Shinobu Hashimoto

This epic masterpiece is about a group of 16th century samurai who are hired to defend a small Japanese village that finds itself annually raided by an army of bandits who steal the meager crops harvested by the peasants. Tired of relinquishing their food supply but woefully inept in combat skills, the villagers decide to hire a band of samurai to protect them. In addition to the primary conflict between the villagers and the bandits, much of the...

Discovering that he is in the terminal stages of cancer, a clerk spends his last months in search of the meaning to life. After his pursuit of pleasure has failed, he finds self-realization in bringing about the building of a children's playground in the slums and dies quietly fulfilled.

Tells the story of a sixteenth-century village whose desperate inhabitants hire seven out-of-work warriors to protect them from invading bandits.

A father and son who are homeless dream of a home, a young woman hiding from the abuse she receives from her uncle, and a young boy dreaming of being a trolley conductor spend their days barely surviving in the slums of Tokyo.

In a futuristic dystopia, an impoverished Japanese village hires seven samurai to protect them from the yearly raid of mecha-bandits.

A young Japanese businessman dying of cancer wants to give something back to society before his death, so he decides to build a playground for children.

This is the thrilling tale of a man who chooses to devote his life to evil. A gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, Ryunosuke (Nakadai) kills without remorse, without mercy. It is a way of life that ultimately leads to madness.

A grand-scale adventure as only Akira Kurosawa could make one. A general charged with guarding his defeated clan's princess as the two smuggle royal treasure across hostile territory. Accompanying them are a pair of bumbling, conniving peasants who may or may not be their friends. This rip-roaring ride is among the director's most beloved films and was a primary influence on George Lucas's Star Wars. Delivers Kurosawa's trademark deft blend of wry...