Seven Samurai: Is There a More Influential Action Film? | CineFix Top 100

Season 2’s community theme kicks off with the patriarch of modern action cinema, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. An epic story of samurai helping a small village community defend itself against raiders, Seven Samurai puts its characters front and center, and is a masterclass on how to earn a three hour runtime. Clint, Cal and Alex break down its place in film history as a foundational text on action cinema, the nuts and bolts brilliance of staging and shooting the moving and panning shots that keep everything in focus, and the physical and mental toll the film took on those both in front of, and behind the camera.
Meanwhile, Dan’s algorithm has cut off its top knot and introduced a strike mechanic for season 2. Beware and stay tuned: a Top 100 can turn into a Not 100 at any time.
CineFix Top 100 is produced by Tayo Oyekan, with Director of Photography, Jamie Parslow and Technical Producer, Marhyan Franzen. Our Executive Producers are Clint Gage, Dan Parkhurst and Corrado Caretto. Logo and graphic design by Eric Sapp and title animations by Casey Redmon.
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[@Uncle_T]

I think a lot of people might fail to recognise a very important aspect of Shimada Kambei shaving his hair off to save the child in the beginning. What he does is of course a noble act in and of itself, but for a samurai, even a masterless ronin like Shimada, to willingly sacrifice his top knot which was a supreme symbol of his status as a samurai and a source of immense pride (watch the movie Seppuku/Harakiri for more on that topic) to save a child, a peasant child no less(!), will immediately tell everyone watching, including the peasants we follow, what kind of man he is and what sort of morals he holds himself to. So it's not just that he is brave and helpful in a horrible situation that make them so eager to get his help but the very clear demonstration that he is willing to set his own pride and status aside even for a "lowly" peasant child. An amazing character introduction if ever I saw one.

[@roel.vinckens]

A 16th century samurai would rather cut out his bowels than cut his hair or even shave all his facial hair. If you read Hagakure as historically significant.

[@hitachicordoba]

@@roel.vinckens Blue Eyed Samurai also shows this (she gives her rival a humiliating "haircut" in a duel. Sayonara man-bun lol

[@noahegr3341]

Indeed, well said! I hope Harakiri will get a spot on this list as well; it's such a masterpiece so I would love to listen to a podcast episode on that one. I also think the duel between Hanshiro and Hikokuro might be my favorite sword fight in cinema.

[@bagggers9796]

Seppuku/Harakiri is an unbelievably good movie

[@ElectricIguana]

Still waiting on that Terminator 2 ranking.

[@samoppedisano3994]

It amazes me how often I want to revisit this considering the runtime. Aside from the action, I feel like it has so much to say and I get something new every time.

[@jeffk3801]

Exactly! For as long as it is I consider there to be not an ounce of fat on it. Even the "love story" reflects the way the villagers view the samurai.

[@matthewjmcnaughton]

I've listened to all of these episodes, it's by far my favorite CineFix long-form content. The fact that you three know which movie you're talking about but don't know the rank is fantastic. Can't wait for six more seasons!

[@CineFix]

and a movie... jk

[@fastfishtoo4991]

but like two of them haven't even seen it? And one hadn't even heard of it??? It's fkn Seven Samurai ffs, why are these people even in the discussion?

[@alexwright4040]

Love this movie. My mum introduced me to this and Rashomon when I was about 14. She has the posters framed in our hall.

[@Uncle_T]

As for Kikuchiyo's sword it's an ōdachi or nodachi and they were actually that big and quite popular for several centuries, so it's not as ridiculous as it might seem. But it sure fits the character to a T. :)

[@hitachicordoba]

IIRC it was more common in the Heian/Kamakura era and was replaced by the katana in the Muromachi/Sengoku era

[@axnyslie]

It's been pretty well established now that Star Wars would not exist without Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone. The influence of Seven Samaria in modern cinema cannot be overstated.

