10 Best Akira Kurosawa Movies, Ranked

Summary

• Akira Kurosawa’s films established cinematic language, defining filmmaking for over 80 years, with some of the highest critical acclaim.
• The best Akira Kurosawa films like
  Rashomon
  and
  Seven Samura
  i showcase his influence on storytelling, inspiring filmmakers like George Lucas.
• Hidden Fortress
  and
  Red Beard
  are accessible entry points to Akira Kurosawa’s movies, revealing his genius for pushing cinematic boundaries.

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As one of the greatest directors of all time, the best Akira Kurosawa films show the amazing influence the filmmaker continues to have on artists who followed. The trailblazing Japanese storytellerhelped to establish the language of cinema and define certain filmmaking tenets that have persisted for over eight decades. As such, Kurosawa’s most venerated work boasts some of his highest critical acclaim. Kurosawa started his directorial career in 1943 during World War II. After the war ended, Kurosawa used the tragedy that befell his country as an influence and created some of cinema’s best movies.

From such landmark titles as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Throne of Blood to lesser-known classics like Ran and Red Beard, and more, Kurosawa’s most well-received films tend to come from the middle of his movie-making career, marking a level of quality that has rarely been eclipsed since. He is also one of the most influential filmmakers in history, with George Lucas calling him an influence on Star Wars, the rise of spaghetti Westerns being highly influenced by many of his samurai tales, and more than one of his Shakespeare adaptations finding remakes of their own over the years.

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10 Dersu Uzala (1975)

An Explorer Venturing To Siberia And Starts An Unlikely Friendship

Dersu Uzala (1975)
G

Director Akira Kurosawa Release Date August 2, 1975 Cast Maxim Munzuk , Yury Solomin , Vladimir Kremena , Alexander Pyatkov , Svetlana Danilchenko , Suimenkul Chokmorov Runtime 144 Minutes

Kurosawa only made five movies after the little-known Dersu Uzala, winner of the 1976 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The story follows the title character, a trapper sent by Russian armed forces to explore the uncharted Sikhote-Alin region of Siberia. Along the way, Dersu (Maksim Munzuk) forges an unlikely friendship with a grizzled hunter named Arsenev (Yuriy Solomon).

It contains many elements of a Kurosawa classic especially in the themes of humanity’s relation to nature and connection to each other.

Made toward the twilight of his illustrious career, Dersu Azala is Kurosawa at his most contemplative and soulful state, one of the better late-career efforts by the director. Kurosawa took the job when hired by the USSR after his career began to lag. However, it feels far from a paycheck gig as Kurosawa finds his epic style once again. It is a bit of an oddity in his filmography that might be overlooked by many, but it contains many elements of a Kurosawa classic especially in the themes of humanity’s relation to nature and connection to each other.

9 The Hidden Fortress (1958)

Two Peasants Must Escort A Princess Through Dangerous Lands

The Hidden Fortress

Director Akira Kurosawa Release Date December 28, 1958 Cast Toshiro Mifune , Misa Uehara Runtime 2h 6m

TheHidden Fortress bears so many similarities to George Lucas’ Star Wars that some have suggested the Hollywood movie ripped off the Japanese original. The movie centers on two peasants in Feudal Japan who are ordered to escort a princess and a general through a perilous territory as enemies close in. Driven by their greed for gold as a reward, the two peasants have no clue how important their charges are, which leads to an intense battle of wits and weaponry, betrayal, and redemption.

While there are some who see The Hidden Fortress as a more serious and arthouse version of Star Wars’ story, it captures the same thrills and fun in a much different adventure setting. Hailed as one of his most accessible and mainstream movies for Kurosawa beginners to enjoy, The Hidden Fortress marks Kurosawa’s first film shot in widescreen, proving once more that the pioneer was at the forefront of pushing cinematic technology forward. It shows the combination of thrilling set pieces and epic scope that defined so many of Kurosawa’s adventure movies.

8 Red Beard (1965)

A Stern Doctor Begins Mentoring A Young Intern

Red Beard (1965)

Director Akira Kurosawa Release Date April 3, 1965 Cast Toshiro Mifune , Yūzō Kayama , Reiko Dan , Kyôko Kagawa , Akemi Negishi , Miyuki Kuwano , Tsutomu Yamazaki , Takashi Shimura Runtime 185 Minutes Distributor(s) Toho

While he is one of the great action movie directors of all time, Kurosawa also delivered some beautiful intimate movies. In his final collaboration with Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa tells one of his most relatable human tales in Red Beard, the three-hour magnum opus character study. The story follows Kyojo Niide (Mifune), an irascible doctor in a small Japanese town who forges a personal and professional bond with his new medical trainee, Dr. Yasumoto (Yuzo Kayama).

As Kurosawa’s final black-and-white film, Red Beard marks the end of an era for the master storyteller, who would go on to direct nine more movies over the next 28 years. The movie picked up a Golden Globe nomination and Kurosawa won a director’s award at the Venice Film Festival. It was a fitting end to one of the greatest director and actor pairings of all time. Looking at the work they did together, Red is a prime example of the versatility of their work.

