What more is there to say aboutSeven Samuraithat hasn’t already been said? It’s one of the greatest movies of all time, made by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time:Akira Kurosawa. It helped influence countless action movies released in its wake, and essentiallyperfected what a great action epic could bewith its story of seven samurai warriors banding together to help defend a village and its inhabitants from violent bandits.
Due to its influence, there are plenty of movies that reuse certain story beats or tropes that Kurosawa’s 1954 classic helped establish. As long as you’re okay with a movie being not quite as good asSeven Samurai, the following movies are all compelling watches (it’s natural, really, because perfection can hardly be improved). The following movies are all worth watching for anyone who enjoyedSeven Samuraiand is hungry for more action, samurai-related or otherwise.
10'13 Assassins' (2010)
Takashi Miike’sbest work as a director is alsoone of 2010’s best movies:13 Assassins. It’s easy to compare it toSeven Samuraifrom the title alone, and the similarities continue when it comes to the movie’s action, structure, and setting, with both taking place in feudal Japan.
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WhileSeven Samuraiis all about defending a village,13 Assassinssees its titular characters going on the attack, with their task involving the ambush and assassination of a tyrannical lord. It features team assembling, attack planning, and then an extended action sequence in its final act, structurally feeling similar toSeven Samuraiwhile also being similarly exciting, not to mention considerably bloodier when it comes to its action scenes.
9’The Magnificent Seven' (1960)
The Magnificent Sevenis remarkably similar toSeven Samuraibecause it’s a remake of the 1954 samurai classic. However, instead of being set in feudal Japan,The Magnificent Sevenis set in the Old West, and though there’s a team that still needs to assemble and defend a town, the people doing the defending here are gunslingers, rather than samurai warriors.
This 1960 film is also a little punchier and less of an epic, given its runtime clocks in at just over two hours, making it about 80 minutes shorter thanSeven Samurai. It doesn’t tell the comparable story in quite as compelling a manner, but it’s still a very good Western, featuring plenty of great actors in the large cast (includingSteve McQueen,Charles Bronson, andEli Wallach), and having an amazing score byElmer Bernstein.
8'¡Three Amigos!' (1986)
WhileThe Magnificent Seventook the premise ofSeven Samuraiand placed it in a Western setting while remaining a fairly serious movie,¡Three Amigos!takes the broad strokes of the premise and makes the whole thing comedic. A group of villagers hires the titular trio, believing they’re fearsome warriors who will help them defend their village.
As it turns out, they’re actually just actors, which complicates things when the three realize they might be the only thing standing in the way of the fearsome bandits targeting the village. It’s a fun and largely silly spoof of Westerns, but does so in a good-hearted way, showing how three actors can rise to the occasion and become the genuine heroes they get paid to portray on-screen.
7’Ran' (1985)
When it comes to Akira Kurosawa movies that might trumpSeven Samurai, or at least come close to matching it, 1985’sRanis often brought up. It’s fitting, because it’sone of the great director’s very best films, taking the tragic story ofKing Learand transporting it to Japan during the 1500s, following an aging warlord who attempts to divide his kingdom up among his three sons.
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WhileSeven Samuraicertainly isn’t shy about touching on darker themes and establishing genuine danger for its characters,Ranis a considerably darker affair. It contains spectacle and action, much likeSeven Samurai, but the war sequences inRanare a good deal more harrowing than the action sequences inSeven Samurai, making it another Kurosawa epic, sure, but also one of his bleakest movies.
6’A Bug’s Life' (1998)
Surprisingly enough, thoughPixar’sA Bug’s Lifeis animated, family-friendly, doesn’t contain samurai, and isn’t set in Japan, it still has a premise that can be traced back toSeven Samurai. That 1954 movie led toThe Magnificent Seven, which led to¡Three Amigos!, which then finally led toA Bug’s Life.
Whereas¡Three Amigos!features a trio of actors needing to defend a village,A Bug’s Lifeis about an insect circus troupe accidentally getting hired to defend an ant colony from a horde of vicious grasshoppers. It’s a kid-friendly take on the familiar formula, and though it might not be one of Pixar’s very best movies, it’s charming and clever enough to hold up well, to the point where calling it a tad underrated might be fair.
5’Yojimbo' (1961)
Tatsuya Nakadaiis a Japanese actorwho had a brief role inSeven Samuraibefore going on to work with Akira Kurosawa on several future movies the director made. One of these was 1961’sYojimbo, which is another classic from the great Japanese filmmaker, and features Nakadai in the role of the lead antagonist, whileToshiro Mifune(who had a large role inSeven Samurai) plays the protagonist here.
It’s a shorter and more small-scale movie thanSeven Samurai, but is nevertheless one of Kurosawa’s best. It also proved to be influential, with its premise about a lone wanderer playing two gangs off against each other in a small town being reused in other movies like 1964’sA Fistful of Dollarsand 1996’sLast Man Standing.
4’The Dirty Dozen' (1967)
IfSeven Samuraiis a team-up action movie set in feudal Japan, andThe Magnificent Sevenis a team-up action movie in the Old West, thenThe Dirty Dozendoes something similar action movie-wise, but sets things in World War II. The titular dozen are all convicted criminals who’ll have their sentences revoked if they agree to participate in a dangerous assassination mission.
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Of course, the catch is that the mission is so risky that few - if any - are likely to make it out alive, meaning that after two acts of character-building and planning, it can be surprisingly sad to see the mission play out with various casualties. Thankfully, the action is also entertaining and appropriately explosive,makingThe Dirty Dozena classic.
3'47 Ronin' (1962)
Another samurai-themed moviestarring the great Toshiro Mifune,47 Ronin(1962) is one of several film adaptations of a well-known event from Japan’s history. It’s about a group of leaderless samurai (ronin) planning revenge against those responsible for the death of their master, without whom their lives have become meaningless.
Running for almost 3.5 hours, it’s a true epic, with its runtime equaling that ofSeven Samurai. This makes it an obviously long and exhaustive watch, but it’s a compelling story told well, features sparse but well-choreographed action, and has a huge cast with a clear amount of money being used on the film’s impressive production value, too.
2’The Tale of Zatoichi' (1962)
TheZatoichimovie series isone of the longest-running of all time, with a total of 26 movies being made withShintarō Katsuin the lead, and a remake being released in 2003 withTakeshi Kitanoin the titular role.The Tale of Zatoichiis the first of the original run of movies, and so naturally is the ideal starting point for newcomers.
The lead character is a blind masseuse/gambler/swordsman, and most of the films tell self-contained stories featuring him helping out various downtrodden people in 19th-century Japan. The first film, plus most of its sequels, are filled with great samurai action, emotional stories, and a fantastic lead character, making the entire series an essential one for any fan of great samurai movies.
1’The Hidden Fortress' (1958)
Several years afterSeven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa made another action epic featuring swordplay and samurai, though this one was a little more adventure-focused and a touch more light-hearted. That film wasThe Hidden Fortress, and it told the story of two peasants getting involved in a large-scale conflict after they cross paths with a princess and a fearsome general in hiding.
It blends humor, action, and some more dramatic elements well, with everything adding up to make it one of Kurosawa’s most satisfying and adventurous movies. Its story is a little looser thanSeven Samurai’s, but it’s likely to scratch a similar itch for anyone who’s after more action-packed samurai movie classics.
