actor 1: toshiro mifune movies

"hes a great doctor. no, hes a great man." that quote from this film really wraps it up. this movie is flawless, perfect in every way. easily kurosawas best directing job, and mifunes acting performance is one of the greatest in film history. every line of diologue, every camera shot, everything was perfect. one of the 10 greatest films i have ever seen, absolutely brilliant in every way. the young doctor, the little boy towards the end, all of the acting was great and this story is stunning and beautiful. dont believe that kurosawa can only make samurai films, this one is even better than seven samurai.

after yet another viewing im reminded of why this is one of my favorite films of all time. my favorite actor playing his best role, it is fascinating to watch this ronin samurai play such a distant character who at the same time is perfectly calculated in every step he makes. this film is often imitated and never equaled, especially the exceptional scene at the end where sanjuro is standing at the edge of the street just moments away from his stand against his enemies. the music, weather, and cinematography were used perfectly and the entire film from start to finish could not have been carried out any better. this film improves with each viewing.

i just watched this movie for the second time and it was worth reviewing again. masterpiece. considered one of the 20 greatest movies of all time by most critics, and considered the greatest samurai film ever, this movie lives up to all of its hype. this film just furthers the lengends of kurosawa who did an amazing job making this film, as well as mifune and shimura for their brilliant acting performances. the whole film all i kept thinking was "wow this movie is amazing, perfect in every way." there are actually 2 other kurosawa films i like more, but that doesnt take away from this film, it just proves that kurosawa was a genius. what a fantastic film.

Tashiro Mifune with a semi-sequal to yojimbo, almost as good as yojimbo, this film integrates humor into the role of the wondering ronin. even though yojimbo was slightly better, you can see a progression in kurosawa's skills as a director. this is a great movie.

kurosawa does it again. this movie is incredible. i wasnt expecting alot from this because its one of kurosawa's lesser known films, and its one of the best movies ive ever seen. a detective story about a man whos son is kidnapped, this film takes you through every step of what a detective goes through when trying to solve a case. this film had a very intricate plot line and the details of the case were woven together perfectly. usually films this complex have holes, but this one was perfect. kurosawa got some great shots as usual and the acting was brilliant. the end was a little abrupt, but not enough to be an issue. great story, another great film from kurosawa.

an incredible finale to a great trilogy, the duel at the end is a classic scene built with anticipation and excitment. mifune was great as always and this film makes the trilogy feel less like a simple love story and more like an epic of human development. wonderful film.

a great middle step to one of the best trilogies ever.

considered the gone with the wind of Japanese cinema, a good blend of drama and samurai action.

incredible. kurosawa never ceases to amaze me. this is considered one of kurosawas least appreciated films but its so perfect. tashiro mifune offers up another brilliant performance. kurosawa is known for his period films but this one takes place around 1960 when the film was made. this is just as good as kurosawas other more well known films. just incredible. this film tackles corporate corruption and revenge and it has some cool plot twists. must watch for any movie fan.

the end was a little upsetting, but the rebel in me was excited for this one. overall a great flick, and even the disappointing end has a redeeming moment.

lucas' major inspiration for star wars, this is a great film. a must watch, one of kurosawa's best

this was an excellent samurai flick. a story about two brothers battleing over the right to be shogun, the story is well told with great plot twists and a fast paced feel. conspiracies abound and you never know which side to root for from one moment to the next. by the end you realize that the only character worth rooting for was only semi-significant until the close of the war causes him to be the carrier of justice. highly recommended.

this samurai epic is one of the many examples of the greatness of samurai films and japanese film in general. inagaki does a bang up directing job and mifune puts in another of his countless stellar performances. the story is great, the camera work and locations used were top notch, and the film possesed a beauty to it that has to be seen to be understood. a legthy film that justifies its 2 hr and 45 minute length. great film.

the best samurai comedy ever made. mifune was as clever as he was in seven samurai playing a silly but effective samurai who ascends from farmer to savior. although the end was serious, the film blended drama and comedy well and made this a fun watch. excellent film.

this is a solid film. with only two actors in the entire film performances needed to be great to carry the movie, i felt that marvins performance lacked a little but mifune more than made up for it. the dynamic of the characters was great and the decision to not use subtitles in order to give the audience the same feel of confision that the characters felt was a great one. really good movie.

this film is 3 and a half hours. it basically breaks into 2 halves, before the intermission is story and character development, after the intermission is the unfolding of the mission. based on a true story and one of the most famous instances in japanese history, this film tells the story of the 47 samurai who defied the shogunate to avenge the death of their master. character development is usually my favorite part of a movie, but in this film they over did it. there was too much development even for my taste. having said that, by the end of this film you cant say that they didnt tell you the whole story. there is zero action until the very end when the film climaxes in a huge fight scene, but it was worth the wait. the fight scene was brilliantly coreographed and the action was unmissable. getting through the over the top story telling was well worth it with the huge pay off at the end of one of the better fight scenes ive seen in a samurai film. when the film is over, the extensive story telling didnt bother me, although it was a bit much, it served me better having known so much about the characters. i felt invested. this was a great film that is worth the lengthy time it took to watch it. tashiro mifune was also good in this film but i was suprised at how small his role was. at the time this film was made mifune was already a big star and he had very little screen time, but he was good as usual. a great samurai film.

