Rating: 
Summary: A Must!!
Review: If you are a favorite of korusawa this is a must. This film as others such as 7 Samurais are the basic for the famous spagettiwesterns that made Clint Eastwood famous. The coresponding Eastwood film to Yojimbo is an exact copy. I do beleive however that Korusawa in his black and white captures the people and details few other directors can match.Get it!!
Rating:
Summary: "three coffins... better make that four"
Review: "Yojimbo" may be Akira Kurosawa's most approachable film. On one level, it is pure entertainment. Mifune is perfect as the grubby super samurai. He embodies the anti-hero, the man-with-no-name who is not cultured or pure but still uses his strength on the side of the right. The bad men are clearly bad, and identify themselves as such. The fight scenes are flashy, unlike the realistic sword fights of "The Seven Samurai." On another level, "Yojimbo" shows Kurosawa's feelings about the encroaching capitalism and it's effect on Japanese culture. The businessmen have replaced the outlaw bandits and the villains. In a normal world, the corrupt Yakuza would swarm over the innocent workers and corrupt their children. Here, Kurosawa embodies a force of resistance. A samurai who can pit sword against pistol and out-fight ten men at once. He is a hero. It is precisely these metaphors that lifts "Yojimbo" beyond a simple chambra (swordfight) flick, and make it a Kurosawa movie. I highly recomend this film.
Rating:
Summary: Samurai Showdown
Review: After seeing this movie it amazes me that it predated so many of the westerns that we so love and think about. So much of the imagery that I associate with westerns (ie:showdowns, posses, drawing at high-noon) is present in this film. If this movie had never been remade into "Fistfull Of Dollars" it would have been an incredible shame because I know that this movie (or maybe 7 Samurai) was what introduced many, many people to the amazing world of foreign and/or Japanese films. After seeing this, it's no wonder at all to me that so many filmakers and writers cite Akira Kurosawa as a huge influence on their development. This movie, more than any other before it really solidified in my mind the concept of "The Anti-hero". Toshiro Mifune once again re-invents himself as a Samurai and manages to string you along on his journey as a Samurai truly intent on having his way with the people of this town. A masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Great Introspective Film!
Review: I recently ordered this film on DVD,though I have seen it more than once on IFC (Independent Film Channel) and I have always found Kirosawa's films to be reflective of real life situations. People are basically a cross between good and evil, with some variations of extremes between the two. The ronin in this film is like a robinhood type slash heroic type knight who certainly takes advantage of the stupid feud between two dominant houses but also he helps a young couple escape certain doom, however his plans backfire and...well I am not going to tell the whole movie. I think Akira Kirosawa was the best filmmaker that has ever lived, next to Kubrick and I dare say Lynch. If you have never seen this film before you should see it without a doubt, some of the best films are in monochrone black and white so don't let that bother you. This is a humorous and insightful film, dealing with human nature and how ridiculous people look when they go to extremes. It pays to just sit back and be a clearful observer, taking advantage from people guided solely by emotion.
Rating:
Summary: Wild Wild East.
Review: Derivative masterpiece that nonetheless spawned a derivative "fistful" of lesser movies. The obvious mistake to make about *Yojimbo* is to assume that it's simply a Japanese remake of a John Ford Western; a less obvious mistake is to judge that it overturns American Western conventions. Akira spawned an entirely new subgenre here, in my judgment: the nihilist gangster picture, made palatable for American audiences decades later by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, Martin Scorcese, and their ilk. While American movies like *White Heat* and *Scarface* (the original, of course) featured nihilist gangster anti-heroes, the moral tone of those pieces were thoroughly conventional and judgmental. There was a set of moral rules by which to measure the depredations of Cagney's gangsters. In *Yojimbo*, there are no rules . . . there's nothing worth fighting for except pure self-interest . . . there's no one or thing to believe in, quite possibly including the "hero", a master-less wandering samurai named Sanjuro. As Sanjuro, Toshiro Mifune (in arguably the most memorable -- if not necessarily the best -- performance of his brilliant career) wanders into a worthless village and soon finds himself caught in petty, cowardly warfare between two gambling bosses. Correctly deeming that each gang is nothing more than bloodthirsty buffoons, our hero promptly goes about the business of destroying the whole lot, possibly because they offend his sense of good taste. (Rather like Hannibal Lecter. Kurosawa's films just continue to echo on down, don't they?) The tone for the movie is set almost immediately, when Sanjuro runs across a son yelling at his father, "What's the use of eating porridge? A short, violent life for me!" . . . soon followed by the famous dog trotting happily down the village street with a severed human hand in its muzzle. (Which is now a cliche, it's been copied so much.) Unfortunately, the movie's nihilism is also now a cliche, done over and over by directors with all the same attitude and virtually none of the talent. I strongly urge the curious-minded to go to the "source": you'll know you're in for something special from the first frames, when you see Mifune hitching his shoulders and scratching at the lice in his hair while the wonderful score, which is a weird mix of traditional Japanese tonals and jouncy beatnik jazz, propels him along. [No "extras" on the DVD . . . though I personally feel that restored widescreen and sound are "extras" enough. It's a tiresome refrain, but once again one has to say "Bravo, Criterion!"]
