Seven Samurai Blu- ray. Digi. Pack / The Criterion Collection / . Svet Atanasov on October 2, 2. Blu- ray release scored 5. Director: Akira Kurosawa. Writers: Akira Kurosawa,Hideo Oguni,Shinobu Hashimoto. Starring: Toshir. Svet Atanasov, October 2, 2. Winner of Silver Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, Akira Kurosawa's . Seven Samurai Blu-ray (. A Japanese farming village. He studied the movement of lions. He’s like a caged animal,” says Martin Scorsese in the (above) trailer for Mifune. Toshiro Mifune achieved more worldwide fame than any other Japanese actor of his century. He was born in Tsingtao, China. The supplemental features included with this release are: audio commentary with popular scholars and critics David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie; audio commentary with Japanese film expert Michael Jack; the documentary . The Blu- ray release of . In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. I thought for a long time how to approach Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. The first official trailer has debuted online for a fantastic documentary. Ficha Online de la pelicula Los siete samurais (1954). When one is asked to critique a film of this magnitude, one naturally feels uneasy. After all, what is it that one could write about Seven Samurai that has not already been written? In it, he points out that nature always plays an important role in Kurosawa's films, and suggests that in a way it completes their characters. I believe that Lumet is right. No other classic Japanese director, aside from perhaps Kenji Mizoguchi, understood and treated nature quite like Kurosawa did. In Seven Samurai nature is once again a force to be reckoned with. The villagers are poor, weak and disillusioned men who have struggled with it for years. They need someone to help them get rid of the bandits who have been terrorizing their village but all that they could offer is three meals per day. The way they carry themselves suggests otherwise, but the longer Kurosawa's camera follows them, the easier it is to see that like the villagers they are men who have struggled a lot (in fact, Kikuchiyo, the samurai played by Toshiro Mifune, was born a peasant). The bonds that form between the villagers and the samurai, their willingness to stand united and fight the bandits, as well as their determination to resist nature's strange desire to punish them yet again (the final battle in the film takes place during a torrential rainstorm) are indeed impossible not to admire. Modern films about heroes could never be as moving and engrossing as Seven Samurai. And there are a number of reasons why. First, because like the samurai in Kurosawa's film, most heroes these days are struggling or unemployed - this is the age of the superheroes. Second, because modern moviegoers do not have the patience to befriend film characters. It takes time to get to know someone and trust him (which is why Seven Samurai runs at 2. Third, because few directors still have the desire and stamina to be inventive and original. Most are cheaters, some rather good but still cheaters, with an endless arsenal of CGI effects. I envy those of you who are going to experience Kurosawa's Seven Samurai for the first time. I first saw it many years ago at a place where foreign films were rarely screened. Times are different now and a lot of the films my generation could only dream about seeing are just a mouse- click away - which is why I strongly encourage you to take advantage of Criterion's wonderful Blu- ray release of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu- ray disc. This high- definition digital transfer was then created in 2. K resolution on a Spirit Datacine from the dupe. For the extensive restoration of Seven Samurai, several different digital hardware and software solutions were utilized to address flicker, instability, dirt, scratches, and grain management, including da Vinci's Revival, Discreet Fire, Digital Vision's ASCIII Advanced Scratch and Dirt Concealer, MTI's DRS, and Pixel Farm's PFClean. Telecine supervisor: Lee Kline. Telecine colorist: Joe Gawler/Technicolor, New York. A lot of work has gone into the restoration of Seven Samurai, and it definitely shows - a lot of the daylight scenes, for instance, look quite remarkable; clarity and contrast levels are without a doubt the best I have ever seen. Furthermore, many of the close- ups which traditionally have been very problematic now look fresh and healthy. The color- scheme is also better balanced; the blacks are richer while the variety of grays and whites are pleasingly stable. Edge- enhancement is not a serious issue of concern; neither is macroblocking. I noticed some mild background flicker popping up here and there, as well as a few frame transition issues, but both are obviously inherited. Some minor flecks and scratches are also present, but again, due to a variety of different source limitations they have been retained. Specific noise and grain reductions have been applied, but the film's grain structure is very much intact. Lastly, I did not see any serious compression artifacts while projecting the film. All in all, I feel confident in stating that this release will be referred to as the definitive presentation of Mr. Kurosawa's Seven Samurai for a very long time. Therefore, you must have a native Region- A or Region- Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content). For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu- ray disc: . The original monaural soundtrack was mastered at 2. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using Audio Cube's integrated audio workstation. The Japanese LPCM 1. Fumio Hayasaka's legendary score to shine. Due to the fact that a number of different sources have been used to assemble a complete soundtrack, there are some inconsistencies, mostly in terms of dynamic progression; however, there are no pitch related issues to report in this review. The dialog is pleasingly stable, clean, and easy to follow. Also, aside from inherited minor background hiss, there are no problematic cracks, pops, or dropouts. Lastly, the English translation is excellent. I tested a few selected scenes with the Japanese LPCM 2. Fumio Hayasaka's score is prominent. There are some marginal advantages pertaining to low and mid range dynamics, specifically with the woodwinds, but I prefer the more organic spectrum of dynamics the LPCM 1. The dialog is equally stable, clean, and easy to follow. Criterion's Blu- ray release of this enormously influential film is fantastic. Not only is this the best presentation of Seven Samurai I have ever seen, but the supplemental features included with it are also of the highest caliber. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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