Anything by Kurosawa is great!
My copy of The Hidden Fortress is a treasured item in my DVD collection.
It’s a good film and shouldn’t be hard to get. Blockbuster and your local library should both have it on DVD.
Anyone seen Rashomon and is it worth renting?
It depends on who you ask.
(See it.)
I would agree with this. The Rashomon story gimmick has arguably been done better in later copies, but the direction and cinematography of this film make it stand out. I was impressed. It is definitely a film that I would watch again.
Aww, I see what you did there. 
I’ve never made it through any Kurosawa film but Rashomon.
I absolutely recommend it.
Oh, very nice! <small applause>:)
Ditto to all of the above comments re. its place in film history, but I side with the “overrated and not as entertaining as I’d hoped it would be” camp.
If I had to choose between another viewing of Rashomon or, say, Vantage Point, I’d go with the latter, partly because Rashomon doesn’t feature any great car chases. 
[d&r from the impending barrage of slings & arrows from Kurosawa fans and other true cineastes]
The Seven Samurai was absolutely engaging. I caught it one night on TCM and I sat through the whole thing nonstop. I didn’t even look away for very long because I might miss something, be it camera work, dialogue (subtitled), or the sheer physical exuberance of the cast. It was wonderful.
Sadly, we’re talking about Rashomon. I explicitly rented it at a local independent video rental/book/music store in town (which has survived abortive attempts by Best Buy and f.y.e. to establish themselves here) and tried to like it one night. It just didn’t take: It was slow, the characters were the precise opposite of engaging, it was really quite slow, the dialogue wasn’t up to par (again, subtitled), it was slow, and, from another perspective entirely, it was slow. I went in with a full understanding of how the story would be told and retold and I still wasn’t prepared for the plodding pace. Most of the later works I’ve seen that use the same device have been much more engaging.
You know, I watched Rashomon from the couch, then from the recliner, then on a TV in the kitchen, and finally on a DVD played in the car… and no matter what, it was the same movie every time.
Right Seven Samurai is basically a western, chock full of the medieval equivalent of car chases. If you go *Rashomon *with that expectation, you will be disappointed: it’s a different kind of movie. I recommend that in this instance, as in pretty much every other instance, you should try to appreciate a movie for what it is, rather than for what it isn’t.
But here’s the thing: Rashomon was that kind of a movie to a certain extent. It was about a rape and a trial afterwards. There was no reason for it to drag.
I went in with an open mind. I came out with an anesthetized one. I thought 2001, for example, was a fascinating and engaging film. I thought Sunrise was utterly amazing and beautiful. (If you’ve never heard of it, don’t feel bad: Silent films don’t get nearly the respect they deserve in popular culture these days.) I approach films bearing in mind what they are and what they’re intended to be. Rashomon was an utterly beautiful film with some wonderful set-pieces and great acting that simply took too long to get from one part to the next.
I liked the Seven Samuri a lot. I have seen it many times. I enjoyed Roshomon a bit better. My favorite is Ran. They all should be seen. Ran is on such a grand scale and is beautiful to watch. But they are all about human frailty and deception. Lies ,selfishness and dishonesty even in families ,corrupts and ends in death.
Rashomon is totally freaking excellent. Just saw it last year, brilliant movie!
Only copy I was able to find a few years ago when I wanted to see it was at my public library and it skipped for the first half and the second half didn’t play at all. I tried it on different DVD players and cleaned it. Still nothing. Damn people with no respect for public property . . . :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
So I don’t keep track of your five-year-old threads.
Is it about Japanese Jews or something? 
I had the pleasure of seeing a new cleaned-up release on the big screen last year, and I must say that I can understand someone finding it slow if viewed at home. However, being a big fan of seeing films on the big screen, the way they were intended to be seen, I find it a vastly different experience. The pacing of the film serves to draw you in, and the immersive environment of a darkened theater keeps you there.
Just something to keep in mind.
Kurosawa makes mad films.
I don’t make films.
But if I did, they’d have a Samurai.