Kurosawa's Epic retelling of the most famous Japanese story, The Seven Samuri, is a true classic. The film has proved inspirational to many other films including George Lucas' Star Wars, and The Magnificent Seven, a direct adaptation for the old west. The film tells how when a Japanese town is threatened by a group of bandits, they hire Seven Samuri to deliver their village. (Japan, 1954, 210 min, dir. Akira Kurosawa, with Toshiro Mifune & Takashi Shimura, Japanese with English subtitles) (#1447)