Seven Samurai (1954) poster3

Japan10 Essential Japanese FilmsStop 3 of 10

Seven Samurai

七人の侍

1954 · 207 min · Action

A poor farming village under threat from marauding bandits hires seven masterless samurai to defend it, and the warriors train the peasants to stand and fight. Akira Kurosawa's monumental, endlessly influential epic.

Why it’s here

Kurosawa's epic is central to Japanese cinema and global action storytelling.

Runtime
207 min
Genre
Action · Drama
Mood
thoughtful · dark · adventurous
Entry
challenging
Best for
first visit · film history

Content notes: war or political violence · violence or threat Non-exhaustive

Return to the complete listFilm notesWatch options

Part of 10 Essential Japanese Films

This film is stop 3 of 10 in the hand-ranked native-cinema route through Japan. See the complete ranking or read the selection methodology.

FilmsAroundThe.World is a hand-curated atlas of world cinema with ranked country guides. It has no ads or accounts; anonymous aggregate page views and product milestones are measured with Vercel Web Analytics. Open the map, follow a curated route, or read the methodology.