Delayed Reaction: Seven Samurai

The Pitch: Seven Samurai are called in to protect a village from bandits.

My first Kurosawa. It's embarrassing that it took me this long. In my defense, this is long as hell and got hard to schedule around.

What immediately struck me was how differently divided it was from the standard movie formula these days. Half the movie is defending the town. That would be the last 30 minutes of a 2+ hour film if made today. The first act establishes the characters and the stakes well, and the second act stays fresh with new ways to fight off the bandits.

It's hard for me to wrap my mind around how influential this was. It may not be the first time different things were done with this structure, but it's the first time all the elements were put together successfully and on a large stage. Because of that, I spent more of the movie thinking about all the other movies that used the same elements. There's really not a bad thing to say about it.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend