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20% Off Selected Vintage Classics. USE CODE: RWVC20
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Kurosawa: The Samurai Collection

Movie
Barcode 5035673012000
Blu-ray

Original price £44.45 - Original price £44.45
Original price £44.45
£44.46
£44.46 - £44.46
Current price £44.46

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Availability:
in stock

Release Date: 01/09/2014

Region Code: Blu-ray B
Label: Bfi
Actors: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi, Minoru Chiaki
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Number of Discs: 4
Audio Languages: Japanese
Subtitle Languages: English

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION


KUROSAWA: THE SAMURAI COLLECTION (4-DISC BLU-RAY BOX SET)

Akira Kurosawa is one of the world's greatest filmmakers. His films have been acclaimed by critics the world over, and his celebrated samurai epics featuring international star Toshirô Mifune have inspired filmmakers as diverse as Steven Spielberg and Sergio Leone, and inspired countless films, including The Magnificent Seven. This indispensable Blu-ray collection contains digitally remastered High Definition presentations of five of Kurosawa's greatest films, are accompanied with extra features including interviews with directors George Lucas and Alex Cox, feature-length audio commentaries and original theatrical trailers.

Contents


1. SEVEN SAMURAI
When the residents of a small Japanese village seek protection they hire seven unemployed 'ronin' (masterless samurai). Paid only in handfuls of rice, the samurai remain distant from the villagers, knowing that their assignment may prove fatal. Unanimously hailed as one of cinema's greatest masterpieces, Seven Samurai has inspired countless films, including The Magnificent Seven.
Japan 1954 207 minutes Japanese language, with optional English subtitles Original aspect ratio 1.33:1
2. THRONE OF BLOOD
In this brilliant re-imagining of Shakespeare's Macbeth Toshirô Mifune plays a samurai fated to betray his friend and master in exchange for the prestige of nobility. Kurosawa's bloody tale is a triumph of economic style, and the climactic battle scene is full of remarkable, and brutal, imagery.
Japan 1957 108 minutes Japanese language with optional English subtitles Original aspect ratio 1.33:1
3. THE HIDDEN FORTRESS
In this classic collaboration between Kurosawa and star Mifune, a warrior and a princess try against all odds to return to their homeland with their fortune. Acknowledged by George Lucas as the inspiration for Star Wars, The Hidden Fortress combines an epic tale of struggle and honour with modern comic sensibilities to masterful effect
Japan 1958 144 minutes Japanese language, with optional English subtitles Original aspect ratio 2.35:1
4. YOJIMBO
A drifting samurai for hire plays both ends against the middle with two warring factions, surviving on his wits and his ability to outrun his own bad luck. Eventually the samurai seeks to eliminate both sides for his own gain and to define his own sense of honour. Yojimbo provided inspiration for A Fistful of Dollars.
Japan 1961 110 minutes Japanese language, with optional English subtitles Original aspect ratio 2.35:1
5. SANJURO
After the success of Yojimbo, Kurosawa teamed up once again with Mifune one year later to make this comedy of manners. The film, which follows a man fighting corruption in local government, offers a twist on the classic Samurai tale by gently, but perfectly parodying the conventions of the Japanese period action movie tradition.
Japan 1962 99 minutes Japanese language, with optional English subtitles Original aspect 2.35:1

Running times are to be confirmed

Special features

* All films presented in High Definition
* Original theatrical trailers
* The Art of Akira Kurosawa (2013, 49 mins): Asian-cinema expert Tony Rayns discusses Kurosawa's career and influence
* Interview with filmmaker George Lucas (2001, 8 mins)
* Interview with filmmaker Alex Cox (2003, 9 mins)
* Introduction to Sanjuro by Alex Cox (2003, 5 mins)
* Full-length audio commentary on Throne of Blood by Japanese-film expert Michael Jeck
* Full-length audio commentary on Yojimbo by film critic Philip Kemp





REVIEW
'The pictorial shakespeare of our time' --Steven Spielberg

'His influence on filmmakers throughout the entire world is so profound' --Martin Scorsese

'I have learned more from him than from almost any other fimmaker on the face of the earth' --Steven Spielberg

'His influence on filmmakers throughout the entire world is so profound' --Martin Scorsese

'I have learned more from him than from almost any other fimmaker on the face of the earth' --Steven Spielberg