Seven Samurai

1954
Japan
3h 20min
PG

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Written by: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
Cast: Takashi Shimura, Toshirō Mifune
Language: Japanese

A group of timid villagers seek protection against the excesses of a brutal warlord by hiring seven heroic samurai. Seminal Japanese action picture, with a slow-building dignity matching the best of John Ford, and in its stylishly aesthetic handling of screen violence, a profound influence on everyone from Peckinpah to Eastwood. Highly recommended.