Yojimbo / Sanjuro: Two Samurai Films by Akira Kurosawa (The Criterion Collection) [4K UHD]

Description

Thanks to perhaps the most indelible character in Akira Kurosawa’s oeuvre, Yojimbo surpassed even Seven Samurai in popularity when it was released. The masterless samurai Sanjuro, who slyly manipulates two warring clans to his own advantage in a small, dusty village, was so entertainingly embodied by the brilliant Toshiro Mifune that it was only a matter of time before he returned in a sequel. Made just one year later, Sanjuro matches Yojimbo’s storytelling dexterity yet adds a layer of world-weary pragmatism that brings the two films to a thrilling and unforgettable conclusion.4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES4K digital restorations, with uncompressed monaural soundtracksTwo 4K UHD discs of the films and two Blu-rays with the films and special featuresOptional DTS-HD Master Audio Perspecta 3.0 soundtracks, preserving the original simulated stereo effectsAudio commentaries by Kurosawa scholar Stephen PrinceDocumentaries on the making of Yojimbo and Sanjuro, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to CreateTeasers and trailersStills galleries of behind-the-scenes photosPLUS: Essays by film writers Alexander Sesonske and Michael Sragow and comments from Kurosawa and members of his casts and crewsYOJIMBOThe incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa’s visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo. To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade twice, by Sergio Leone and Walter Hill, this exhilarating genre-twister remains one of the most influential and entertaining films of all time.SANJUROToshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa’s tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan’s evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a “proper” samurai on its ear. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but equally entertaining, this classic character’s return is a masterpiece in its own right. Review: Two Excellent Films in a Great Set! - This Criterion Collection contains Akira Kurosawa’s 1961 film, “Yojimbo,” & its 1962 sequel, “Sanjuro,” both of which star Toshiro Mifune in the lead role as Kuwabatake Sanjuro. In the original film, a rōnin arrives in a small town trapped between competing crime lords. Each attempts to hire him as their bodyguard works to play them against each other, freeing the town. Kurosawa was loosely inspired by the 1942 film, “The Glass Key,” but he added his own spin on it. Mifune is stellar in the lead role, perfectly capturing the “Man with No Name” trope (his name in the story is a fake one that he makes up on the spot). Naturally, Kurosawa’s filming is flawless and Masaru Sato’s music adds the perfect dramatic note to the story. Later, in 1964, Sergio Leone remade the film as “A Fistful of Dollars.” Leone never secured the remake rights, however, and had to pay an undisclosed settlement to Kurosawa for the rights. The sequel began as an adaption of Shūgorō Yamamoto’s novel “Hibi Heian,” though Kurosawa modified it to include Sanjuro. The story similarly follows a rōnin riding into town to deliver justice, in this case to a group of samurai who believe the lord chamberlain is corrupt. Mifune is again enjoyable in the lead role in this sequel as he partners with Kurosawa, continuing a longtime collaboration between the two. The final battle is particularly noteworthy and brilliantly executed. Where samurai films heavily inspired George Lucas during the making of “Star Wars,” the final battle is perfectly duplicated in the “Star Wars Rebels” season 3 episode, “Twin Suns.” Both films show a connection to Kurosawa’s 1954 film, “Seven Samurai,” which explored similar themes of villagers hiring rōnin. Mifune would later reprise the role, or at least the character type, in the 1970 films “Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo” and “Incident at Blood Pass.” As part of the Criterion Collection, this set cleans up the films for perfect clarity. It also includes several bonus features, such as audio commentaries, making of documentaries for both films from a larger documentary about Kurosawa, trailers, behind-the-scenes photos, and essay booklets about both films. Best of all, the Criterion packaging looks lovely on the shelf with a minimalist style evocative of the films. My only complaint is that Criterion’s way of doing subtitles occasionally makes them hard to read on a black-and-white film, but that’s relatively minor with how crisp they’ve made the picture. Review: Yojimbo and Sanjuro - I'll admit up front I consider myself a Kurosawa fanboy so writing this is hard as I'm constantly trying to keep myself from degenerating into a fanboy rant. I'll just say with the nice price and the remastered video updating the problems with their original releases, this is a great release for those looking to get into Kurosawa films, or chanbara in general. Both films have a lighter tone and are shorter and funner than Seven Samurai and Ran and I loved the films plots over The Hidden Fortress. First up Yojimbo, like Seven Samurai one of the most copied of Kurosawa's films. This is fun film, that has a streak of black humor that the two remakes A Fistfull of Dollars and Last Man Standing lack. Mifune had a humorous quality to his acting that came up greatly in his role of Sanjuro the wandering ronin who strolls into town after hearing about it from a farmer quarreling with his son. With Mifunes performance, intelligent writing, Kurosawa as usual makes full use of panavision. The opening where Mifune walks into town where all the residents peek out from behind windows and doors is just awesome with the way the camera captures all the small actions. Theres not much more I wanna say except with the opening listen to the confrontation between Mifune and compare it to a certain scene in Star Wars A New Hope. Lucas not only copied many of Kurosawas movies but cribbed scenes from this one and others as well. Sanjuro is viewed by some like all sequels as inferior to the original. Personally its not a Matrix/Matrix Reloaded situation. Sure it doesn't feature a deep story like the previous film, but it does have the writing that I always like from Kurosawa and the humor in scenes that are great and add depth to the characters. Plus just one of the best endings ever. I've seen the film five times and I've always been suprised by it. Anyway this whole thing is a great package with excellent video, the usual essays that come from Criterion and the usual documentaries from the Its Wonderful to Create series produced by Toho that have been on other Kurosawa releases, and a cracking commentary from Stephen Prince who gives a in depth commentary definitely worht a listen. Its a great package well worth the price.