JR 749244:

I saw this movie at the same time as the seven samurai. While I also recommend the seven samurai I felt that it was a little long winded and very slow moving. Yojimbo on the other hand has a very engaging plot as well as the dialog. Mifume does a great job with his acting and injecting a sort of dark humor into the picture. The seven samurai is a masterpiece in the art of film making, Yojimbo is too but a much more entertaining film to watch.

8adef320a8:

I won't bore anyone with my typical in depth and unnecessarily pretentious analysis of this masterpiece, since that's already been done by countless others for nearly 50 years. I will say that this is probably my favorite Kurosawa film, although that distinction fluctuates from time to time between two or three of his other works. I don't believe it's possible to watch this and not fall completely in love with Toshiro Mifune. He is maddeningly perfect in this role. The supporting cast is also marvelous, and indeed this could be used as a lesson on how to properly cast a film. In addition, this is simply some of the best camera work you're ever going to find anywhere. Kazuo Miyagawa was a masterful cinematographer for many years, but I believe this was his pinnacle. It's just a phenomenally gorgeous film to watch. I could easily gush and rave over this film for hours, but you already know how I feel. I most feverishly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

kwjr:

Yojimbo is about as great a samurai film as you are likely to find that is both true to the style and spirit of the genre yet has appeal to mainstream audiences. The atmosphere and imagery of this tiny town in feudal Japan are memorable in spite of their simplicity. For all intents and purposes, the entirety of Yojimbo unfolds along one single stretch of road. At either end of this road are two rival gangs and standing squarely in the middle (high above the dusty blood stained road, enjoying the carnage from a comfortable vantage point) is the quintessential man-with-no-name, the two-bit samurai portrayed by the legend Toshiro Mifune. Comparison to Akira Kurosawa?s other work is inevitable. I?m in the process of working through his filmography and Yojimbo is only my second Kurosawa film (for shame, for shame). The other of his films that I?ve seen is, of course, the epic Seven Samurai. Having seen both films, I will say Yojimbo is not better than Seven Samurai, but it is much more digestible and accessible to casual movie goers. Watching Seven Samurai is an undertaking (a worthwhile undertaking that I encourage everyone to pursue). Watching Yojimbo was just fun.

BunnyKing:

I found this movie to be excellent! It is painfully obvious how much A Fist Full of Dollars pulled from this film, and I can see why the writers would do that. This movie is funny, sarcastic, clever, violent but never gets ahead of itself. Never once did I feel like the characters were unbelievable, or that the plot was too hard to imagine. This movie is great for samurai fans, western fans, Japanese movie fans, etc. I would even go as far as to recommend this to people who enjoy comedies. A great movie all around, highly recommended.

ForeignMovies:

There are certain movies that I enjoyed very much and will remember for a long time. This movie is one of them.

lastliberal:

The first "man with no name" was Toshirô Mifune, who made 16 films with writer/director Akira Kurosawa, starting with Drunken Angel in 1948, and ending with Red beard in 1965. This is one of his greatest performances. Anyone familiar with American or Italian spaghetti westerns will instantly see the story here. The loner walks into town and sees an opportunity to play both sets of bad guys against each other to make money from each. It is funny, and has lots of action as any western does. Forget any idea of foreign films when watching Mifune and Kurosawa. They are as familiar to you as films you grew up with. For great entertainment, they cannot be beat.