Seven Samurai opened my eyes to how powerful a medium cinema truly is. I will always be grateful to Kurosawa for this

Ran is the most beautiful movie I ever saw. You could freeze frame almost any scene and get an incredible picture.

"Seven Samurai" is one of the greatest dramas ever. "Ran" is one of the most ferocious war movies ever.

Akira + Mifune.. Best combination...

Ikiru is more like the 7th best film of all-time than it is merely Kurosawa's 7th best. Arguably the most life-affirming film in all of world cinema.

Saw Seven Samurai when I was 17. Blown away! It's hard to make a film with such a huge cast funny, captivating and heart breaking all at once. One of cinema's ultimate best!

Not included here is one of Kurosawa's greatest lessons in humanity - Dodes'ka-den(1970). It's about how the lower class in the slums of 1960's Tokyo deal with their everyday existence of poverty. Which also juxtaposes his 1957 film The Lower Depths, an adaptation of the Russian play by Maxim Gorky. Kurosawa is a master story teller in describing how the human spirit with imagination can survive through horrid conditions and still find meaning in a very cruel world.

For an Asian filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa was a pioneer to break into international recognition. He inspired many Asians directors: John Woo (Hong Kong), Zhang Yimou (People's Republic of China), Ang Lee (Taiwan), Takeshi Kitano (Japan), Satyajit Ray (India), Hayao Miyazaki (Japan) and Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong).

When I first saw Ran at a young age, I was mesmerised by the colour scheme, lavish costumes, grand action scenes, strong visuals and stellar performances, it introduced me to Japanese cinema and I've been a Kurosawa fan ever since. Watching "Ran" was such an important memory to me that I even remember what I was eating at the time, a Philadelphia and grape wrap.

The reason this list is false is because they’re all perfect. There’s no top 10 when they’re all equal.

*Ikiru* is, by far, the saddest film ever made... and one of the most beautiful. *Takashi Shimura* singing *Gondola no Uta* both in the bar and park scenes is crushing... the bar scene for pure sadness, the park scene for both its sadness but also triumph and finality (not to mention the beauty of the cinematography). I'd definitely put it in the top 3 of Kurosawa's films, imho.

Akira Kurosawa is one of the best. Definitely in the top 5 filmmakers of all time!

I cried last night watching Seven Samurai, Kikuchiyo being just brought to ruin while saving the baby from the burning building, screaming “this is me! This is exactly what happened to me!” was just beautiful and sad, along with the whole movie.

Anyone watching before playing Ghost of Tsushima?

I honestly must thank Anime for this. Kurosawa was mentioned in some Anime, and I started watching a few of his movies. And it dumbfounded me, just what I'd been missing. Kurosawa movies turned me into a movie buff, eventually introducing me to Stanley Kubrick. Kurosawa's movies had magnificent cinematography, and some of the best pacing ever. Seven Samurai was a three and a half hour long movie. And I couldn't get off my chair.

I've read 'The Emperor and the Wolf' because of both Kurosawa and Mifune. It's a fascinating and insightful read on their relationship from beginning to end. Sad that they couldn't reconcile after 'Akahige' and I would've loved to have seen Mifune in 'Kagemusha' and 'Ran' as he would've brought a different level of acting.

Good list overall, but Akahige (Red Beard) and Tengoku to Jigoku (High and Low) should definitely be in the Top 5. Two absolute classics that showed how versatile the great man was.

I love Kurosawa fight scenes. So realistic and not a bunch of choreogrophy dance moves.

How amazing is a filmmaker when something like "Ran" or "Yojimbo" isn't even his best? One of the greatest ever.

Mifune is to me the Japanese Brando. Stunning man both physically & acting.

We respect Kurosawa's work, because we love his movies. As senior and film lover, I can distinguish and separate at least dozen directors I like who created about hundreds of marvelous films I love and watched them in many past decades. Every of them is unique, in some way not competitive. Thanks God for it, but we got choices and variety of beauty... Directors, and their films, are hardly comparable, because firstly we, people, are so different...

