Rashomon or Seven Samurai? - Rashômon (1951) Discussion

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] parisa09 18 years ago

i dont get it, i luv akira films but i just hated Rashomon...

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[–] PriceOfAnarchy 18 years ago

I'm in the same boat, except rather than hating Rashomon, it's Throne of Blood for me.

I think as interesting idea or artistic concept, Rashomon wins out. But if you want a film with interesting and developed characters (which Rashomon doesn't *really* have, mainly because it doesn't need them), then Seven Samurai is the winner. Overall though, I *prefer* Seven Samurai (and even Ran) over Rashomon, though I don't think I'm qualified to say which is the *better* film.

They both do share similar themes of honor, class struggle, and whatnot. Both films also feature some of the darkest "happy endings" I've seen (Ikiru features another such ending).

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[–] serdarbjk2001 18 years ago

the best work of akira is definitely rashamon..

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[–] KyleH87 11 years ago

I'm in the same boat, except it's Ran and Kagemusha for me. I acknowledge them as great films, but they don't appeal to me personally the way Kurosawa's older films do.

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[–] EpsilonX 9 years ago

Do you feel as though the lack of Toshiro Mifune had an impact on your enjoyment of those films? Or is it something else?

I'm just curious as to what people think there.

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[–] drgreen-1 17 years ago

I didn't hate Rashomon but I thought it was mediocre. I often found myself waiting for the action to continue. It seemed to stop and start, with too many needless artful shots. I almost felt that he was stretching out the story just to make it feature length.

However Seven Samurai is an excellent movie. One of the best that I've seen. The characters are each unique. There are many stories within the story that are themselves entertaining, mostly showing how they are each recruited. I also thought that Toshirô Mifune's acting was much better than in Rashomon.

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[–] WaxBellaAmours 20 years ago

Rashamon might techincally be the better movie, but Seven Samauri is the more entertaining one.

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[–] jasonsurety 20 years ago

Word

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[–] mail_sreejith 19 years ago

what do u mean rashomon is technically better? please elaborate on that , did u mean a better camera was used or a better edit machine was used ? Rashomon is definetly more artistic
than seven samurai ,Rashomon shows true human behaviour and has a timeless theme. For me both Seven Samurai and Rashomon were equally entertaining.

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[–] kidd11rock 19 years ago

i didnt like Rashomon, and i'm a kurosawa fan...

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[–] chameleonguy33 18 years ago

in a way they're polar opposites as far as kurosawa's work goes. both are masterpieces by most film buffs' standards, both have had the largest effect on the world of cinema out of kurosawa's films (which does not necessarily make them his two greatest films), and yet the impacts the two have made are completely different.

the seven samurai is undeniably the foundation upon which the modern action film is based, among many other genres. in fact, while i dont have any evidence to prove this, most likely 10% of all the films in this database is inspired one way or another by seven samurai.

and, although many films have taken to the formula of clashing flashbacks, there will never be another film quite like rashomon.

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[–] Errand 20 years ago

3-1 so far.

Dawn it! And I tried to rig the poll by putting it in Rashomon's forum...

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[–] Fidelio111 20 years ago

I don't know about anyone else, but it's Rashomon that I still like to greet with repeat viewings and not the Seven Samurai, despite it being less than half of that film's length.

"I don't get tough with anybody Mr. Gittes... my lawyer does!&quo

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[–] Xuesheng 20 years ago

I love both--but Rashomon is tops.

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[–] Errand 20 years ago

3-3
Thank you! So may be it helps to post the question here.

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[–] manikpeon 20 years ago

I agree. 7 Samurai = too long but the military strategy is neat

but Rashomon is more complicated philosohpically. What is truth? Does it matter in the end? etc. (very post-modern for an old movie)

My vote goes to Rashomon.

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[–] wamiq 20 years ago

i'd have to vote for seven samurai, but who else here likes ran almost as much as these two?

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[–] PriceOfAnarchy 19 years ago

Me!

Ran is awesome, I love Ran.

I think critics don't give it as much attention because it's slightly newer. I also think Ikiru belongs among his great works, even by Kurosawa's standards, these four movies, (7S, Rashomon, Ran, Ikiru), seem to shine way above his other works (I have not seen Red Beard and Dersu Uzala, which are supposedly very good, and I've only seen 8 Kurosawa movies, so I'm not the best judge).

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[–] spacemonkey9 18 years ago

I think so! Seven Samurai, Ran, and Rashomon are my top three Kurosawas. But I've only seen Rashomon once, I should probably watch it again, since it seems like a lot of the movies I like get better and better with repeat viewings.

