Akira Kurosawa

[Volvy]

I know NEW Japanese stuff is popular, but is anybody else here a fan of great old Japanese cinema? Personally, Kurosawa is in the running for my favorite director of all time.  

[lostphrack]

I love Kurosawa's movies but only own two at the moment. I've mostly only seen his samurai/period stuff, but I keep meaning to check out his more contemporary works like High and Low and Stray Dog.  

[xena91388]

He's the dude that made "The Seven Samurai" right? I haven't seen more than a few clips of his movies but my dad absolutely loves them. He even watched a marathon TCM held a few months back.  

[Volvy]

Sweet! Seeing this thread sit silently for a bit I thought nobody here knew his stuff at all, and that made me sad.  

[pirulaso]

Most of his movies are better than the Japanese cinema today. I've seen yojimbo, ran, seven samurai, dreams, and yoshimbo. He liked to use Shakespeare as a base and because of that, his movies have a better story structure. It's pretty amazing cause you see that he's the inspiration for a lot of movies.

The blazing brass music is a staple in samurai films... The first Star Wars' cantina scene is almost the exact same trick used in Yojimbo where the samurai cuts off an arm. A few western's were direct American adaptations of his movies.

The one I have yet to see is Throne of Blood, it's based off Macbeth.  

[Volvy]

pirulaso

Most of his movies are better than the Japanese cinema today. I've seen yojimbo, ran, seven samurai, dreams, and yoshimbo. He liked to use Shakespeare as a base and because of that, his movies have a better story structure. It's pretty amazing cause you see that he's the inspiration for a lot of movies.

The blazing brass music is a staple in samurai films... The first Star Wars' cantina scene is almost the exact same trick used in Yojimbo where the samurai cuts off an arm. A few western's were direct American adaptations of his movies.

The one I have yet to see is Throne of Blood, it's based off Macbeth.

Yeah, Throne of Blood was really good (as you'd expect). Not on the same level as Ran, Seven Samurai, and Rashomon but still very good.  

[thaskarin]

*sniff* Finally some other Gaians who know Kurosawa. Admittedly though I've only seen a few of his movies (Seven Samurai Sanjuro, Yojimbo, and Throne of Blood.) Still though, he does much better than most directors today but not just in Japan.  

[pirulaso]

Volvy

pirulaso

Most of his movies are better than the Japanese cinema today. I've seen yojimbo, ran, seven samurai, dreams, and yoshimbo. He liked to use Shakespeare as a base and because of that, his movies have a better story structure. It's pretty amazing cause you see that he's the inspiration for a lot of movies.

The blazing brass music is a staple in samurai films... The first Star Wars' cantina scene is almost the exact same trick used in Yojimbo where the samurai cuts off an arm. A few western's were direct American adaptations of his movies.

The one I have yet to see is Throne of Blood, it's based off Macbeth.

Yeah, Throne of Blood was really good (as you'd expect). Not on the same level as Ran, Seven Samurai, and Rashomon but still very good.

Did you see the anime Seven Samurai?

I was a little disappointed in it. I mean when I heard they were bringing in giant robots and stuff into it, I immediatly had low expectations. It was better than I thought it would, but still kind of convuloted and not that great.