[@stephenkeen5737]

Basically everything from Lucas, Spielberg, Scorcese, Coppola are hugely influenced by him. If not story like Star Wars (which also borrows from Dune and many other things) then cinematic style, action, character development, etc.

[@eyespliced]

_Let's go!_ I wish this channel got the support it deserves. Always stoked to see a new video!

[@Shiva108]

3.74 million subscribers sounds like plenty...

[@eyespliced]

@@Shiva108 one would indeed think that.... but :/

[@roel.vinckens]

Blueprint of the now not so modern cinema. It just works on so many levels. Why Kurosawa is up there with the greats.

[@nilocalayag4387]

Lets not forget that kurosawa was also part of making Gojira 1954

[@Babelmenas]

you mean greatest? man inspired stars wars, dollars trilogy

[@Germania9]

What's not often talked out is how Seven Samurai, and Akira Kurosawa in general, is a huge influence on anime. Sure, there was a Samurai 7 anime in the 00s, plus the interview with the famed director by Hayao Miyazaki, but beyond that, not a lot has been discussed.

[@JpBoudreaux]

Isn’t the infamous Anime bloodspurt effect inspired by the malfunction in Yojimbo?

[@austinuhr8459]

@@JpBoudreaux I don't think I've ever seen confirmation, but it's almost impossible to think otherwise

[@juancomco]

I can't believe that after countless references in every list done by cinefix. It was not on Clint's top 100.

[@darinfoat8410]

Regarding the anecdote about Mifune threatening Kurosawa with a gun - I knew that they became estranged from each other at some point, and only partially reconciled later in life. But I didn't think that the initial estrangement happened during the production of this film. After all, they made nine more movies together after Seven Samurai. That would be hard to do if they weren't talking to each other. I heard that they finally fell out after all of the production delays on Red Beard.

[@hitachicordoba]

Reminds me of the similar Werner Herzog/Klaus Kinski incident. Maybe Great Drama requires great drama lol

[@skarbone1]

Consensus is Red Beard is when their falling out happened.

[@jphilb]

Good to see Season 2. Very glad y’all are in the same room again!

[@lil----lil]

Watching this films as a child. Watching it again, as an adult. HUGE, BIG, Gargantuan difference.

[@roel.vinckens]

Robocop above 7 Samurai is pure comedy !

[@Deraphim]

I love seven samurai discussions. I always hear a different interpretation of the ending

[@MrMann0123]

One and a half hours!!!! Good to know you will do it justice

[@bencarlson4300]

It should be noted that Kurosawa was heavily inspired by John Ford’s early westerns like Stagecoach, so if Seven Samurai is the “grandfather” to a lot of later westerns and action films, then Stagecoach is the “great-grandfather”. It went both ways

[@samoppedisano3994]

Yeah but IMO the difference is that this movie is a bit better than stagecoach.

[@bencarlson4300]

@@samoppedisano3994 Absolutely, Seven Samurai is way better than Stagecoach, but Stagecoach also came out 15 years earlier

[@noahegr3341]

I think Kurosawa's work is the 'grandfather' to Spaghetti Westerns rather than American Westerns. I also was under the impression that Yojimbo was an even bigger influence on (Spaghetti) Westerns than Seven Samurai.

[@austinuhr8459]

I'm really happy to see this one on here; Ran is my favorite Kurosawa, but this one's really high on the list.

[@SebastianHernandez-nq2st]

That episode of The Mandalorian was straight off a copy of Seven Samurai

[@ogur1990]

Great episode, glad you're back. In top 10 3h movies that earned its runtime I'm placing my bet on Gone With the Wind.

[@JpBoudreaux]

First time seeing Clint’s face and bro is dollar store Pedro Pascal?

[@graduator14]

Peso Pascal?

[@JpBoudreaux]

@@graduator14 BRO 💀

[@CineFix]

bravo

[@JpBoudreaux]

@@CineFix meant 100% respectfully of course.

