Seven Samurai (七人の侍, Shichinin no Samurai) is a 1954 live-action theatrical Japanese film directed & written by Akira Kurosawa, and produced by Sōjirō Motoki with distribution by TOHO. The film starred Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, Seiji Miyaguchi, Isao Kimura, Daisuke Katō, Minoru Chiaki, Yoshio Tsuchiya and many more, with screenplay writers Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni and music composed by Fumio Hayasaka. The film theatrically released in Japan on April 1954 with intermissions given the 207 minute runtime.
Background:
“Their village raided every year by vicious bandits, a group of peasants hire seven masterless samurai to protect them. Initially met with suspicion, the warriors resolve to gain the trust of the villagers and prepare them to face their enemy.”
Plot Synopsis via British Film Institute, November 2024.
Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, according to many analysts, directors and reviewers throughout these past number of decades. And I can see why when I saw the film for the first time on Blu-ray a few years ago from British Film Institute’s Samurai Collection box set. It’s a 3 hour 20 minute film which is very long but builds up to an epic battle with its final act. The film has seen remakes with The Magnificent Seven which I haven’t seen though I did watch the remake of that film which was decent.
Despite owning a decent number of films from Akira Kurosawa, Dreams and Seven Samurai are the only two that I’ve actually watched so far. I enjoyed both films and his track record has been pretty strong, in fact I don’t know if there were any mixed to negative reviewed films in his catalogue. Though he has directed a lot of films from various genres, with action films like Rashamon and Yojimbo, crime drama with High and Dry and Stray Dog, and others like The Idiot, Ikiru, and No Regrets for Our Youth.
TOHO have been releasing his films in either Blu-ray or in 4K depending on the restoration and therefore UK and US distributors British Film Institute and Criterion have been following suit. Currently at the time of this write-up, 4K versions were released for Dreams, Seven Samurai and eventually Yojimbo & Sanjuro together. There could be more but either way, as long as they are a massive improvement from their original DVD releases, I’m happy to own either format for the collection.
In 2024, British Film Institute and Criterion both released Seven Samurai for the 4K Ultra HD format with some notable differences. Criterion have gone for a 4K SDR format, whilst BFI went for 4K HDR. Since I live in the UK and importing Criterion sets isn’t exactly cheap, I went for the BFI release.
Limited Edition Contents:
The British Film Institute don’t often release limited editions with rigid boxes as their releases for the most part are either presented in an Amaray or Scanavo case with a first print edition booklet or disc, but here they have gone all-out considering Seven Samurai is a film worthy of such deluxe treatment.
This limited edition release is presented with a rigid box containing a 4K amaray case housing the discs and art cards, a double-sided poster and an 80-page booklet featuring numerous essays. These essays are Seven Samurai by Philip Kemp, Buttered Steak and Grilled Eel by Tony Rayns, A Network for Seven Samurai by Cristina Álvarez López, Fumio Hayasaka: Kurosawa’s Musical Ace by Charlie Brigden, Seven Samurai’s Rocky Road to Classic Status by Jasper Sharp, Seven Samurai: Gateway into the Art of Filmmaking by James-Masaki Ryan, and The View from 1955: Sight & Sound by Tony Richardson.
The box art is clean with no ratings/information on all sides, with a sheet to cover the synopsis, information about the release and any ratings and specs. The 4K amaray case does include the same artwork and layout expected for the standard edition release including ratings. The limited edition 4K Ultra HD release retailed for £29.99 SRP with a Blu-ray version also available for £24.99 SRP. A standard edition 4K Ultra HD release is coming soon for £24.99 SRP, as the limited edition has sadly sold out.
I managed to secure one of the last available copies on Amazon after it had sold out for a week or two. I should have ordered this as soon as possible but a lot of titles were being released so I got distracted.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid box with 4K Amaray case packaging
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC rating details
- 80-page Booklet with write-ups by Philip Kemp, Tony Rayns, Cristina Álvarez López, Charlie Brigden, Jasper Sharp, James-Masaki Ryan and Tony Richardson
- Double-sided Poster
- 4 Art Cards
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: British Film Institute
Released: 18th November 2024
The limited edition release for Seven Samurai contains the film on a single 4K Ultra HD disc with an additional Blu-ray disc for on-disc special features. All the discs were encoded and authored by Fidelity in Motion on behalf of BFI.
Audio option available is Japanese with English subtitles only and the 4K Ultra HD release features Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback and the 4K Ultra HD disc is playable to 4K players of any region. The regions for the bonus Blu-ray disc however is locked to players set to B.
4K Ultra HD Specs (Main Feature Film):
| Languages | Japanese |
| Audio | Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 (Mono) |
| Video | 2160p Ultra High Definition format 1.37:1 aspect ratio Dolby Vision HDR |
| Region | All Region |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-100 |
Blu-ray Specs (Bonus Disc):
| Languages | Japanese |
| Audio | Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 1080i High Definition Native format 1.37:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-50 |
4K Ultra HD On-Disc Extra Features:
- Audio Commentary by film critic and writer Adrian Martin
- Gallery (06:10 runtime)
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
- Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create (49:08 runtime)
This 2002 documentary was created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create, and features interviews with Kurosawa, screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto, script supervisor Teruyo Nogami, actors Seiji Miyaguchi and Yoshio Tsuchiya, and others. - Philip Kemp selected scenes commentary (20:15 runtime)
Film critic and writer Philip Kemp analyses key scenes from the film. Recorded for the BFI’s 1999 DVD release. - The Art of Akira Kurosawa (48:36 runtime)
Asian-cinema expert Tony Rayns discusses Kurosawa’s career and influence. - My Life in Cinema (01:55:58 runtime)
A conversation between filmmakers Akira Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima filmed for the Directors Guild of Japan in 1993 – the two legendary directors discuss Kurosawa’s life, career and legacy. - Original theatrical trailer (04:10 runtime)
- 2024 restoration trailer (01:36 runtime)
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Seven Samurai is available to purchase on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray by British Film Institute in the United Kingdom. The limited edition 4K Ultra HD release has sold out across all retailers, however a standard edition 4K Ultra HD can be purchased across different retailers including Amazon UK, BFI Shop, HMV, and Zavvi.
There is a Blu-ray version of the limited edition package available whilst stock lasts over at Amazon UK, BFI Shop, HMV, Terracotta Distribution and Zavvi.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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