Rating: 
Summary: A Great Adventure
Review: I love Toshiro Mifune. It's so wonderful to see him play this character. He cracks me up every time he does his little shoulder-twitch character trait. Brilliant!SANJURO delves a little deeper into his samurai character. There's some themes about killing and comparisons of his character to a good sword that should be sheathed. Other than that, it is flat-out adventure on the menu! Again, Kurosawa is a wonderful story teller. I find his work (the three films I've seen so far -- HIDDEN FORTRESS, YOJIMBO, and this one) to be so economical. He can add a wrinkle to the story with one word; one look. He truly transcends the language barrier because the storytelling is so good. I thought Criterion did another good job with the transfer. The trailer does, indeed, feature Kurosawa directing Mifune in an action sequence, which is interesting. I wish Criterion would use pictures on its chapter lists. When I want to access a certain scene and am unfamiliar with the movie it is hard to do based on chapter names that make no sense to me. Other than that, no qualms about the rest of the DVD. Next, I'd love to see HIDDEN FORTRESS on DVD. Criterion, are you listening ?
Rating:
Summary: Please don't bother the fine folks at Criterion.
Review: I would just like to say that (contrary to Mr. Albertsson's claim) Criterion's transfer for this and "Seven Samurai" are both fine. Any cropping of "Sanjuro" isn't noticeable, and the original aspect ratio for "Seven Samurai" is 1.37:1, making it a near perfect fit for a 1.33:1 television set. Also, I haven't seen it but a normally reliable friend told me that 'Zatoichi vs. Yojimbo' is very an abyssmal film, which leads me to believe that Mr. Albertsson is trying to pull a fast one.
Rating:
Summary: Now THAT is a samurai movie.
Review: I'll give it six out of five stars. It's got action, incredible duels and it's got humor. Incredible actors, not only Mifune, the older lady is amazing, the bad guy is really fantastic... hey, after all there is only one Akira Kurosawa, right?
Rating: 
Summary: Great entertainment from a Japanese master film-maker
Review: I'm pretty new to the works of Akira Kurosawa, but I know I'll be trying to develop my knowledge of his films. Sanjuro is the kooky story of a scruffy Samurai, "Sanjuro," who takes nine hapless young Samurai cubs under his wing during an insurrection. I have a few favourite scenes. At the very beginning of the film, when Sanjuro tells the nine the coast is clear, they pop out of the floorboards looking for all the world like a group of Japanese prairie dogs. The other scene is at the end, during the final confrontation between Sanjuro and Muroto. It's gory in a most entertaining fashion, and worthy of several rewinds. I enjoyed the, well, I wouldn't call it exactly sexual, tension between Sanjuro and the chamberlain's wife and daughter. Maybe it doesn't work out that way in Japanese, but in the English subtitles, there are some definite sexual undertones to the whole "sheathed sword" speech. The sub-titling is well-done, and none of the background speech goes untranslated, aside from one or two vocalisations of "hai." My limited Japanese skills sufficed quite well. I will be watching more of Kurosawa's films.
Rating:
Summary: Great entertainment from a Japanese master film-maker
Review: I'm pretty new to the works of Akira Kurosawa, but I know I'll be trying to develop my knowledge of his films. Sanjuro is the kooky story of a scruffy Samurai, "Sanjuro," who takes nine hapless young Samurai cubs under his wing during an insurrection. I have a few favourite scenes. At the very beginning of the film, when Sanjuro tells the nine the coast is clear, they pop out of the floorboards looking for all the world like a group of Japanese prairie dogs. The other scene is at the end, during the final confrontation between Sanjuro and Muroto. It's gory in a most entertaining fashion, and worthy of several rewinds. I enjoyed the, well, I wouldn't call it exactly sexual, tension between Sanjuro and the chamberlain's wife and daughter. Maybe it doesn't work out that way in Japanese, but in the English subtitles, there are some definite sexual undertones to the whole "sheathed sword" speech. The sub-titling is well-done, and none of the background speech goes untranslated, aside from one or two vocalisations of "hai." My limited Japanese skills sufficed quite well. I will be watching more of Kurosawa's films.
Rating:
Summary: "A good sword is best kept sheathed."
