truelies

Are thoes three movies color or not? thanks! Cause those three are very good!

The Cow

How do you know if they are very good if you haven't seen them?

(Answer: Yes, pretty colors)

Fok

I enjoyed Seven Samurai, would I enjoy these movies?

johnny9382

oh yeah..these movies are great!!! i highly recommend it.

visitor Q

Yep ... though the color may detract from that enjoyment!!

MEJHarrison

I enjoyed Seven Samurai and all the others in the Criterion set. Matched them multiple times. But the Samurai Trilogy bored me to death. I had a very hard time keeping track of the characters. And there was a lot less action than I expected. I thought the third one was the best and I didn't even enjoy that one.

My suggestion is to wait for them to appear on IFC if that's an option for you.

PopcornTreeCt

I thought the trilogy as a whole was incredible. My favorite being the 3rd one. The movie just builds and builds and the ending is just perfect. And not to mention it was based on a true story.

pigmode

The trilogy is an adaptation of the highly recommended book "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa. As such, without having read the book the storyline can get a little foggy from time to time, and character development not always crystal clear. Its a good set, although it does not completely capture the full impact of the book, and is not quite at the same level as The Seven Samurai.

The Ferret

I think if you like Kill Bill and Toshiro Mifune then you'll love these. They're great fun, but that being said the first one is one giant building block if I remember correctly, and kind of stands apart from the other two -- still a must for to understand the trilogy.

MEJHarrison

That explains a lot for me. I like Mifune, but can't stand Kill Bill or Tarentino in general.

Thanks for the tip on the book. I think if I understood a lot of the little details I didn't grasp from the movies, I might enjoy them a lot more. I almost felt like there was too much of a culture gap. I wouldn't mind trying the book and then giving the trilogy another shot.

TomMiller

They are good, but not great. If you like the Samurai genre, and have already seen the Kurosawa classics, you will probably like them.

Another film to see by the same director, also with Mifune, is Chushingura, a retelling of the classic 47 Ronin story, and probably the definitive film version.

The Ferret

Then I guess what I said doesn't apply to you.

While watching the Samurai Trilogy I kept thinking of how reminisent of Kill Bill, or I guess it should be the other way around. The Kill Bill's weren't bad, but I'm not particularly a fan of Tarantino either.

Cameron

hey all. anybody know if criterion gave out the slipcovers for these when it got re-released??...I know they have been good about sending out missing inserts and such...

NatrlBornThrllr

Just figured I'd pipe in to recommend Criterion's recently released Rebel Samurai set. Samurai Rebellion was my favorite, followed by Kill!, Sword of the Beast, and Samurai Spy. All were great in their own way, and Samurai Rebellion made it's way onto my list of masterpieces. If you're a fan of samurai films, definitely check out that set.

-JP

The Reaper

Wow. I'm with you exactly 100%.

Cameron

anyone?

mifuneral

I love the Samurai Trilogy but I have never read the novel. That's kind of a silly observation anyway- movies are made to stand on their own whether they're adaptations or not; they aren't merely "supplementary" to the novel. If you watch the Samurai Trilogy and can't follow its plot, it's not because you haven't read the novel, it's because you aren't paying attention. Also, I fail to see the connection between the Samurai Trilogy and Kill Bill.

supfool!

Swords son!

Maxflier

Aside from the use of samurai swords, i see no connection between the two either.

Lemdog

I don't believe they did Cam.