A bunch of top level archers and a scared shitless Tashiro Mifune :D.
Big fan and like a couple of you I especially like his contemporary films like High and Low, Stray Dog and Ikiru. Incidentally I re-watched Ikiru a couple of years back and it struck me for the first time how similar the story was to the first season of Parks and Rec. I suspect it is a coincidence; Ikiru obviously goes in a more serious direction, though not without its comedic touches.
Every frame a Painting has a couple of fantastic videos on Kurosawa’s technique: the first oneon how he uses movement and the second onebreaking down a specific scene in the Bad Sleep Well. Highly, highly recommended.
Beat me to it - my favorite Simpson’s scene
Yojimbo isn’t exactly art but it’s my favorite. Epitome of “a stranger comes to town” plotline. And the best one against all fight scene probably ever done.
Ran I like simply because it was the one movie that Kurosawa, IIRC, had his dream budget for. He built a replica castle using traditional tools and techniques so he could burn it down and it would burn and sound authentic. 
Seven Samurai is one of the greatest films ever and definitely one of the greatest anti war films ever.
High and Low was just awesome. Toshiro Mifune as a suave businessman instead of a orphan ronin
I haven’t seen Desula Ursula and I need to rectify that…
You do. Dersu Uzala is my favorite, followed closely by…
**Yes! ** I rarely meet anyone who has seen this or even heard of it. Last I checked, it was hard to even find a way to see it. I would love to watch it on Blu-ray.
So, yeah, I’m an odd Kurosawa fan: my favorites are his color pictures from the 1970s. Of his earlier black and white films, I like Ikiru best. The samurai flicks are fine, but not so much my thing.
I really enjoyed Dreams, though some people don’t like it because it doesn’t have a proper narrative.
It consists of 8 separate mini-movies, each exquisite, but without any conclusions to the fragmentary stories.
Love Dersu Uzala, the cinematography is incredible. My dad and I watched it a few times and if we were out hiking and needed to call to each other the “Dersu!”…“Captain!” refrain got used quite often.
Outside of the samurai films Dersu and Red Beard are my favorites.
Interesting thing about Kurasawa – the reason he made Dersu Uzala with Mosfilm is because he couldn’t get financing for his films in Japan.
That’s crazy, you think. He’s freakin’ Akira Kurasawa, the Emperor! He made Seven Samurai and Ikiru and Rashomon – of course you give him money for his films. But Toho* didn’t see it that way. They saw him as somebody who was way to expensive. So he made Dersu Uzala outside the country. That brought his plight to the attention of Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas (whjo, as noted, was inspired by The Hidden Fortress for Star Wars), sand they got him money to make Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior, which Kurasawa had been doing color storyboards for, but which he though would never be made.
It’s as a result of the success of that film that he could go on to make Ran, and later Dreams and his other later films. If not for Drsu and Kagemusha, we wouldn’t have them.
*As a kid, I grew up on kaiju like the original Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra, all made by Inoshiro Honda at Toho. As a teenager I discovered Kurasawa, who also made films at Toho. It’s weird to see the same actors from those old monster flicks in the later samurai films. Takashi Shimura (The lead Samurai in Seven Samurai, the woodcutter in Rashomon, and the hero of Ikiru) was Dr. Yamane in the original Godzilla and its sequel. Minoru Chiaki, the Priest in Rashomon and Heihachi in Seven Samurai, was also in the Godzilla sequel. It’s kinda like the way Bruce Cabot was in the original King Kong, then starred in all those westerns with John Wayne. Or would be if Cabot were more famous.
I was about to mention Dreams, having noticed that nobody else had yet (until I reached your post.) If you want to see something somewhat similar, you should conciser Kwaidan, which, like some segments of Dreams, is based on famous (in Japan, at least) Japanese folklore. (Both have a segment on Yuki-onna, for example.)
Less similar (and more weird) but also based on a series of dreams is Naisu no Mori. (Full movie here.)
Huge fan, love Throne of Blood, Ran and many others mentioned.
Stranger - that’s your Faves list? Surprised to see who isn’t there, from the US golden age like Wyler, Billy Wilder, Ford, etc; 70’s auteur to Blockbuster types from Coppola to Spielberg, let alone other international directors.
What am I, chopped liver? (Post #3)
I have and like Kwaidan, which has gorgeous photography.
Although it’s based on Japanese mythology, though, the book it’s based on is by a Western author, Lafcadio Hearn. (Born in Greece, lived in Ireland, the US, and damned near everywhere, including Japan)
No, I’m sure you are a normal human typing with your human hands.
I know, I’ve read a few of his books.
(I see you mention Criterion DVDs–I always wanted this set, but it isn’t in my budget. I have to settle for my movies scoured from the internet–I have close to 40 Kurosawas, IIRC.)
A faves list mention perks my ears up, and provides me an excuse to shamelessly link to mine. 
As someone else with fond memories of hiking/canoeing/camping with my dad, this warmed the cockles of my heart.
Agree that the cinematography is awesome, but I think what I like most about the film is the titular character. It’s pretty rare, I’d say, to see sweeping vista type cinematography in the same film that also feels like it is “zooming in” on a character study of one fascinating person.
More of an FYI as I haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet but I spotted this last night: High and Low: A Kurosawa Podcast (Soundcloud link)
Okay, that’s pretty fucking awesome. Also yet another reason I will never be a great actor, because I were Mifune I’d have said “fuck NO” to that idea.
They did something similar in the Errol Flynn Adventures of Robin Hood
The Adventures of Robin Hood - Wikipedia
Just not with their star actor.