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT FILM
Review: This is one of my all-time favorite films. In plain and simple terms, it's just one of the best adventure yarns ever to see the screen. Kurosawa was masterful in his direction, and Mifune and his co-stars give flawless performances. Far better than the creditable remake by Eastwood and company. I never get tired of watching YOJIMBO, and highly recommend it to any true film fan. This Criterion disk is up to their usual very high standards. Do yourself a favor and nab this baby for your dvd collection.
Rating:
Summary: One tough Ronin, and a great DVD
Review:
Yojimbo just kicks [butt]. Toshiro Mifune makes Clint Eastwood look about as tough as a crying schoolgirl. Mifune's ronin is a man without so much as a shadow of fear. You can just look at this guy when he's coming at you with his samurai sword, and you know you don't stand a chance.
The great thing about the ronin is you have no idea who this guy is or where he came from. You can only guess he was a high-ranking officer, or trusted vassal of a local daimyo. But now, in the new order, he's obsolete. So he turns to the road, and improves the world by eliminating the corrupt, the greedy, and the gangster-dogs who rob the honest.
Unlike most movies these days, the bad guys in this movie are show being bad. They are dirty, cowardly, stupid pack animals who are just begging to be cut down by ronin's sword.
So, buy this movie. Or at least rent it! If you like Westerns, you'll love this one. Even though it's an Eastern. The DVD is sparse on extras, but the English subtitles are very good and the translation is right on, much better than in previous versions.
-- JJ
Rating: 
Summary: Dark, semi-comedic Japanese western
Review: This is one of the better movies I've seen in a long time. "Yojimbo" (the Bodyguard) is about an out of work samurai at the end of the Tokugawa period.
The opening scene is fantastic. You get the "hero" striding down dusty roads with a certain apathetic cockiness. You don't see his face for several minutes in the beginning; there's just this great swaggering music with over the shoulder camera shots. I knew within the first three minutes this was going to be great. The main character (who refuses to give his name, and uses an alias that translates to "Mulberry Field" as its what he sees looking out the window when he's asked his name) is enigmatic, laid back, and not feeling a sense of urgency about anything. He has a bizarre sense of morality, wishing to rid the town of evildoers (by way of killing though.) He accomplishes this by being his own man, playing the weaknesses and insecurities of the two warring sides against one another, using his wits and wielding a mighty quick blade. The acting is magnificent; I just couldn't believe how good it was. Acting this is good is rarely seen these days. In addition to the comedic elements the movie is also unpredictable. There are countless scenes were you don't know the bodyguard's fate. This was my first Kurosawa film, but it definitely won't be my last.
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly Akira Kurosawa's best film
Review: Lone swordsman Sanjuro travels the Japanese countryside in the late 1800's. He comes upon a small town where two clans fight each other for power. Both clans decide that hiring Sanjuro to fight for their side could mean that they are victorious. The cynical but just Sanjuro uses this to play out the two clans against each other, creating confusion with every move. When he discovers that one of the clans hold a family hostage Main character Sanjuro is portrayed by the fantastic Toshiro Mifune. His minimalist approach to acting is second to none. Just like Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, he is able to say more with the raising of an eyebrow than most actors do with a thousand words. It is also a humorous film. Not humorous in the "South Park" way, but rather a dark sense of humour. Moments like when a grateful family that Sanjuro has rescued kneels before him and he shouts "Don't cry, I'll kill you if you cry!" are funny, and there are plenty of these short, humorous moments. This movie has been remade two times: first out was "A Fistful of Dollars", which was OK, but nowhere near as good as the original. Then came "Last Man Standing" which is nothing short of sacrilege. Imagine Beavis and Butthead making a version of Stanley Kubrick's "2001 - A Space Odyssey" and you'll get an idea of how bad it really is.
Rating:
Summary: The Best movie ever put to film
Review: Very simple. This movie is absolutely the best thing to ever be filmed. Ever. Toshiro Mifune acts his role, Kuwabatake Sanjuro, with a diamond edge. Sanjuro is easily the apex of mental Human evolution. If you havent' seen this movie, you know what your problem has been for the last 39 years.
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