About

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food. A giant battle occurs when 40 bandits attack the village.

8.7
5,016
Directed by

Akira Kurosawa

Written by

Shinobu Hashimoto (Screenplay)
Akira Kurosawa (Screenplay)
Hideo Oguni (Screenplay)

Runtime

207 minutes

Country

Japan

Language

Japanese

Tagline

The Mighty Warriors Who Became the Seven National Heroes of a Small Town

Cast

Keywords

japan bandit fencing epic village battle sword peasant samurai 16th century rice moral ambiguity looting practice

Photos

Lists

#19 on IMDb top 250 IMDb

#10 on 1,000 greatest films They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?

#50 on Empire's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time Empire

#1 on The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema Empire

Awards

Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White

Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White Takashi Matsuyama