Rating: 
Summary: save for a few scratches in the print, this is a great DVD
Review: I myself am one with those who wonder how on earth this Criterion version of Yojimbo ended up having that huge, ugly scratch mark on the print. It just stops me from giving it a full 5-star mark.But that aside, this DVD is still a great DVD. It's actually my favorite among the Kurosawa-Mifune movies, simply because it is so much fun. the Mifune swagger, perfectly timed with the catchy beat of the soundtrack, is unforgettable. his huge confidence, his arms still drawn in, his shirt sleeves hanging limp and empty while his enemies menacingly surround him, is almost too funny. The lines I like the most come from the "coffins" chapter, where Mifune tells the wannabes "you have such cute faces", then proceeds to tear through them with ease, then with typical panache, tells the cooper (coffin maker) to make two coffins, no, make that three. I don't think I have seen any Hollywood actor, except perhaps the young Paul Newman, act so cool under stress. Even Clint Eastwood's turn in "A Fistful of Dollars" pales in comparison. Then of course, the twists and turns as he manipulates both gangs. Even the way he mocks the boss' wife by calling himself a "nobody", taking the name of some vegetable he saw in the garden through the window. Then his low moments. The way he recovers his strength, the way he prepares to neutralize the enemy's pistol by mastering knife-throwing. You'd think he doesn't stand a chance, until it happens. Those harrowing death scenes. And finally, the sight of Yojimbo leaving town, arms drawn in, sleeves empty and limp on his sides, swaggering to the beat of the soundtrack as the movie ends. It's worth it. And you can always trade-in that crappy "Last Man Standing" to pay off some of the cost of "Yojimbo". It's a trade I would make anytime.
Rating: 
Summary: Eat your heart our Bruce Willis
Review: To tell you the truth I had not watched "The Last Man Standing", which was the hollywood version of the Kurasawa Masterpiece "Yojimbo". "Yojimbo" as of many Kurasawa movies is set in 18th to 19th Century Japan. The whole plot revolves around a Samurai called Sanjuro (played by Toshiro Mifune, who gives a brilliant performance throughout the film), who without any lord over him, roams from town to town in search of shelter and food, and sometimes as in the case of this movie's plot serves as a messiah in disguise. Sanjuro walks into a town where he sees everything is deserted, and in the course of the movie comes into the only bar in the town. There the bartender tells him of the ill fate that has befallen this town, as two gambling clans have risen and started to fight for power, and the course of this, the town has taken in their sides to make their share of profits. He also wittingly comments that the only people making most out of this is the coffin maker, who is working night and day to fill his coffins. He also says that the sheriff is scared and is just a clown in the act. As all good people the bar tender advices the Samurai to leave town, but as heroes are he decides to stay and set things right, and from here the action takes over. Though the plot may seem shallow, but in the hands of a master with special humerous touches, and brilliant acting and especially brilliantly shot sequences, with some brilliant music, the movie is truly a masterpiece. "Yojimbo", has that subtle special touch which only a master can deliver, which lacks deeply in the "The Last Man Standing" which focuses more on the action than the cause. Bruce Willis though a fine actor at times, cannot match upto the great Toshiro Mifune in one of his career best performances. The movie is fast paced and action packed, with a superb screenplay, and masterfully dramatised. Truly one of the greats out there. Fans of "The Last Man Standing", should see this for sure, to see the real masterpiece that went into working of the hollywood subordinate. For the people who are looking for information about the quality of the DVD, the movie has been brillianltly restrored by Criterion, and the DVD quality is Very Good. No problems here.
Rating:
Summary: Yojimbo inspired many awesome movies.
Review: Here are the pros. and conts:
Good:
* A character use a gun pretending that his hand isn't holding anything (this idea inspired johnny Depp in One Upon Time in Mexico).
* There is blood and gore but is not THAT intense. (very similar to the movie Naked Prey in 1965).
* The wind blowing while Yojimbo walks inspired many japanese animations.
* The village setting inspired the videogame Way of the Samurai. (The village is the only setting in the movie)
* Cool moves by Toshiro Mifune.
* There are many suspense scenes.
Bad:
* No colors, just black and white.
* There are like 3 action scenes and only two were memorable, most of the movie is blah,blah,blah.
* No sword-sound when Yojimbo slash his enemies.
* There was NO snow-battle in the movie as I expected (I saw this calendar called Yojimbo showing a rabbit dressed up like a samurai with his sword fighting in the snow, I though that would appear in the movie.)
P.S: This movie didn't have to be in black and white, the movie Samurai in the 50's also starting Toshiro Mifune was made in good colors and the movie is also a classic like Yojimbo but if the director Akira Korusawa liked black and white then "bummer!".
Adios!
Rating:
Summary: A Japanese "western" of a different kind
Review: Kurosawa follows a simple story of a lone free-lance samurai (Mifune) who arrives in a town and is informed of the destruction that is caused by the war between two clans of ruthless gamblers. Then he decides to play the game in his own rules and annihilate the thugs through cunning and deception. Along the way, the brave samurai does not avoid a few harrowing moments where he nears death, but his excellent mastery of the sword, his quick thinking and his superior morality triumphs in the end. It is a tradional japanese film which does not have many battle scenes, or fantastically choreographed swordplay but very good acting.
Rating:
Summary: Movie History Treasure!
Review: This "Eastern Translation of Wild West Lore" inspired Sergio Leonne to make the first "Spagetti Western", "A Fist Full Of Dollars." Viewing the two side by side is a real hoot! Thanks so much for making this available.