Even the movie’s only marital arts sequence, as fun and thrilling as it is, is used to highlight this theme of providing help to those in need.

This is a movie that speaks to Kurosawa’s common theme of compassion which is seen many times throughout his work. Even the movie’s only marital arts sequence, as fun and thrilling as it is, is used to highlight this theme of providing help to those in need. The beautiful photography and sprawling nature make Red Beard feel as epic as many of Kurosawa’s great films, despite its smaller-scale story.

7 Throne Of Blood (1957)

A Loose Adaptation Of Macbeth Set In Feudal Japan

Throne of Blood

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Director Akira Kurosawa Release Date January 15, 1957 Cast Toshiro Mifune , Isuzu Yamada , Takashi Shimura

Throne of Blood is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth set in feudal Japan. Toshiro Mifune stars as a grizzled war general named Washizu who goes to treacherous lengths to turn his wife’s vision to become the top ruler into reality. All of Shakespeare’s hefty themes of tragic betrayal, craven ambition, and inevitable vengeance are on display. Yet Kurosawa adds his own commentary on the story that is insightful and suitable for the tale.

The eerie labyrinthine forest that serves as the major setting is among the movie’s most memorable and unsettling, giving a hint of what a Kurosawa horror movie might have looked like. The combination of Shakespeare’s timeless tale andKurosawa’s groundbreaking direction is simply above reproach. The amazing cinematography and storytelling elements highlight that he is a filmmaker who is not keen on retelling old well-worn stories but rather is interested in using the familiarity to tell his own take. It is a prime example of movies approaching Shakespeare adaptations in new and exciting ways.

As impressive as Kurosawa’s work is as a director and writer for this adaptation, it also features some of the best performances in any of his movies. His usually leading man, Mifune, is in fine form as the unscrupulous protagonist, creating a take on Macbeth unlike any other while beautifully showing the immense transformation the character goes through.

6 High And Low (1963)

A Businessman Faces A Moral Conundrum Following A Kidnapping

High And Low (1963)

Director Akira Kurosawa Release Date March 1, 1963 Cast Toshiro Mifune , Tatsuya Nakadai , Kyôko Kagawa , Tatsuya Mihashi , Yutaka Sada Writers Ryûzô Kikushima , Hideo Oguni , Eijirô Hisaita , Akira Kurosawa Runtime 143 Minutes

A perfect crime story and character study told in three precise acts, High and Low shows that Akira Kurosawa is as effective at modern storytelling as he is with period pieces. The moral quandary concerns Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), a top executive at the Yokohama shoe company, who is about to close an important business deal. However, when his son is kidnapped, he agrees to use the money to pay for the ransom, only to realize it was his son’s friend who was kidnapped.

This is one of the most effective cinematic morality plays, filled with complex characters and decisions

Gondo is left in an impossible ethical bind. If he pays to save a friend’s child, he will lose the money for his business dealings. If he uses the money for the deal, the boy will be harmed. This is one of the most effective cinematic morality plays, filled with complex characters and decisions. While so many of his great movies being period pieces, there is something thrilling about seeing Kurosawa working in a modern-day setting. He adapts perfectly to this very different style, shifting from epic scope to intense drama.

Along with his directing, this is one of the best examples of Kurosawa’s talents as a screenwriter (he shares the credit with three others). It is a brilliant premise to set up a thought-provoking moral question. When it comes to Kurosawa’s characters, his period stories can sometimes include larger-than-life figures who serve the wider themes. High and Low feels like his most authentic piece in terms of human behavior. While the movie will be hard to top, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington will reunite for a High and Low remake.

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5 Ran (1985)

An Epic Retelling Of King Lear

Ran (1985)
R

Director Akira Kurosawa Release Date May 31, 1985 Runtime 162 Minutes

Another movie that is loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s work, Ran is one of Kurosawa’s most personal passion projects. The story is his own take on King Lear and concerns an aging warlord and land baron Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai). Hidetora bestows the imperial power on his three sons, completely blindsided by their cruel corruption, deadly deceit, and craven betrayal.

Kurosawa only made three more movies after Ran, making this the acclaimed filmmaker’s last great release.

While the end of Kurosawa’s work in black-and-white is something seen as a shift in the quality of his movies, Ran proves that he was able to use color in a way few filmmakers have done as effectively. The movie is a vibrant and beautiful-looking epic, coming at a time when many didn’t know he still had such a movie in him. Kurosawa delivers some of the greatest battle sequences in movie history, with him using action as a storytelling technique in such a captivating way.

Ran surprisingly marks the only time Kurosawa was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director, while the film also won an Oscar for Best Costume Design. Kurosawa only made three more movies after Ran, making this the last great release of the acclaimed filmmaker.

4 Ikiru (1952)

A Dying Man Attempts To Embrace Life For The First Time

Ikiru

Director Akira Kurosawa Release Date March 25, 1956 Writers Akira Kurosawa , Shinobu Hashimoto , Hideo Oguni Runtime 143 Minutes

Ikiru is arguably the most emotionally resonant of Akira Kurosawa’s movies.Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura) is a career social worker who is suddenly diagnosed with late-stage cancer, which forces him to take stock of his life, find existential meaning, and press on in the face of unfathomable fear. Given less than one year to live, what makes the story so profoundly and emotionally painful is the mundane repetition of Kanji’s daily life at his job, to which he dedicated 30 years of his life.

