Product Details

• Actors: Takashi Shimura, Ichirô Sugai, Denjirô Ôkôchi, Susumu Fujita, Yukiko Todoroki
• Directors: Akira Kurosawa
• Producers: Sanshiro Sugata
• Format: Import, PAL, Subtitled
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 4 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Eastern Eye
• Run Time: 79 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000C5IJM4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,832 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Australia released, PAL/Region 4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: Japanese ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Japanese ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Black & White, Deleted Scenes, Interactive Menu, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Sanshiro, a strong stubborn youth, comes to the city to apprentice at a jujitsu school. His first night, he sees Yano in action, a master of judo, a more spiritual art, and he begs to be Yano's student. As the youth learns technique, he must also learn 'satori,' the calm acceptance of Nature's law. If he can balance strength and control, then judo may become the training regimen for the city's police, Sanshiro can gain respect from an old teacher in a jujitsu school, and he can win the hand of Sayo, that teacher's daughter, who is also sought by jujitsu's finest master, the implacable Higaki, who vows to kill Sanshiro in a midnight fight on a windswept mountainside.
...Sanshiro Sugata

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive entry from Kurosawa, July 19, 1999

By 

jilesmeacham (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sanshiro Sugata (AKA Judo Saga) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

All of the artistic flair and sweeping imagery that defines the typical Kurosawa film is evident in this his inaugural film effort. How easy it would have been at the height of Japan's success in WWII to make a cliche ridden film slavishly paying homage to nationalism. Yet Kurosawa manages to make a film dedicated to martial arts with self restraint and humility as its theme. Quite a remarkable stance from a novice director. Japanese censors were not pleased and at times the results show in abrupt editing. Under US occupation the film was once more suppressed due to its martial content. Fortunately this film has survived due to Kurosawa's subsequent efforts. Man's inner turmoil juxtoposed against the forces of Nature have been staple images for Kurosawa and the final sequence of this film sets the standard. Susumu Fujita is superb in the lead role. Every bit as handsome as Toshiro Mifune, one can only lament that he did not feature in more films. A very interesting film from an intellectual POV. The fact that it is also a superb drama makes it all the more enjoyable.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Germination to a masterpiece, February 1, 2002

By 

"f19f" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sanshiro Sugata (AKA Judo Saga) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

See it - you won't be disappointed. Definitely a must see if you're a Kurosawa fan! Despite being his maiden film, Kurosawa's mastery clearly shines through. Indeed, there is even a certain purity in his artistry in this early effort.

As is the case with all his films, and maybe even more conscientiously so in this case, every scene, every shot is so exquisitely crafted, with so much sense and purpose: the camera staying on a scene a deliberate amount of time, the assiduous panning of the camera, the close-ups of the facial expressions - they were all so carefully crafted so as to create the subtlest of nuances. Even if you do not like the story, each scene is itself a visual piece of art.

The only problem is the not so smooth transitions between episodes, but that is just a small flaw in this highly enjoyable film. Even though this film was only Kurosawa's first full directorial effort, he already showed a technical skill far exceeding many others. I can only surmise that from there on, he honed his skills to perfection in `Rashomon' - the film which remains for me the best ever in technical and directorial artistry.

`Sugata Sanshiro' impresses and inspires me enough to write about it the day after seeing it. `Rashomon' too of course, but I never get to write about `Rashomon' because I do not think I can find the words to do justice to this marvellous masterpiece.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Akira Kurosawa's first film, from 1943, December 16, 2002

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sanshiro Sugata (AKA Judo Saga) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Martial arts films have come a long way since this curious historical drama, the first feature film directed by the up-and-coming Akira Kurosawa. Filmed and edited during wartime, it dramatizes the story of the late 19th Century development of judo as a breakaway form of the jiu-jitsu school of martial arts. Without the benefit of Hong Kong style wire-works or the flashy acrobatics of Bruce Lee, et al, the combat looks mostly like wrestling or sumo... Which, perhaps, back in the 1880s, it was. Takashi Shimura introduces his role as an older wise man, in custody over the spiritual growth of a younger firebrand; the plot has a bit of a Romeo and Juliet tone to it, as the young champion of judo falls in love with the daughter of a rival school's sensei. Fans who have seen Kurosawa's glorious later films will notice right away the relative lack of grace here, yet as a directorial debut this is pretty stunning and ably introduces the visual poetry and various themes that he would so ably explore in years to come. Also, military censors apparently mucked with the movie for various reasons, and interrupted the flow of the narrative (most notably in a couple of sequences deleted in their entirety and replaced by silent-movie style placards explaining the absent action, and in the ending, which seems rushed and inexplicable). Still, any Kurosawa fan will find this film quite rewarding.