Seven Samurai (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Description

One of the most thrilling movie epics of all time, SEVEN SAMURAI (Shichinin no samurai) tells the story of a sixteenth-century village whose desperate inhabitants hire the eponymous warriors to protect them from invading bandits. This three-hour ride from Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon, Yojimbo, Ran)featuring legendary actors Toshiro Mifune (Stray Dog, Yojimbo) and Takashi Shimura (Ikiru, The Hidden Fortress)seamlessly weaves philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action, into a rich, evocative, and unforgettable tale of courage and hope. Review: INTEGRALE - La prima volta che guardai "I Sette Samurai", trovai qualcosa che non andava, non sapevo bene cosa. Quando scoprii che avevano decurtato circa un'ora dall'edizione italiana, tutto mi fu subito chiaro. Raccomandata edizione Criterion, molto bella, come al solito secondo lo standard di questa collana di capisaldi della cinematografia mondiale. Al solito, attenzione all'audio giapponese con sottotitoli inglesi; per il resto, buona visione. Review: Amazing restoration of one of the great action films of all time - This review is for the Criterion Collection US import (region A) blu-ray. An important note: if your blu-ray player is not region A or multi-region, this disc won't play as I found out. I literally had to buy a new blu-ray player to watch it, but it was worth it. There are many far better reviews than I could write for this classic film so I will simply review this particular release. I already own the BFI DVD version which is 190 minutes long whereas this Criterion version is 207 minutes long so this is a more complete cut of the original film. Criterion have done an incredible restoration job. The picture is clean and stable, there is some occasional light grain but it's subtle and rarely noticeable most of the time. I'm glad to say there is no obvious digital noise reduction (DNR) which has caused some controversy with certain 4K releases of other films. There are occasional scratches and marks on the film but they don't detract from the viewing experience. In fact it's the opposite, you feel like you're seeing it exactly as it should be. And the close-ups of faces is amazing. You can see so much detail, it sometimes looks like it was filmed yesterday. And this is a film that was made over 70 years ago! The audio is also excellent. It's a little bass-heavy which is typical of old audio recordings on magnetic tape but again it's clean with no hiss or distortion and the orchestral soundtrack has never sounded so good. It's clearly been a labour of love and thank goodness because apparently the original film negatives can no longer be found. So the new digital intermediate created as part of the restoration process will preserve this important film for future generations to enjoy.