[@aleksandarmahdik377]

If you ever do a top ten three hours plus list, I believe Novecento definitely deserves a mention at least. And if you ever do a top ten one hour plus Cinefix podcasts, this episode needs to be on that list.

[@Zed-fq3lj]

Many people tend to put 'Kagemusha' and 'Ran' as greatest Kurosawa's movies, but 'Seven Samurai' was the game changer for the whole movie industry, a deserved place here. My personal favourite is still 'Rashomon' though 😍 (hoping to see that one on CineFix list), also 'High and Low' is worth considering.

[@hitachicordoba]

The ending of Ikiru had me crying as much as Grave of the Fireflies

[@noahegr3341]

Really?; I always thought Kagemusha was seen as a bit of an underrated gem in Kurosawa's filmography that got outshone by Ran (I've yet to see Kagemusha to be honest). High and Low is my personal favorite of his, hope to see it on this list.

[@noahegr3341]

@@hitachicordoba Ikiru has a beautiful ending indeed; I also think that Ikiru's critique on bureaucracy is still relevant for today's free market-system, making that movie all the more timeless in my opinion.

[@Zed-fq3lj]

Spielberg and Lucas helped Kurosawa with Kagemusha (financially and logistically), so naturally their names added much publicity to the movie, and objectively or not hehe🤔 they both consider it to be his the best after Seven Samurai.@@noahegr3341

[@seanmcginnis4112]

Thankfully back in-person again.

[@andim.8788]

Cinefix and seven samurai man never fails

[@noahegr3341]

I really enjoy this podcast; it's always exciting to see what movie will be revealed to have a (not) top 100 spot next. My personal favorite movie of all time is Yasujiro Ozu's Late Spring so I'm hoping to see that one on here, but I actually think Tokyo Story might've sooner secured a spot...but you never know since the list is already filled with surprises as is; Robocop that high up the list is the biggest surprise to me so far :)

[@noahgarner9382]

I also think Late Spring is the best movie ever! It'd be a killer epispde

[@colesnyder259]

This came out the day after I watched it for the first time, what timing.

[@evanrabuhlay]

I love Cinefix so much but to have two of the three hosts not have this movie make their top 100 list is absolutely fucking insane.

[@sonnyrikhi]

Every movie made after birth of a nation, seven samurai & The Godfather was impacted by these 3 masterpieces. ( you may not agree with content of first, but filmmaking yes)

[@spideyman2099]

Man, I haven't seen this since college. Gotta watch it again. You can definitely feel it's influence to this day. Also, I'm with Dan. Not a fan of 3 hour movies you can count on 2 hands the movies that make it work imo. Obviously Lotr and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly haha

[@kaithefilmgeek]

It’s nice that the mic is nicely in focus 😁

[@rocko7711]

awesome commentary

[@hanshotfirst1138]

It’s amazing to me that a movie that’s 207 is one of the best models of economy I’ve ever seen. There’s not one unnecessary frame.

[@TheHaspinator]

Drink every time someone says "to your point" ... love you guyys :*

[@DadCanInJapan]

There is only one thing wrong with this movie. At one point, one of the peasants stabs a bandit and it looks like is little more than a flesh wound. Yet the bandit dies. Other than that, I think this is the perfect movie (Seen it over 30 times; #1 on my list). I showed it to my son who is not into 3-hour movies and it breaks down very nicely. Part 1 was assembling the gang and travelling to the village, ending where Kikuchiyo gets the village to accept them. Part 2 deals with the town and the preparations, ending with the funeral of Heihachi and Kikuchiyo raising the banner. Part 3 is the battle. We did this over 3 days and had good discussions after each part about the plot and the characters. It Is interesting that Kikuchiyo is the one that is the transition between the 3 parts.