Ikiru is a beautiful film. It makes me cry just thinking about it. Highly recommended.

Not even a mention for Dreams? Outrageous!

I AM 46 years old..I saw one of his movies when I was a kid..the name escapes me..it had a lot of fighting in it. Seven Samurai!! Me thinks...Anyway..it blew me away, I could not take my eyes off of the screen, I didn't want to leave the TV even to go to the bathroom and almost shit myself. The immersion in that movie is otherworldly.

I was mesmerized by 'Ran' when I first watched it. Truly a magnificent film.

Kurosawa released a collection of shorts in later years under the title, "Dreams." Variously evoking psychological, cultural, spiritual, and even political themes without words, each vignette comes across as a spectacular visual haiku.

RIP Kurosawa. You were a hero of filmmaking.

These are all great choices, but it's really hard to put together a top10 list of Kurosawa's films. He truly was a magnificent director; George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola among many others honored him as the master of his craft. Coppola even referred to him as the Great Father of Screen Violence.

Would've loved to see "Dreams" get a mention somewhere, but it's pretty hard to get them all in. It's a testament to Kurosawa's brilliance that this list could also be called "10 of the Greatest Films Ever Made."

"Find hungry samurai," is one of the greatest lines ever uttered in cinema.

I wish there was another man like Toshiro Mifune !

Watchmojo finally made a good list. Know that's why I'm subscribed to your channel.

I've seen Kagemusha, Ran, Throne of Blood and The Seven Samurai. Great films all. I think Ran and Kagemusha were the most visually beautiful. Kurosawa does battle scenes of rival armies in beautiful colors sweeping down on each other. Quite stunning.

Seven Samurais. Never get tired of watching.

Very glad you make this list You Should do Top 10 Ingmar Bergman Films and Top 10 Federico Fellini Film

"Madadayo" and "Dreams" are SO beautiful I lack words. Ashame "Dreams" wasn't mentioned.

1) Seven Samurai 2) Ikiru 3) High and Low 4) Throne of Blood 5) Rashomon 6) The Hidden Fortress 7) Red Beard 8) Dersu Uzala 9) Ran 10) Kagemusha

Ikiru can make me weep from simply thinking about the swing scene. Moving, beautiful, and absolutely perfect.

Seven Samurai was my first Kurosawa flick and love it! I even find myself singing the theme sometimes. That’s how much I love it. I’d love to know the story that inspired it

The Bad Sleep Well should be on here as an honorable mention at least.

Yojimbo is my favorite Kurosawa film.

Dersu uzala would have been in my top 10 otherwise a great list

Great list ^_^ Made me happy. The only one I feel like NEEDS to be mentioned that wasn't is probably the most underrated Kurosawa film: The Quiet Duel. I highly recommend it to any fans.

I love Dersu Uzala 'cause it shows a perfect unity of man and nature. The story itself is very moving, too.

My Top 5: 1) Seven Samurai 2) Rashomon 3) Ikiru 4) Yojimbo 5) Ran

Kurosawa's Dreams (1990) is a criminally underrated film in AK's oevre. Sorry to see it absent from the list.

One of my favorite home video purchases was when I ordered Stray Dog through Suncoast Video for $16.00 and it turned out to be part of a three-pack VHS set of Stray Dog, High and Low, and The Bad Sleep Well. High and Low is probably my favorite Kurosawa film. I might seek out your no. 10 pick though after watching this video.

I am pretty aware of the influence Seven Samurai had,but for me Ran has to be nr.1. Also,Ikiru deserves a much higher position in this list. I guess all movies made by Akira Kurosawa are worth watching,so there is no point in ranking them :)

Ran is my favorite. it is a masterpiece!

Akira Kurosawa é o maior diretor em todos os tempos, ele filma e lê a mente do espectador, sensacional!

I was introduced to Kurosawa in the 70's and Dersu Uzala has stuck with me since then. An outstanding piece of work by a brilliant man. It followed the book by Vladimir Arsenyev very closely.