Review: I've never been fond of sequels, and when I found out Akira Kurosawa, a film maker I respect and admire more than any other, had done a sequel to his classic "Yojimbo," I had to wonder just how it was. I saw it and needless to say I was very impressed. This is with out a doubt probably one of the best sequels I've ever seen. Sequels are commonly one of two things: 1) a rehash of the first movie, or 2) a continuation of a story that should have ended with the first film. "Sanjuro" is none of the two - instead, its just another adventure for our ronin friend Sanjuro in his quest for money. This time he finds himself accidentally nearby where some clueless samurai retainers are trying to figure out who in their clan is plotting to take over while their lord is away. Sanjuro steps in to help them out (almost out of aggravation at just how incompetant his new acquaintances are). He guesses correctly that it is the Super-Intendant and not the Chamberlain (as originally guessed) who is the traitor, and the story continues from there. "Sanjuro" has all the right doses, and even more, of what you got in "Yojimbo." There are more fight scenes - or perhaps I should say there are more chances for Toshiro Mifune to slash through a crowd of hapless enemies. There are also more chances for our hero to figure out traps and plan ways out of sticky situations. With out a doubt, I think Sanjuro ranks as one of the most clever heroes I've ever seen on film, and you just get a joy at his wit and quick-thinking (I especially like how he got the villains to throw petals into the stream). I would suggest any one who loved "Yojimbo" to give this film a good chance. It's just as enjoyable as its predecessor, and hey - if it has the name Akira Kurosawa on it, it can't be the least bit bad.
Rating:
Summary: "A good sword is best kept sheathed."
Review: I've never been fond of sequels, and when I found out Akira Kurosawa, a film maker I respect and admire more than any other, had done a sequel to his classic "Yojimbo," I had to wonder just how it was. I saw it and needless to say I was very impressed. This is with out a doubt probably one of the best sequels I've ever seen. Sequels are commonly one of two things: 1) a rehash of the first movie, or 2) a continuation of a story that should have ended with the first film. "Sanjuro" is none of the two - instead, its just another adventure for our ronin friend Sanjuro in his quest for money. This time he finds himself accidentally nearby where some clueless samurai retainers are trying to figure out who in their clan is plotting to take over while their lord is away. Sanjuro steps in to help them out (almost out of aggravation at just how incompetant his new acquaintances are). He guesses correctly that it is the Super-Intendant and not the Chamberlain (as originally guessed) who is the traitor, and the story continues from there. "Sanjuro" has all the right doses, and even more, of what you got in "Yojimbo." There are more fight scenes - or perhaps I should say there are more chances for Toshiro Mifune to slash through a crowd of hapless enemies. There are also more chances for our hero to figure out traps and plan ways out of sticky situations. With out a doubt, I think Sanjuro ranks as one of the most clever heroes I've ever seen on film, and you just get a joy at his wit and quick-thinking (I especially like how he got the villains to throw petals into the stream). I would suggest any one who loved "Yojimbo" to give this film a good chance. It's just as enjoyable as its predecessor, and hey - if it has the name Akira Kurosawa on it, it can't be the least bit bad.
Rating:
Summary: one of the best movie of kurosawa's action
Review: If you are the management consultant,you mast watch this movie
Rating:
Summary: One of Kurosawa's best samurai films
Review: In my own opinion, I find Sanjuro to be one of my favorite films by the Kurosawa. Unlike Yojimbo, which mainly showed the violent side of humans, Sanjuro shows a much deeper meaning. A woman in the film comments that he should not use too much violence. At first, he ignores her and thinks that she's completely stupid. In the end, he ends up killing a man in order to save his own life. He understands that "Good swords are kept in their sheaths." Another translation of this would be that violence is bad. This is a continuing theme for Kurosawa, especially in his samurai period movies. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: One of Kurosawa's best samurai films
Review: In my own opinion, I find Sanjuro to be one of my favorite films by the Kurosawa. Unlike Yojimbo, which mainly showed the violent side of humans, Sanjuro shows a much deeper meaning. A woman in the film comments that he should not use too much violence. At first, he ignores her and thinks that she's completely stupid. In the end, he ends up killing a man in order to save his own life. He understands that "Good swords are kept in their sheaths." Another translation of this would be that violence is bad. This is a continuing theme for Kurosawa, especially in his samurai period movies. I highly recommend it.
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