# How many "Seven Samurai" knockoffs have their been? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006 "2005-06-05T15:48:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006/21 "2005-06-06T03:38:40Z")
What, no Sneezy? ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006/22 "2005-06-06T03:43:54Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > What, no Sneezy? I think it’s the last one. “Parthenopaeüs.” “Gezhundheit!” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006/23 "2005-06-06T03:48:23Z")
Thanks, **Nemo**. I didn’t think it was an idea unique to the 20th Century, even if it was told well by a genius. (That’s why the others and I were asking about a previous story. It HAD to be out there somewhere.) ---
**Author:** ![ZeroGyro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47774/32.png) [@ZeroGyro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZeroGyro)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006/24 "2005-06-06T05:10:55Z")
I think a lot of people here are stuck on the idea of the “seven warriors joining together” being the main concept (for lack of a better phrase) of **The Seven Samurai**. I thought the main concept of the film was “a desperate group (villager/peasant-types) tries to hire protectors (who turn out to be quite the motley crew)”. I think the seven is random and not important to the concept. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006/25 "2005-06-06T05:15:05Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > While there were 7 main Mystery Men (not counting Dr. Heller or Carmine the Bowler), the _story_ differs quite a bit from TSS. No oppressed people hiring them, etc. I think the same can be said about some of the others mentioned. E.g., I don’t think A Bug’s Life is similar (but it’s been a while since I saw it). Just having 7 heroes isn’t enough IMHO. It’s very similar. Dave Foley’s character, worried about threats from bandits (the grasshoppers), goes out to find protectors for his colony and brings them in, where they integrate with a varying degree of success, and prepare to do battle with the bandits. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006/26 "2005-06-06T05:25:59Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > While there were 7 main Mystery Men (not counting Dr. Heller or Carmine the Bowler), the _story_ differs quite a bit from TSS. No oppressed people hiring them, etc. I think the same can be said about some of the others mentioned. E.g., I don’t think A Bug’s Life is similar (but it’s been a while since I saw it). Just having 7 heroes isn’t enough IMHO. No, _A Bug’s Life_ is dead on, and purposely so. The anthill (village) is being threatened by grasshoppers (bandits) who come in, smash the place up, and steal their food. They send one of their ants to the nearby trashheap (the town) to recruit tougher bugs to defend them (the samurai). There are, obviously, some differences, such as the villager being sent to get the samurai being the one who saves the town, but even this has a parrallel with the Toshiro Mifune character, who is really a runaway peasant, but none-the-less is the one who kills the bandit leader. I also agree with **ZeroGyro**. The important part is the “defenseless village trying to hire unsavory men to protect it” concept, not the number of people they hire. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006/27 "2005-06-06T05:36:05Z")
How about Beowulf as an earlier version of the story? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006/28 "2005-06-06T10:44:27Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > You kids today. No respect for the classics. > > The idea of seven champions gathering together for a cause goes at least as far back as Aeschylus’ play _The Seven Against Thebes_. The original seven incidentally were Adrastus, Amphiarüs, Hippomedon, Mecisteus, Capaneus, Eteoclus, and Parthenopaeüs. Doesn’t count, they had an army with 'em. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006/29 "2005-06-06T12:51:28Z")
I’m surprised that it took until late in the thread to mention **a Bug’s Life** , which is pretty clearly influenced by SS. (Although a lot of posters have in the past claimed that it was by way of **Three Amigos** , which I’ve never seen). When **The Seven Samurai** was first released in the U.S., an alternate title was **The Magnificent Seven**. This was, of course, well before the western of that name was made, so it’s pretty clear where they got that title. According to Donald Richie, who literally wrote the book on Kurasawa, it was an original story. Even when Kurasawa did an adaptation, he heavily r-wrote it. Look at his adaptations of Shakespeare or Ed McBain. And **Rashomon** , surprisingly, although it is based on a couple of pre-existing stories, is also heavily re-written by Kurasawa. Most of it is not based on the story entitled “Rashomon”, but on another story by the same author called “In the Bushes”, but Kurasawa added one more viewpoint and made a huge change to the Toshiro Mifune character. The Grove Press paperback edition of the script reprints both stories, along with some very good essdays on the film. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006/30 "2005-06-06T13:22:00Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’m surprised that it took until late in the thread to mention **a Bug’s Life** , It was post #8. **High Plains Drifter** sort of fits the “Seven Samurai” mold, although with twist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-seven-samurai-knockoffs-have-their-been/307006.md?page=1)