Can you please post a video of Top 10 movies of Satyajit Ray ?

This artist is one of the reasons why I aspire to become a filmmaker.

I haven't watched any of these but this list is a great method of watching Kurosawa's films. Thank you watchmojo.

Last October 5th i started seeing a kurosawa's film a day. Today I concluded by rewatching "High and Low", the first akira kurosawa's film I saw first 1 year ago. What an amazing journey!

Roshoman is my fav, that final "real" fight scene was so authentic. Both men scared for their lives, tired, shaking.

ok since Ghost of Tsushima is about to released soon now i'm intrigued! so the question here how I can watch all of these digitally since his movies are years before I was even born. lol

happy you guys make this list

"This fantastic filmmaker put Japanese cinema on the map." It was already on the map; it was in Japan. I shouldn't expect great writing from a listicle video, but come on.

The "Rashomon" plot,or rather a version of it,has become a favorite of sitcoms...as the story opens,something dramatic has happened.The participants,usually bickering with each other,are asked to explain what happened.Each one does,giving their own version but always casting themselves as the virtuous one.In some cases,one of the characters remains quiet for most of the proceedings,but it is from this person that we get the real story.

Each one is a class. Akira Kurosawa is indeed a legend...

Thank you for doing this list. You miss the bad sleep well though... Hopefully this could make people who never see kurosawa's movies before (and classic cinemas in general) discover the real great movies.

Very good list. Loved Takashi Shimura as the leader of the ronin in "Seven Samurai" and as the dying businessman in "Ikiru"

1.Has there been a list of "top Shakespeare adaptations"? 2. "Dreams" also deserves an honorable mention.

The greatest filmmaker in history if you ask me. Thanks for making this list!

I agree. Seven samurai is my favorite, too. I haven't seen all of them mentioned but will look for some of them soon. thanks!

The one I love the most is “After The Rain”, a beautiful movie that was an unexpected surprise the first time I watched it.

'Seven Samurai' One of the greatest movies I've ever scene

Toshiro Mifune's performance in Rashomon is one of the best of all time

Top 10 Federico Fellini Films

FINALLY!!!!!! Thank you for doing this!

Kurosawa é um dos grandes mestres do cinema! Dersu Uzala e Madadayo estão entre os meus queridos!

"Dreams" was the best for me. it was so artistic.

Thank you whoever pitched this idea for a list

Great list, makes me want to go back and watch them all again. With that said, here are a few adjustments I'd suggest. I think Stray Dog is a more complete film than Throne of Blood, so I'd shift Throne to the Honorable Mention list, put Stray Dog at #10 or #9 and shift the rest up, filling Throne's spot. I'd also contemplate swapping the order of Sanjuro and High & Low - or having them in a tie. High & Low's editing I believe was ground breaking. And finally, Dreams should have made the Honorable Mention list. If space was limited you would have to drop Madadayo in place of Dreams.

I always think High and Low is kind of underrated...well considering Kurosawa's other films, thats make sense somehow...Good List BTW.

It's a good list. It's hard to separate best and favorite, but for me *Ikiru* is his best. For films not on the list I think *Stray Dog* deserves to be there, and while *August Rhapsody* may not be, it is still one of my favorites. It's really hard to make comedic action movies that are among the greatest films ever made, but Kurosawa was able to do it (Wong Kar-wai too). MUCH aided by Mifune. Kurosawa is, in my opinion, one of the top 10 film makers of all time and of them all, he perhaps has the most masterpieces to his credit.

I'm glad to see "Red Beard" mentioned. It's one of my favorites.

I always have a good chuckle when the subject of Rashomon comes up, and "From a certain point of view..." comes to mind. It's usually said that "The Hidden Fortress" influenced George Lucas, but to be fair, it was "The films of Akira Kurosawa." For those who haven't seen much of his work, well, there are a few bits in the video you just watched that were referenced in the Star Wars movies, including the events in "Yojimbo" that lead up to "We're wanted men", and Dersu Uzala -- who first appears to be some kind of country rube before the captain and his men figure out just how talented and wise he really is -- is advising the captain to help him gather grass to build a shelter to help them survive a night in the Siberian wilderness. There's a little something like that in "Empire." 🙂

Kurosawa was definitely a phenomenal and inspiring director!