Afraid to die but too miserable to live, Kanji’s spiritual journey is both heartening and soul-crushing at once, as only Kurosawa can depict. Kurosawa avoids the easy sentimentality of the story and goes for a more realistic depiction of the complexities of life. In many ways, Ikiru feels like Kurosawa’s take on It’s a Wonderful Life, touching on similar themes but having his own commentary on the matter.

The movie is able to stand out among Kurosawa’s more epic stories because of how engrossing and in-depth the story is. It feels like an epic journey on its own, following this man as he makes redemption for a life that, while not filled with sins, but simply not filled with much at all. The 2022 movie Living was a remake of Ikiru, and earned Bill Nighy an Oscar nomination.

3 Yojimbo (1961)

A Wandering Swordsman Ignites A War Between Rival Gangsters

Yojimbo

Director Akira Kurosawa Release Date April 25, 1961 Cast Toshiro Mifune , Tatsuya Nakadai , Yôko Tsukasa , Isuzu Yamada , Daisuke Katô , Seizaburô Kawazu Runtime 110 minutes

While Toshiro Mifune would reprise his now-iconic role of Sanjuro one year later, 1961’s Yojimbo reigns supreme as a hugely influential movie from Kurosawa.Yojimbo (which translates to “Bodyguard”) refers to the wily nomadic samurai who manipulates two ruthless gangsters at odds with each other in 19th-century Japan. One of Kurosawa’s biggest commercial hits in Japan, Yojimbo influenced several other beloved movies, including Sergio Leonne’s A Fistful of Dollars.

Yojimbo remains one of Kurosawa’s most popular movies…

Violent, philosophical, and transcendent, Yojimbo remains one of Kurosawa’s most popular movies and an all-time classic made right in the middle of his prime. However, it is also a prime example of how Kurosawa’s action movies were always deeper in storytelling and character than many other films in the genre. While so many movies that followed would include the antihero of few worlds who comes into a small town and deals with the criminal element, Kurosawa finds a fresh take in his depiction of the hero.

Toshirô Mifune’s samurai is not there to punish the rotten criminals, but rather there to help out the people whose lives are negatively impacted. It is yet another instance of compassion playing a big role in Kurosawa’s movies. Mifune is also able to communicate so much about this mysterious character without having to say it, inspiring many silent heroes that follow.

2 Rashomon (1950)

The Same Crime Is Retold From Various Perspectives

Rashomon
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Director Akira Kurosawa Release Date December 26, 1951 Cast Toshiro Mifune , Machiko Kyo , Masayuki Mori , Takashi Shimiura , Minoru Chiaki , Kichijiro Ueda , Noriko Honma , Daisuke Katô Runtime 88 Minutes

Once again, as brilliant as Kurosawa is as a director, his talents as a screenwriter should never be overlooked. Notorious for shifting character perspectives and retelling the same story events from multiple points of view, Rashomon is among Kurosawa’s most inventive and oft-imitated masterworks. Adhering to the old adage that there is more than one side to every story, few movies explore the veracity of the he said, she said dynamic like Rashomon.

When a bride is brutally assaulted and her husband murdered in an attempt to protect her, all involved are forced to testify before the court. Each account of the barbarous crimes slightly differs from one another, calling into question the nature of truth, memory, perception, and the cunning manipulation therein. It also features Kurosawa’s favorite theme in the juxtaposition between the good and evil of humanity.

This is another movie that is an easy one for new viewers to watch in order to become more acquainted with Kurosawa’s work. It is a beautifully directed film with some breathtaking shots in even the simplest of moments. It is also a captivating story that is told expertly and is accessible as a simple narrative. The movie received an honorary Oscar in 1952.

1 Seven Samurai (1954)

A Band Of Samurai Protect A Small Village

Seven Samurai
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Director Akira Kurosawa Release Date April 26, 1954 Cast Toshiro Mifune Runtime 207minutes

Famously remade as The Magnificent Seven in 1960, the story of a 16th-century Japanese village marauded by violent bandits avenged by seven sword-swinging samurai is deeply ingrained in storytelling mythology. With visceral action and compelling characters, Seven Samurai is Kurosawa at his sharpest. The basic premise of the story does not do justice to the landmark filmmaking achievement of Kurosawa’s singular style.

Using multiple cameras for the first time in his career, the film defined modern-day action movie conventions of epic fight sequences and remains the most celebrated samurai film ever conceived. It is also a hugely influential example of action movie storytelling, not just with movies that continue to borrow the premise, but the genre in general. There is a strong ensemble filled with colorful characters who the audience can get invested in and thus become more invested in the action.

Kurosawa’s epic storytelling and filmmaking style, making each of these heroes seem iconic, builds to the amazing action sequence in the climax that earns its long runtime. While many have tried to recapture the magic of this movie, Kurosawa is the missing ingredient that cannot be replicated. The movie ranks high on most organizations’ greatest movies of all time lists and is easily at the top of the best Akira Kurosawa movies.

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