A village is constantly attacked by well armed bandits. One day after an attack they seek the wisdom of an elder who tells them they cannot afford weapons, but they can find men with weapons, samurai, who will fight for them, if they find samurai who are in down on their luck and wondering where their next meal will come from. They find a very experienced samurai with a good heart who agrees to recruit their party for them. He selects five genuine samurai and one who is suspect but the seven return to the village to protect it from the forty plus bandits.
This was my 2nd time viewing this film and although I did enjoy it more the 2nd time around, I still don't see this movie as a masterpiece unfortunately. The story was very good and the actors and everything else were fine, but sorry to say ronnie, it was long (3 and 1/2 hours). This is supposed to be Japan's equivalent to our Citizen Kane and although I haven't seen Citizen Kane yet, I must admit that I was disappointed with the Seven Samurai yet again. The Kikuchiyo character was a little weird IMO but did add some comic relief when needed.
