Scenes

Features

All-new, restored high-definition digital transfer, with an optional Dolby surround soundtrack; Two audio commentaries: one by the film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie; and one by Japanese film expert Michael Jeck; Theatrical trailers and teaser; Gallery of rare posters and behind-the-scenes and production stills; New and improved English subtitle translation; A 50-minute documentary on the making of Seven Samurai created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create; My Life in Cinema, a two-hour video conversation between Akira Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima from 1993, produced by the Directors Guild of Japan; "Seven Samurai": Origins and Influences, a new documentary looking at the samurai traditions and films that impacted Kurosawa's masterpiece; Plus: a booklet featuring essays by Kenneth Turan, Peter Cowie, Philip Kemp, Peggy Chiao, Alain Silver, and Stuart Galbraith IV; tributes from Arthur Penn and Sidney Lumet; and a reminiscence by Toshiro Mifune

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Seven Samurai: The Film, Pt. 1
1. Main Titles [3:09]
2. "Is There No God to Protect Us?" [7:17]
3. Shopping for Samurai [6:41]
4. Death of a Thief [7:49]
5. A Master and His Disciples [7:58]
6. Samurai Auditions, Part I [7:34]
7. Samurai Auditions, Part II [9:20]
8. The Seventh Samurai [11:20]
9. Frightened Village [8:33]
10. False Alarm [4:29]
11. Making Plans [8:24]
12. "Still a Child" [3:52]
13. Samurai Armor [7:43]
14. The Secret Garden [6:10]
15. Training [6:13]
16. Intermission [5:14]
1. A Masterpiece/Time Period [3:09]
2. The Setup/Groups [7:17]
3. Lenses/Historical Models [6:41]
4. Izu No Kamu/Modern Movie Violence [7:49]
5. Tragic View of History/Kikuchiyo [7:58]
6. Shooting and Cutting [7:34]
7. Ellipses/Zen-Like Swordsmen [9:20]
8. Toshiro Mifune/Long Shots [11:20]
9. Social Chaos/Ways of Seeing [8:33]
10. Camera Movement/Kikuchiyo and Heihachi [4:29]
11. Process [8:24]
12. Teen Romance/What Makes a Samurai? [3:52]
13. Kurosawa's Position/Intersecting Subplots [7:43]
14. Repeated Motifs/Visual Foreshadowing [6:10]
15. Anti-High Noon/A Rejected Idea [6:13]
16. Reinventing the Jidai-Geki/Influences [5:14]
1. Opening Comments [3:09]
2. Kurosawa's Shooting and Editing Techniques [7:17]
3. Kurosawa as Orchestrator [6:41]
4. Mifune's Acting Style [7:49]
5. Musical Theme [7:58]
6. The Viewer as Omniscient Observer [7:34]
7. Shots for Dramatic Effect [9:20]
8. Extremes [11:20]
9. Dynamism in Shooting [8:33]
10. Pacing [4:29]
11. Compositions of Three [8:24]
12. Coming of Age [3:52]
13. Passion Directed Just Past the Lens [7:43]
14. Samurai Film Themes [6:10]
15. Mifune's Biography [6:13]
16. (No Commentary) [5:14]
Disc #2 -- Seven Samurai: The Film, Pt. 2
1. Harvesting [3:30]
2. Night Watch [3:35]
3. Building Barricades [5:51]
4. The Scouts [7:16]
5. The Surprise Attack [7:54]
6. Funeral [2:16]
7. The First Battle [11:07]
8. Night Skirmish [7:37]
9. The Second Battle [7:47]
10. Behind the Lines [11:28]
11. That Night [13:12]
12. The Last Battle [8:57]
13. Finale [4:24]
1. Rikichi's Secret [3:30]
2. Character Formation [3:35]
3. Film Language [5:51]
4. The Unit/Mifune [7:16]
5. Soviet Sensibility [7:54]
6. Same Theme Repeated [2:16]
7. Known Tropes/Silent Roots [11:07]
8. Anonymity/Master-Disciple Relationships [7:37]
9. Heir to Eisenstein [7:47]
10. Guns/Solidarity [11:28]
11. Character/Criticism [13:12]
12. History Unfolding [8:57]
13. Elegy to Samurai Values [4:24]
1. Critical Reception of Mifune's Character [3:30]
2. Kurosawa's Mentor [3:35]
3. Kikuchiyo [5:51]
4. Kurosawa's POV Style [7:16]
5. Production History [7:54]
6. Parallells [2:16]
7. The Most Imitated Shot [11:07]
8. Kurosawa's Early Biography [7:37]
9. Kurosawa's Later Biography [7:47]
10. The One Technical Mistake [11:28]
11. The Japanese Film Industry [13:12]
12. Tension and Release [8:57]
13. Seven Samurai's Success [4:24]
1. It Was All There in the Script [3:52]
2. The Abandoned First Scene [1:35]
3. Hiring Samurai [7:23]
4. The Samurai Theme [1:51]
5. The Personalities of the Seven Samurai [11:32]
6. Capturing Light in the Eyes [1:41]
7. Problems Burning Down the Water Mill [1:48]
8. Tragedy at the Bandits' Fortress [6:11]
9. The Truth Behind the Battle in the Rain [13:10]
Disc #3 -- Seven Samurai: The Supplements
1. Childhood [5:40]
2. Painting and Illustrating [3:59]
3. Entering the Film Industry [4:17]
4. Life as an A.D. [7:19]
5. Scripts and Screenplays [5:46]
6. Toward a More Dynamic Cinema [5:13]
7. Facing the Censors [6:31]
8. Scripts, Drinks, Directors, Misinterpretations [6:49]
9. Special Exemption From the Military [5:11]
10. "Just Tell a Story" [5:28]
11. The Weight of Dostoyevsky [7:51]
12. Writing With Others [5:26]
13. A Day on the Set With Kurosawa [7:58]
14. Actors and Period Films [6:25]
15. Fumio Hayasaka [6:49]
16. Precomposed Music, Preconceived Notions [5:16]
17. Starting His Own Studio [6:39]
18. The Beauty of Free Rein [5:49]
19. "One Word at a Time" [7:16]
1. The Samurai Tradition [14:04]
2. Early Samurai Film Influences [12:23]
3. The Samurai Film Reinvented [27:52]