Akira Kurosawa es un verdadero genio !! De donde es posible bajar toda su filmografía ?

Ikiru made me cry, Rashomon intrigued me, and Yojimbo and Shichinin no Samurai were both funny and action-packed. I still have to see other movies from this list. Also thank you for no using dubbed clips, as someone who isn't a native English speaker, I appreciate movies and tv shows in their original languages (most of the time).

Second fun fact: Toshiro Mifune, who I loved in Yojimo, Throne of Blood and 7 Samurai, was origginally envissioned by Geroge Lucas to play Obi-wan Kenobi in Star Wars, but the studios said get some one more known to the western audiences. would have beeen interesting to see that version

I would replace Rashomon for Dersu Uzala any day! The film deserves to be in a top three pick.

Cute things to call your girl/boyfriend 1- Sugar 2- Honey 3- Flour 4- Egg 5- 1/2lb butter 6- Stir 7- Pour into pan 8- Preheat to 360 ____ Egg

Sanjuro, Yojimbo, Seven Samurai... everything samurai that Kurosawa and Mifune worked together on was amazing!

Akira Kurosawa was born in the house of a descendant of a samurai. He loved the ideas and actions of samurai. Samurai always walks in the middle of the road. And the eyes of the Samurai are sharp and their appearance is dignified. The difference between samurai and farmers, and people in town is clear. Samurai appearing in Kurosawa's movie can be distinguished clearly. Kurosawa took time to get the kimono of the actor getting used to.

Akira Kurosawa is Legend, everyone in Hollywood should bow to him

You should reeeaaaaaally do a Top 10 Ingmar Bergman films.

Interesting list, I don't think I ever heard of this director before, but I did hear of "Seven Samurai" and "Yojimbo". I may have to track down some of these movies sometime.

Akira kurosawa is one of the greatest directors the world has ever seen . He made so many great movies a lot of people associate him with samurai genre although he was versatile director high and low , Dersu Uzala are underrated masterpieces . His autobiography is also must read an awesome book for anyone kurosawa simply giant of world cinema.

7:50 Inspired nothing. As much as I love Sergio Leone, Fistful of Dollars was a shot-for-shot ripoff of Yojimbo. Kurosawa even sued Leone over it.

I think Ikiru is the best. It embodies Kurosawa's great humanism.

Ikiru is one of my favorites and I'm glad Red Beard got an honorable mention.

great list! some of my all time favourite movies!!! :)

This is my list, with the WatchMojo rankings in parentheses. I add a few comments also: 1. Seven Samurai (1) *a no-brainer 2. Rashomon (2) *a no-brainer 3. Ikiru (7) *much too low, it's one of his greatest. 4. Yojimbo (4) *exactly right 5. Throne of Blood (6) *pretty close to mine 6. High and Low (9) *This film is usually either under-rated or over-rated, imo. 6 seems right to me. 7. Ran (3) *I love it...but 3 is too high -, his black and white period at it's best was unbeatable. 8. Hidden Fortress (5) *much too high - delightful but a bit too lightweight for 5. 9. Sanjuro (8) *pretty close to mine 10. Kagemusha (10) *exactly right (all in all, not a bad TOP 10 for WatchMojo) Honorable Mention: 11. Stray Dog (not mentioned by WM) 12. Drunken Angel 13. Red Beard 14. The Lower Depths (not mentioned by WM) 15. Dersu Uzala *(in my opinion, Madadayo is not a near masterpiece - but is sweet and pleasant, though, as is Dreams)

When are we going to see a top ten Hayao Miyazaki list!

Seven samurai is amazing. He also did a movie w/ 4 short films called Dreams I believe. Really good

I thought I'd never see the day. WatchMojo does Kurosawa!

Hands down the most influential director in film history.