Rating: 
Summary: A Wild Ride
Review: This is one of the most thoroughly entertaining movies I have ever seen! The first forty minutes are stunningly sleazy! A delight to the eyes and ears. The middle is a bit technical but still incredibly fascinating. The last thirty minutes takes you on a rollercoaster ride you won't soon forget! It is my favorite of all Kurosawa/Mifune collaborations! I'm not going to say more except.....Sit back and enjoy!!!
Rating: 
Summary: wonderful detective thriller set in post-war japan
Review: This is the third collaboration between Kurosawa and Mifune. Although "mediocre" compared to their other masterpieces, Stray Dog is a thriller that has more character complexity (whydunit) and plot intrigue (whodunit) than the average effort. Mifune is not bad as the stoic (compared to his more well-known roles) but persistent Murakami, and here we see Shimura as a mentor that recalls the infallible Kambei from Seven Samurai. One of the assets of Stray Dog is, obviously, the wonderful portrayal of post-war Japan, the various characters of the "low-end" of society: Black market dealers, bar-girls, and ordinary do-gooders all try to stay just above the poverty and starvation line - while maintaining their dignity in front of police interrogation. Kurosawa's editing is masterful in this film, as can be seen in the baseball game sequence and Mifune's memorable romp through the slums. The final encounter between Murakami and his subject of pursuit (Ko Kimura's first role for Kurosawa) is breathtaking - lyrical humanism for which the one and only director-sensei is known for.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful detective thriller set in post-war japan
Review: This is the third collaboration between Kurosawa and Mifune. Although "mediocre" compared to their other masterpieces, Stray Dog is a thriller that has more character complexity (whydunit) and plot intrigue (whodunit) than the average effort. Mifune is not bad as the stoic (compared to his more well-known roles) but persistent Murakami, and here we see Shimura as a mentor that recalls the infallible Kambei from Seven Samurai. One of the assets of Stray Dog is, obviously, the wonderful portrayal of post-war Japan, the various characters of the "low-end" of society: Black market dealers, bar-girls, and ordinary do-gooders all try to stay just above the poverty and starvation line - while maintaining their dignity in front of police interrogation. Kurosawa's editing is masterful in this film, as can be seen in the baseball game sequence and Mifune's memorable romp through the slums. The final encounter between Murakami and his subject of pursuit (Ko Kimura's first role for Kurosawa) is breathtaking - lyrical humanism for which the one and only director-sensei is known for.
Rating:
Summary: A dark, striking film
Review: This Japanese film noir was one of director Akira Kurosawa's earliest films, starring (a very young!) Toshiro Mifune as a police detective whose pistol has been stolen and fenced on the black market. The rookie cop carries a samurai-like sense of personal responsibility for the crimes that are committed with his gun following his lapse in vigilance; this sense of honor is not shared by his fellow officers, who hold a more pragmatic, modern view of things. Slow moving in the first half, the film picks up steam at the end, climaxing in as grim a showdown as any American movie of the same era. What takes so long is Kurosawa's presentation of pre-corporate, postwar Japan, which, with it's drug use, prostitution and ramshackle, peeling plaster slums is very different from the ultramodern, sleek image of Japan today. The transition into an American-oriented popular culture is extensively explored, from the jazz music and Hawaaian tunes that flood through the streets to a (somewhat belaboured) day at the baseball field. Takashi Shimura, who later played the philosophically-minded leader of "The Seven Samurai," also stars, as the veteran detective who shows Mifune the ropes. Kurosawa devotees will want to check this out -- it's worth hanging in there for the plot to develop.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful!
Review: Two things struck me about the movie. One was the way Kurosawa conveys the impression of heat. The main characters are constantly mopping their brows. I think there's a metaphor there about the heat of the chase and the heat/humidity of Japanese summers (they do get awfully hot and humid). Then there's the end of the movie, when the murderer gives up to Mifune, whose unflagging pursuit has begun to represent the inevitability of fate. I really enjoyed this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Another Kurosawa gem!
Review: Vastly underrated film, wonderful portrait of post war Japan. Mifune is masterful
Rating:
Summary: The best of Kurosawa's "postwar" movies
Review: While this Kurosawa offering may sometimes seemed stalled, the camera work and studies of human nature in postwar Tokyo are a veritable time capsule. Entering the film somewhat late, Shimura, as the elder, more experienced detective, is a characterization of the older, prewar generation that helped restore structure to Japanese life in the late 40's. Mifune, whose character was a war veteran, desperately tries to recover a pistol stolen from him by a pickpocket, only to find that the weapon is now being used by a criminal who has murdered several people with it. Mifune's energetic and intense portrayal is balanced by Shimura's calm and mentoring approach. This is, in my opinion, one of Kurosawa's finest films, and one of his best character studies.
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