Sanjuro

Toshirô Mifune and Akira Kurosawa are once again in very good shape, so their collaboration simply works. Samurai films in this rendition have their own poetry, they have good characters and honestly, I'm quite glad that this time Akira Kurosawa wasn't too extravagant and settled for a film with a runtime of one and a half hours. (31/03/2018)

Weaker in content, but a royally entertaining and straightforward guide for aspiring samurai, where Mifune brings the nature of his legendary character to absolute perfection and manages to entertain this time even better than Kurosawa himself, who presents us with a story too flat and almost theatrical that focuses only on a very small narrative space. Still, it's great fun and a must for fans of both film greats. 80% (27/08/2015)

So far probably the weakest Akira Kurosawa film that I have seen. Samurai films in general do not sit well with me and I am wondering in vain whether it is due to a different culture or directorial incompetence, but overall it seems to me that the actors were overacting and there was a sense of pathos and posing in their performances. The plot itself is relatively simple and naive, and some of the dialogues seemed to me as if they were from another world. The leader of the mercenaries immediately befriends a completely unknown samurai and reveals important plans to him, which threaten both his superiors and himself. At the same time, in the conversation, he proudly admits that he is a heartless wretch - I have come across many unique scoundrels in my life, but none of them admitted to doing something immoral, let alone proudly proclaiming it. The fight scenes are exaggerated, and Mifune's samurai effortlessly dispatches ten opponents without noticeably getting out of breath - but that kind of thing is somehow part of the genre. Overall impression: 45%. What is positive about Sanjuro is that it does not take itself too seriously and the light-hearted tone saves a lot... (20/04/2008)

I’m not sure whether Akira Kurosawa meant it as a joke, but it was quite funny. At the same time, you could feel the respect from the actors and also respect of the actors to the samurai craft as such. The whole thing is very mature and full of pearls of wisdom, just like is usual with Akira Kurosawa. (22/01/2019)