[@DadCanInJapan]

They restored it back in 1990(?) and I saw it at a cinema in Japan with my Japanese girlfriend. She hadn't seen it before and the rest of the audience were old people. Being in Japan, it did not have English subtitles. At one point, I leaned over and said to my girlfriend that I love this line coming up ("find hungry samurai"). She turned and asked if I understood the Japanese. I said no, but I have seen this movie so many times that I know what they are saying.

[@roel.vinckens]

Waiting for that Top 10 3 hour movies now... I'll start making my own.

[@travisspaulding5835]

I took Kombei’s words at the ending very differently. I do not think this was a new experience for him at all. Rather I think this is another piece of his character reveal. At the beginning he said he had always been on the losing side of every battle. By the end you’re wondering how this could possibly be true, as he is so wise and masterful at commanding those around him. When he reflects upon the 4 graves at the end and says we lost this battle too, as the victory belongs to the peasants, I believe we are getting some insight into how he views war. There are no winners, as the cost is ALWAYS too great. He knew this going in. He likely has lead those around him to many victories in his life, but “victory” in this line of work is a myth. Daisuke and Yoshio had both fought with him before, and were ready to die by his side this time if necessary, something tells me that loyalty was not earned by truly “losing” every battle.

[@ParthPatel-no7kc]

Excellent remark on Shimada Kambei but only Daisuke's character fought with him before, Yoshio's character never met him before the events of the film.

[@mizuman1687]

Kurosawa stated he was inspired by sweeping John Ford Western epics....then he inspired future american directors..Like Ford..with Seven...a perfect circle.

[@marknieuweboer8099]

For me it went the other way round - Seven Samurai was the first epic action movie I saw. It set the standard for me, so many movies in this genre made afterwards feel like failures. One example is cheesy (relatively speaking) Saving Private Ryan.

[@nilocalayag4387]

We need a vid on why Godzilla is one of the most loved and most longest franchise ever produced

[@stephenkeen5737]

Hopefully in context of Godzilla minus one. 😊

[@jadu9868]

Good podcast

[@jeffry1961]

Robert Parker, who wrote the Spencer books, did his own version of Seven Samurai called Potshot. It has Spencer gathering six tough guys from former books, including Hawk, to chase off a biker gang that is terrorizing the small town of Potshot. Spoiler alert they do, but none of the seven die, though one or two, get a boo boo.

[@skarbone1]

Man if Cal hates 3 hour movies I wonder how he would feel about The Human Condition lol.

[@SecondLineNews]

How about a rundown of prior Top 100 at some point during the current episode?

[@thunderb4stard80]

Yahhhhhhoooooooo I love this series wonder when godfather comes out as number 1😂

[@ajmatheson2807]

There needs to be an updated reveal list at the beginning/end so we know what movies are where in the list.

[@alexutzu24ianuarie]

I love these series but the audio quality has always been horrible

[@elephantden]

We talked about Seven Samurai’s legacy and what it means to film lovers here Seven Samurai - Movie Review kzbin.info/www/bejne/l17Em4x-gL9qbrM

[@AshliMako]

Good stuff!

[@LynnHermione]

3 hour movies are great. Yours is a very priviledged perspective. for some of us a movie ticket is expensive, if I am payign that I want as much movie as aI can. I am not paying for a 90 minute movie unless it's Ghibli. Like, if the movie is good, MORE movie is always better! If it is not,, then the movie wasn't good!

[@daffyrwt]

When I was younger, I loved long movies for the reasons you mentioned, but as I got older I found it harder to invest in watching longer movies as I had less time to spend. You can shout "privileged perspective" all you want, but yours also sounds privileged too.

[@philliplapkovitch311]

I remember the first time I saw this on channel 6 coming out of Miami Florida they would play the same movie all week long I watched it three or four times then

[@MrMann0123]

Two in one week!

[@paulcontois9457]

The single most influential movie ever made is THE BIRTH OF A NATION.

[@theunskilledshinigami7623]

49:58 "It's like adding a fourth line to a haiku" Just wait until this guy finds out about a tanka poem. It's like a haiku with five lines.

