A review by Mike Shea Movie Rating: ( * * * * · ) DVD Rating: ( * · · · · )
There isnt much I like more than a good Kurosawa samurai movie. These movies have the perfect blend of humor, action and plot without ever overstepping themselves or taking themselves to seriously. Yojimbo follows an ex-samurai named "twitch" Sanjiro as he plays both sides in a small towns gang war. The beauty is the plot never deviates from this, and never attempts to extend it. Toshirô Mifune does an excellent job playing the dark yet honorable samurai who shows that the only thing sharper than his mind is his sword. About my only complaint is the limited duals that take place. For a town with about 100 swordsmen, we see maybe three duals although all three have the same explosiveness that Kurosawa does so well. The DVD has a 2.35 to 1 non-16x9 enhanced picture and a mono soundtrack. Unfortunately the subtitles are done in the letterbox and thus require a strange setting on 16x9 displays in order to read them. There are no extras on the disc. There are only so many Kurosawa movies available, and to have them on DVD is in itself an honor. Absolutely a joy to watch.