i liked this film a lot. this is considered one of kurosawas 5 greatest films, and i wouldnt even put it in my top 8 of his, but it was still very good. i think most respect this film so much because it was the film that catapulted kurosawa to stardom, and i can see how. mifune and shimura were great as always and the story was very compelling. ultimately, its a story about liars and thieves and the reality that most people in this world are not to be trusted. the last fight scene was weak, but most of this film was great. more brilliance from akira kurosawa.

this was a great samurai film. the shinsengumi are a well documented group of loyalists to the shogun in japans history and this is a great film about them. mifune was brilliant as he always was. you get to a point in this film where one moment you are rooting for mifune and his followers, and the next minute you are rooting against them. you sort of go back and forth throughout the film. in the end, i was saddened by the outcome but i was ok with it. really a great film.

one of mifune's portrayals of the character yojimbo. certainly not as good as the versions directed by kurosawa, but mifune obviously knows this character. this is a solid film with a great and unexpected twist.

really good flick. one of kurosawas earlier films and it is considered to be his coming of age film. it really does show the growing brilliance of kurosawa. mifune and shimura are both great in this movie about a cop hunting down a thief who stole his gun. you see the progress that the cops make in finding the criminal one step at a time until the climatic ending, which was the best part of the movie. it was very slow at times and was light on dialogue, but kurosawa made this slow story interesting. as with most kurosawa films the weather was as much a character in the film as the people were. another great one by kurosawa.

really intersting film. a movie by kurosawa about poverty and the people who live in it. there are some very profound things in this film and i think it really helps one to understand an impoverished mind set. to see people living like this is troubling, and kurosawa did a great job with the diologue as usual. very similar to reniors version of the same story made 21 years earlier.

this is a very profound film. mifune nails his portrayal of an old man losing his grip, and you see that he doesnt genuinely go crazy because of the reasons his family thinks he's crazy, he goes crazy because of his family themselves. shimura's character was great and even underused, and he is the character with the real moral dilema that the audience can relate to. very good and different film.

great flick. mifune and shimura are great as usual and the story was very interesting. this is one of those films that has you asking, "what would i do if that was me?" kurosawa wrote a great script as usual and the direction was great. ive read where people have compared this to red beard and they shouldnt, they are two very different films. the only similarities are that they are about a doctor who helps people in need, the rest is entirely different. this film is no red beard but not many films ever made can compare to that one, but this is a great flick.

even though this is one of kurosawa's more criticized films, i really liked it quite a bit. the acting and incoherence of the plot are the things most often criticized, and while i agree the love story lost its focus a few times, i actually found the acting to be very engaging. as with most kurosawa films, the script was the strongest point, with diologue that was complete and poetic at times. i do feel that they could have cut another 20 minutes off the film, but this final product is an already much trimmed down version, from the original 4 1/2 hour film kurosawa intended to this 2hr and 46 minute final product. overall, another beautiful film by the master of directors.

akira kurosawa's version of shakespears macbeth. this was a solid film in most ways. part ghost story, part betrayal story, mifune plays a rare role as a villian and does a magnificent job as always. there were some chilling shots in the film and the story was told well. this was definitely a less involved movie than most of kurosawas work, but still compelling. a story about a woman with a poisonous tongue confusing her loyal husband into betrayal and treason against his lord in fuedal japan. the wife plays a character riddled with evil.i have to say that i did expect more from this film because there was less struggle than i expected, but still a solid film.

a great morality tale, mifune and shimura put in their usual top notch performances in this kurosawa film about a tough gang leader that is softened by the combination of a deadly disease and a no nonsense doctor. the film was a little redundant in the beginning and it started a little less engaging than most kurosawa pictures, but the themes of human struggle and optimism were strong and the overall feel of the film was wonderful. another good kurosawa effort.

I had a tough time giving this film 3 stars. i rate it this high because the film seemed to be going in a good direction through the first 1hr and 30 min, the characters were cool, and most of the sword play coreography was very good, but the last 30 min was beyond terrible. i cant believe a film with such a great start could end so poorly. when the film is over there is no closure on any single character in the film. Nakadai's character appears to be on his way to death but that is uncertain, and the way one would expect him to meet his doom based on the story is not the way he appears to die. I was most dissapointed with not knowing exactly what happens to tashiro mifune's character. the acting in this film was top notch but im not sure if i have ever finished a film less sastisfied that with this one.

a solid film with great acting and diologue, even if the plot was a little silly. there is a sense where the plot is very good as it points out the abuses and hypocracy of the media, but at the same time the film didnt really carry any significance in the bigger picture of humanity which is rare for a kurosawa film. still, this story had some profound elements, especially the internal moral struggle of shimura's character and the impact that his dying daughter had on him. written and shot well and entertaining to watch.