[@paulstroud9686]

The stair scene in John Wick makes the movie, because of the Oh No! moment

[@theonlymegumegu]

I'm pretty sure I'm much closer to Clint in age than Cal, which made me laugh harder when he didn't know "buster sword" XD

[@Kamila_Koziol]

I understand the hatered of 3h movies. I'm already pissed sitting down to watch it. Having said that I've seen The Wailing multiple times and would watch again. And I think the movie took the 3 hours to give us space to fall in love with characters that will be screwed over later.

[@travisspaulding5835]

Shocked by how short this episode is lol. Seems like you guys would have a lot more to talk about considering the influence and length of the film. You guys have done 90 minutes on 90 minute movies before by comparison 😅

[@carmawarlock8455]

I appreciate Cal is a fan of Final Fantasy. Clint doesn't seems like he has any idea what a buster sword is. What a boomer

[@rocko7711]

❤❤

[@folarinosibodu]

This channel is so obsessed with Seven Samurai.

[@DocXango]

Rightfully so

[@AllRequired]

"In the early 16th century, Japan was in the throes of civil wars, and farmers everywhere were being crushed under the iron heels of cruel bandits."

[@rogueprince1341]

So District 9 is going to be included in season 2 sometime?

[@michaelholmes3750]

Thelma Schoonmaker. Please...

[@jordancollins444]

Who has the current ranking of all the movies so far

[@CineFix]

It’s in the description here!

[@Not_So_Slim_Shady]

It hurt me on a deep level listening to that guy talk about long movies and John Wick 4

[@stephenkeen5737]

Wait....the 3 amigos is top 100?? Did each person choose one 7 samurai for their list? 😂

[@orion7555]

I’ve always wanted to be the first comment. 🙂

[@BritInvLvr]

Wow. Now I consider two of these people movie hacks. And you know why.

[@santos8468]

Does Dan actually exist?

[@rocko7711]

😍😀😆😁😬😄😃

[@HelgaCavoli]

53:16 Disagree. I hated the length of Killers of flower moon. I was SO tired of so many details and long ass shots.. it needed a better editing to tell the SAME story. I also agree with the native actress: unnecessary to show so much of the ladies death. It's a BAD image for us to REMEMBER them by.

[@fastfishtoo4991]

why are these people talking about this if they haven't even seen the fkn film?

[@joso7228]

Alien?

[@ShineOnYouCD]

Two in one week? Better than 3 a month lol

[@Ian-ky5hf]

I hate the idea the a 3 hour movie is inherently bad.

[@minimal75]

They do know that John Wick 4 isn’t a 3+hr movie, right? Or was this a bit? To spend so much time on a Seven Samurai podcast complaining about another movie and basing it on an incorrect reasoning is something. I mean, maybe for him it felt like it was longer than it actually was but the official runtime is 2h49m. 😉

[@lukaskonrad463]

The idea of a theme for each “season” kinda feels pointless to me

[@pvthitch]

I prefer Throne of Blood.

[@ohigetjokes]

Never watched you guys before. 3:15 you guys discuss not loving Groundhog Day. Welp, next video then…

[@calidofrio13]

unsubscribed.

[@LynnHermione]

Dude WHY are you even watching john wick?? that's like watching rambo and complaining it's not enough of a romantic comedy. the WHOLE POINT of john wick is watching keanu gunkata guys for as long as possible, maybe if you get bored of watching keanu gunkata guys you shouldn't watch "keanu gunkatas guys: the movie"

[@MGCaverly]

I have not seen 7 Samurai and I got through 8+ minutes of this clip; this meaningless rubbish before quitting.I didn’t particularly want to watch the film before watching the clip and want to even less now. Oh well …

[@esecaonepuerco]

Citizen Kane

[@MackinOz]

Learn about archetypes guys. The reason you feel you "know" the seven samurai is because they are archetypes. Go read some Jung or even Joseph Campbell.