4, 2021

The film is much too long -- two hours and 21 minutes. But at the end of that time, one has not only come to know its people intimately, but is prepared for the message to the effect that it is always the soldier who loses.

| May 4, 2021

Responding to his sensitive, knowing direction, the actors have given inspired performances. Revealed in [Seven Samurai] is Kurosawa's talent for putting violent action on the screen, making it terrifically exciting to audiences.

| Original Score: 4/4 | May 4, 2021

Visually the film makes a tremendous impression. Kurosawa can combine formal grace with dramatic accuracy, and many scenes create a startling pictorial impact.

| May 4, 2021

Outstanding in the cast are Takashi Shimura, a leading Japanese stage actor, as the leader of the samurais, and I Toshiro Mifune, who played the bandit in Rashomon, as a blustering, bragging, comical warrior.

| May 4, 2021

It is the tragic figure of Kambei which dominates the film, bestriding it like a Colossus -- and the magic of the director, Akira Kurosawa, must not be forgotten.

| May 4, 2021

Every major and minor action director has picked up some tricks from this granddaddy of the form, including slo-mo deaths, "you are there" battle photography, incessant movement and tsunami swarms of attackers

| Original Score: 4/4 | May 4, 2021

[Seven Samurai] is one of the finest motion pictures produced in a decade. This Japanese film rates . head and shoulders above the recent mass of foreign pictures shown locally.

| May 4, 2021

The story is splendid in its delineation of the distinct and proud characters of the Samurai, and this story is told with a wealth of pictorial and psychological detail.

| May 4, 2021

The greatest movie ever made about warriors and battle.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 26, 2013

Again and again, Kurosawa sends a dark thrill through his audience with a touch of sensuous physical reality.

| Apr 20, 2009

Kurosawa's film is a model of long-form construction, ably fitting its asides and anecdotes into a powerful suspense structure that endures for all of the film's 208 minutes.

| Mar 1, 2007

Besides the well-manned battlescenes, the pic has a good feeling for characterization and time.

| Mar 1, 2007

The epic action scenes involving cavalry and samurai are still without peer.

| Jun 24, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 31, 2003

[Kurosawa] has loaded his film with unusual and exciting physical incidents and made the whole thing graphic in a hard, realistic western style.

| May 20, 2003

When people ask me to name my favorite movie, I usually answer "Seven Samurai."

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 15, 2003