Rating: 
Summary: Two words: non-anamophic
Review: Ok, we all know the film is brilliant, but this DVD rates very low. The transfer is non-anamorphic, and the subtitles are placed out of frame. This means that if you have a widescreen set and you need to see the subtitles, you are stuck with a very small image. Not only that, but the resolution of the image isn't nearly as high. It's unprofessional and stupid to format any widescreen DVD this way, especially something as awesome as a Kurosawa film.
Rating:
Summary: Yo, Toshiro!
Review: Yojimbo is great entertainment. What's not to like about this rootless ronin, wandering..who knows where? I love the opening scene with Toshiro's mighty back, his face toward the mountain. How oddly Paramount-ish the film is..anybody remember the Indiana Jones scene with Indy's back...Indy looking at the mountain. Spielberg said that, as a kid, he used his own crayola version of the mountain logo (Spielberg means "play-mountain" in German).
We know how much he and Lucas loved Kurasawa films..they point to the Hidden Fortress, but, heck, what about Yojimbo? Oh, I think they took a page from Kuraswa's notebook, don't you? Check the two scenes against one another. You'll see.
Yeah, It's influential. I won't go into the American Westerns influenced by the film. Let's say this: It's fabulous dark entertainment, and, after viewing other Kurasawa films, perhaps Yojimbo gains a certain depth. One recognizes characters from other films..it's like seeing family members in a whole new light with new skills that surprise you, make you respect them. Ok. Maybe not Toshiro Mifune. He's always cool. I always love him. He's always compelling to watch, even when he isn't really doing anything. There's always the potential for action that thrills.
Hey, and what cooler scene in any movie than the dog walking down the street with a human hand in its mouth, then the pan to Mifune, and his reaction?
Absolutely priceless.
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Cool
Review: I just recently watched this movie for the first time. I always heard about this movie and how the Clint Eastwood movie ripped this one off. After watching it I must say its awsome. Very cool and funny, Akira Kurosawa put the movie together so well. The music is funny and catchy. For an old film it really shines, the dvd version is a good buy and i found nothing wrong with it. Pick this one up for sure.
Rating:
Summary: This Sword for Hire
Review: The name Kurosawa is good enough to recommend any movie and it was with the director in mind that I sat down to watch this movie. It is the story of a lone, out of work, samurai who wanders into a town where there is an on-going feud. He gets involved in the feud by putting himself up for hire to the highest bidder. The movie then evolves into a morality play and we find ourselves cheering for a most unusual hero. Toshiro Mifune does an excellent job in the role of the Yojimbo; the bodyguard. He is coarse, strong, and seems to care only about himself. Nonetheless, he seems to be fighting the whole world just for the sake of the handful of innocents that inhabit the village. His strength in battle is his self-centered focus and his downfall comes as the result of his act of kindness. I'll let the viewers discover the ending of the movie for themselves.
Kurosawa's samurai movies resemble American Westerns. There is something about the independent samurai in Medieval Japan that resembles the lone-wolf gunslingers of the American West. Everyone familiar with Kurosawa knows that his "Seven Samurai" was remade into "The Magnificent Seven". If I'm not mistaken, "Yojimbo" was remade into "A Fistful of Dollars". Both genres enable the director to tell the story of good vs. evil through the perspective of an anti-hero; the warrior/gunslinger. This reminds us that there is good in potentially everyone (except those fighting against our anti-heroes). Thus we are all redeemable. Few are able to make this point on film as well as Akira Kurosawa.
Rating:
Summary: Not Kurosawa's greatest, but still something of a landmark
Review: Akira Kurosawa's 1961 action-comedy YOJIMBO (THE BODYGUARD) is not, I think, one of his greatest films, but it is still something of a landmark. It is a bitingly satirical variation on the reverential, suffocatingly noble American Western genre. There is no good or bad side to choose from in this film: both sides are ruthless and petty, and our hero, Sanjuro Kuwakatabe (Toshiro Mifune) means to destroy them both. Sanjuro himself is a memorable character, a samurai without a master who harbors no illusions, who looks at the warring factions of the film with complete cynicism. He's not a character with a lot of depth, and yet he is the most sympathetic character on the screen, standing supremely above all the thugs that populate the town. The character is arguably the template for a typical modern action-hero type: the man of little talk and all action.
If nothing else, YOJIMBO is an entertainingly kinetic piece of sheer filmmaking energy from that great visual stylist Akira Kurosawa. He has always had a penchant for memorable images, and the image he conjures forth of a dog running through the streets with a human hand in its mouth easily rival Taketori Washizu's death by arrows at the end of his THRONE OF BLOOD. Kazuo Miyagawa's widescreen cinematography is often striking even in black & white (emphasizing open spaces in the manner of many pictorial American Westerns), and the action scenes are hypnotically done.
And there really isn't much else to say here. It is hardly deep or philosophical in the Bergman manner, and it is not heavy on character development (although Sanjuro does briefly show a caring side behind the steely exterior), but it is often entertaining and even darkly comic and satiric at times. This isn't on the level of his THRONE OF BLOOD or SEVEN SAMURAI, two samurai-film masterpieces, but on its own rollicking terms it is a bravura piece of satirical action filmmaking. Kurosawa is playing the winking entertainer here, and damned if you don't get drawn into its cynical wit and high style too. Recommended.
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