Last film I watched:
Psycho 9/10

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[–] tesla-jaxx 18 years ago

i'm usually fairly in control of myself throughout movies, but i almost cried at the end of ran. i knew what was coming, but i still found myself hoping against hope that it wouldn't happen. i think ran moved better than seven samurai, but rashomon introduces more lasting questions to my mind.

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[–] Errand 20 years ago

6-4 count for Seven Samurai so far.

"Ran"? It somehow ranks only 6 or 7 on my Kurosawa list, may be because it is color? (hate to think I might be THAT shallow. )

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[–] megalordthor 20 years ago

I go with Rashomon. I was surprised when i heard the dubbed version in the movie. It was surprised because it was actually rather good. It seems as if whoever dubbed it actually had an idea of the tone of the movie and how to act as opposed to most japanese dubbing. I first saw the movie about two years ago with subtitles so it was amazing for me when i bough the criterion dvd and it had a dubbed version which i had to hear.

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[–] LordRiff 20 years ago

Rashomon. Seven Samurai is fantastic but the end of Rashomon was really strong. I liked it more.

"Im gunna tear this country down" -Shogo Kawada

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[–] SequoiaGiganti 20 years ago

I bought Rashomon in a Border's Bookstore and it featured the Japanese soundtrack and perfect transfer, but it was rather expensive ($30+). You can get most his movies at a pretty cheap price, but then they are fullscreen, single layer versions. I've seen Rashomon and Seven Samuria and I prefered Rashomon (but maybe 7 sam was ruined by being fullscreen and bad imagequality). I've not seen Ran, but I was recommended not to watch it and go with Yojimbo and Hidden Fortress instead.

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[–] CursedShadow 20 years ago

I would make a point of seeing all of Kurosawa's movies if you have the opportunity. Even his very ealry ones are at least interesting.

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[–] dancooper27 19 years ago

Seven Samurai was shot fullscreen.

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[–] PriceOfAnarchy 19 years ago

As was Rashomon.

I think his first widescreen movie was Hidden Fortress in 1958, am I right?

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[–] SpideyFan914 14 years ago

Rashomon, easy! Seven Samurai was good, but I kinda feel like he stretched it out too long. Maybe it's just me.

But Rashomon is one of my all-time favorite movies! I love Kurosawa! Unfortunately, despite being a huge fan AND a film buff, I've only actually seen three of his movies, Rashomon, Ikiru, and Seven Samurai. Gotta change that - planning to watch Ran soon.... (By the way, I like Ikiru better than Seven Samurai too.)

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[–] EpsilonX 9 years ago

I actually liked Seven Samurai's length. Usually, movies as slow and long as 7S I would find boring, but it gives you enough time to really get enveloped in the world and almost empathize with the struggle of the villagers. It's rare, but when a film pulls off a 3+ hour length, I usually prefer it to shorter films.

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[–] Errand 20 years ago

7-7, neck and neck. :-)

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[–] atshering 20 years ago

Love both, but it has to be Rashomon. I know I'm in the minority, but my favorite Kurosawa film is "Red Beard."

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[–] Sick_among_pure 20 years ago

While both are excellent films, and I'd say both are neck and neck to me, I'll lean and say Rashomon. It was the first Kurosawa film I saw and its quickly become one of my fav. movies.

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[–] commieluke 20 years ago

my favorite Kurosawa film so far has been Ran.

Seven Samurai vs Rashomon?
both are as good as each other, but if i had to pick one i'd go with the short and sweet Rashomon over the arse deadening over-3-hour-a-thon Seven Samurai.

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[–] caveman_mtz 20 years ago

This is a tough choice, cause both these films are not only two of the Best Kurosawa films out there, but two of the best films of all time. It has been over a year since I last saw Seven Samurai, and I have seen Rashomon more times, and just saw it again a few weeks ago. Even though I could go either way, since both are real different and masterpieces in their own way, somedays I feel like Seven Samurai is the better film but today I feel like Rashomon is the better film. So I pick Rashomon.

"Well, men are only men. That's why they lie. They can't tell the truth, even to themselves."

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[–] NiteShade 20 years ago

Is it so important for you that people agree with your opinion?
I think I like Seven Samurai slightly better.

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[–] romeorammohan 16 years ago

similar to Sick_among_pure
rashomon by a little margin

"what the *beep* have you done lately ?"
NOTHING ,JUST A PENCIL MAGIC TRICK

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[–] golden_hawk 20 years ago

Definitely. I have some problems with this one (especially regarding the ending), but there's really not much, if anything at all, to objectively say against the masterpiece that Seven Samurai is.

But no doubt, they are Kurosawa's best two.

Try Ran. Kurosawa's best, in my opinion, after 7S.

True lbove lbasts a lbifetime.

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