Search - Yojimbo [Widescreen] [Criterion Collection] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Violence, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1961 DVD Release: 09/28/1999 Format: DVD - Black and White,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: Japanese Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 50 mins Studio: Criterion Members Wishing: 45 Genres: Adventure, Costume Adventure, Samurai Film See Also: Yojimbo [Criterion Collection]

Toshiro Mifune portrays a Samurai who finds himself in the middle of a feud-torn Japanese village. Neither side is particularly honorable, but Mifune is hungry and impoverished, so he agrees to work as bodyguard (or Yojimbo) for a silk merchant (Kamatari Fujiwara) against a sake merchant (Takashi Shimura). He then pretends to go to work for the other, the better to let the enemies tear each other apart. Imprisoned for his "treachery," he escapes just in time to watch the two warring sides wipe each other out. This was his plan all along, and now that peace has been restored, he leaves the village for further exploits. Yes, Yojimbo was the prototype for the Clint Eastwood "Man with No Name" picture A Fistful of Dollars (1964). The difference is that Fistful relies on Eastwood for its success, whereas Yojimbo scores on every creative level, from director Akira Kurosawa to cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa to Mifune's classic lead performance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Toshiro Mifune - Sanjuro Kuwabatake
Eijiro Tono - Gonji the Sake Seller
Tatsuya Nakadai - Unosuke
Seizaburo Kawazu - Seibei
Isuzu Yamada - Orin
Daisuke Kato - Inokichi
Hiroshi Tachikawa - Yoichiro

Akira Kurosawa's samurai film Yojimbo is presented in a 2.35:1 non-anamorphic widescreen version that should please most fans. The image certainly would have looked better if Criterion had decided to clean up the print a bit more (nicks and scratches abound), as well as make the transfer anamorphic. As it stands the image has a pleasing look, with bright bold colors and solid black levels. Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 in Japanese with English subtitles. Unfortunately, the audio is just below passing, with hiss present during multiple scenes; the dialogue also sounds hollow and the music is somewhat distorted. Unlike many other Criterion editions, =Yojimbo features only a few extra features, including a widescreen theatrical trailer, thin production notes, and color bars for calibrating one's TV monitor. =Yojimbo is a worthy buy for devotees of the movie -- otherwise, a rental is definitely in order. ~ Patrick Naugle, All Movie Guide