Product Details

• Actors: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yûnosuke Itô, Yûzô Kayama
• Directors: Akira Kurosawa
• Writers: Akira Kurosawa, Ryûzô Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, Shûgorô Yamamoto
• Producers: Ryûzô Kikushima, Tomoyuki Tanaka
• Format: Black & White, Letterboxed, Original recording reissued, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: June 16, 2000
• Run Time: 96 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303386695
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,255 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Akira Kurosawa's sequel to Yojimbo is more lighthearted and less cynical, a rousing adventure with Toshirô Mifune reprising his role as the scruffy mercenary who becomes an unlikely big brother to a troupe of nine naive samurai. Shuffling into a secret meeting where the proud young men discuss the graft choking their clan, Mifune's Sanjuro scratches his scraggly beard and distractedly rubs his neck like some common peasant while giving them advice on appearances and truths: "People aren't what they seem," he warns the dubious lads. "Be careful." Naturally they aren't, and Sanjuro grudgingly adopts the well-meaning but hopelessly ill-equipped heroes, giving the starry-eyed youths a series of lessons in real-world honor and respect while saving their skins from reckless attacks and impulsive plans. It isn't the subtlest of Kurosawa's films--the repetitious lessons and speeches delivered to the thickheaded samurai are rather obvious--but it's one of his most entertaining. Mifune, gruffly at ease with the boys, is hilariously discomforted in the presence of a cultured lady, who sees through his shaggy exterior and imparts a little wisdom of her own. Mifune bounds into action in a number of impressive sword fights--wonderfully choreographed lightning-quick battles in which Mifune leaps all over the widescreen image--but an increasing sense of waste, of futility, hangs over the action scenes, culminating in a tense but meaningless duel of honor. The accompanying trailer on the DVD features brief behind-the-scenes glimpses of Kurosawa directing Mifune through an action sequence. --Sean Axmaker

Product Description

The gruff and arrogant hero of Yojimbo returns to the screen in another offbeat action film from Akira Kurosawa, the playful master of the samurai genre. This time, the slovenly but highly skilled warrior (played by the wonderfully deadpan Toshiro Mifune) helps a group of earnest, young samurai rid their clan of corruption. Amid the comic-book style combat, Sanjuro displays a delightfully cynical disregard for notions of good and evil and a mischievous sense of humor.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Adventure, November 22, 1999

By 

Matt Howe "outloud98" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sanjuro (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

I love Toshiro Mifune. It's so wonderful to see him play this character. He cracks me up every time he does his little shoulder-twitch character trait. Brilliant!

SANJURO delves a little deeper into his samurai character. There's some themes about killing and comparisons of his character to a good sword that should be sheathed. Other than that, it is flat-out adventure on the menu!

Again, Kurosawa is a wonderful story teller. I find his work (the three films I've seen so far -- HIDDEN FORTRESS, YOJIMBO, and this one) to be so economical. He can add a wrinkle to the story with one word; one look. He truly transcends the language barrier because the storytelling is so good.

I thought Criterion did another good job with the transfer. The trailer does, indeed, feature Kurosawa directing Mifune in an action sequence, which is interesting. I wish Criterion would use pictures on its chapter lists. When I want to access a certain scene and am unfamiliar with the movie it is hard to do based on chapter names that make no sense to me. Other than that, no qualms about the rest of the DVD.

Next, I'd love to see HIDDEN FORTRESS on DVD. Criterion, are you listening ?

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stupid friends are dangerous, September 7, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sanjuro (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

The sequel to Akira Kurosawa's classic "Yojimbo" is very different in tone -- rather than a straightforward grizzled-anti-hero-cleans-up-the-town tale, it's a comic story about the grizzled hero getting stuck on a ship of fools. While it's Kurosawa's lightest samurai movie, it's still a solid action/drama flick with plenty of comedy sprinkled in.

A gang of idealistic young nobles are gathered in a decaying house, talking about how they are trying to battle local corruption. Suddenly a scruffy warrior (Toshirô Mifune) who calls himself Sanjûrô Tsubaki, appears and tells them who is lying and who isn't -- and that after confiding in the treacherous superintendant, they're being set up for an ambush.

After he saves their butts and drags the none-too-bright young men into hiding, he begins concocting a plan to save one young man's uncle, who is being held as a political hostage. After rescuing the lord's wife and daughter, Sanjuro and his band of fools continue with their plots to save him from the evil superintendant -- and he teaches his bumbling co-conspirators that exalted social position isn't what keeps you alive...

Kurosawa isn't known for having made goofball comedies, but there's a definite comic flair to this film, from the pampered prisoner offering nuggets of wisdom to the silent "happy dance" that all the young noblemen do. At the same time, there's a poignant note to Sanjuro's regrets about the men he's killed -- including men much like himself.

Even steeped in comedy, Kurosawa's creativity is still intact -- to give the feel that people are running, he shows short, rapid shots of several young men running down different streets. There are a few flaws (a lot of people get cut down without a speck of blood) but only a really determined nitpicker would let it bug them. And the finale is a shatteringly brutal scene, reminiscent of a western shoot-out, where you almost expect Sanjuro to put on a white cowboy hat and spit.

Mifune is wonderful as the grubby, grumpy samurai who is like an "unsheathed blade," and who has more brains than his little gang. He gives the character a lazy, languid air, sort of like an unexploded land mine. His followers are well-acted, though they don't have much individual personality. And small supporting roles -- like the kindly, prim noblewoman and the friendly prisoner in his little closet -- are very well-drawn.

Lurking under the comic flourishes is an intelligent film with likable characters, solid writing, and plenty of action. "Sanjuro" is as good as the film before it, though in a slightly different way.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars slow beginning, but nice build up with a satisfying conclusion, June 29, 2006

By 

Jack Vance "Serenity" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sanjuro (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

I have been enjoying classic Japanese samurai films from childhood, and I have come to appreciate them more as I grow older.

This film is a must for those of you who appreciate a wry sense of humor and non verbal expression of wit. Toshiro Mifune (Sanjuro) plays the part of a jaded, cynical, but paradoxically honorable samurai to the hilt. The nine younger samurai reminded me of lion cubs who bound and growl with bravado while not realizing that they haven't the skills to bring down a sick sheep. Toshiro Mifune is the king of the pride, who gruffly smacks them back in line with his biting sarcasm.

My favorite character, however, is the wife of the kidnapped chamberlain whom the ten are trying to rescue. Her exaggerated but believable nobility and gentle femininity cow even the deadly and hardened Mifune, making him act like a school boy who is caught picking his nose.

All in all, the brief but stunning climax at the end of the film, with it's casual anticlimax, left me chuckling and applauding Kurasawa yet again.