Rent Yojimbo (1961)

4.0 of 5 from 213 ratings
1h 46min
Rent Yojimbo (aka Yôjinbô / Bodyguard) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
The enigmatic samurai in Yojimbo is played by the great Toshiro Mifune as a scruffy, scratching, itinerant warrior who wanders into a strange town and right into the middle of two warring clans. Showing his skills with the samurai sword within minutes of his arrival, he soon has the town's rival factions competing for his services.Kurosawa's genius for storytelling combines with thrilling swordplay, a healthy dose of black humour, a soundtrack every bit as atmospheric and amusing as Ennio Morricone's, and a towering performance from Mifune, to make Yojimbo an irresistible widescreen action movie.
Actors:
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Directors:
Producers:
Akira Kurosawa
Writers:
Akira Kurosawa
Others:
Yoshiro Muraki
Aka:
Yôjinbô / Bodyguard
Studio:
BFI Video
Genres:
Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama
Collections:
Award Winners, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Clint Eastwood, Lions on the Lido, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Akira Kurosawa, Top 10 World Cinema Remakes, Top Films
Countries:
Japan
Awards:

1961 Venice Film Festival Best Actor

BBFC:
Release Date:
06/11/2000
Run Time:
106 minutes
Languages:
Japanese LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
English
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.35:1
Colour:
B & W
Bonus:
  • Full-length Commentary from Film Historian Philip Kemp
  • Biographies of Director Akira Kurosawa and Star Toshiro Mifune

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Reviews (4) of Yojimbo

Masterpiece of Action Cinema - Yojimbo review by GI

Spoiler Alert
11/04/2021

Immensely influential and setting new standards in screen violence director Akira Kurosawa was influenced by the films of John Ford and Howard Hawks and in turn he became a major influence on other directors. His epic film Seven Samurai (1954) was remade as The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Sergio Leone took Yojimbo and remade it as A Fistful Of Dollars (1964). Yojimbo is an exciting action film set in feudal Japan. A 'Ronin' (or masterless samurai) (Toshirô Mifune) arrives in a dirty town and discovers it's run by two rival gangs. He manipulates both sides in a plan to rid the town of all of them. Shot in widescreen , which was not liked by Hollywood directors at the time, Kurosawa created a rundown world of corruption and effectively demystified the samurai code which had been so damaging to his country in the Second World War. This is a violent and exciting film although the Japanese theatrical style of screen acting may seem unusual today it is a masterpiece of cinema and much praised in studies of cinema. There's plenty of swordplay, and a clever use of imagery to represent the collapse of the society and morals (images of dogs appear regularly). Much of Kurosawa's style and images heavily influenced cinematic action to this day and consequently this is a I urge every film fan to see. Great stuff.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

A great film but awful print and commentary - Yojimbo review by LE

Spoiler Alert
12/10/2021

It was actually hard to follow the story because the print was so bad. And the commentary by Philip Kemp is terrible. He doesn't say anything for about 2/3rds of the film and what he does say isn't even relevant to what's happening on screen. The BFI bluray has a fabulous print so I hope Cinema Paradiso acquire that at some point. The Kemp commentary is on that too though and there are no other extras.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

Probably a great film, but a terrible DVD transfer - Yojimbo review by IF

Spoiler Alert
11/04/2019

The image quality on this DVD is terrible. I was tempted to rent it after watching a clip in HD on Youtube. It looked visually stunning. This DVD is dark and blurred, to the point of being unwatchable.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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