Available from October 19th on Criterion Blu-Ray...
Special Features -
# Full 208-minute version
# Restored, high-definition digital transfer
# Audio commentaries by film scholars
# Audio commentary by Japanese film expert Michael Jeck
# Fifty-minute documentary on the making of Seven Samurai
# My Life in Cinema, a two-hour video conversation with Oshima and Kurosawa
# "Seven Samurai": Origins and Influences, a documentary
# Theatrical trailers and teaser
# Gallery of rare posters and behind-the-scenes and production stills
# PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Kenneth Turan, Peter Cowie and more
Quote:
The full frame (1.33:1) transfer is cleaner, brighter, and more vivid than the previous standard def edition, and though there are moments of brief picture damage, the transfer is the absolute best one could hope for. Along with the restored picture, the audio has been remastered with a new Dolby 2.0 stereo track (not DD 4.0, as it was previously listed), along with the original mono (DD 1.0), both in Japanese, with optional English subtitles.
A two-disc set, the film is now presented on one disc, and the supplements on the other. The feature film disc contains two commentaries: the original Jeck track (still a high-water mark in cinematic commentaries) and a critics’ roundtable with Stephen Prince, David Desser, Tony Rayns, Donald Richie, and Joan Mellen.
Disc Two kicks off with “Akira Kurosawa: It is Fun to Create” (49 min.), a multi-episode Japanese TV series that highlighted the films of Akira Kurosawa, episodes of which are also available on the Criterion releases of Ikiru, Kagemusha, The Lower Depths, Ran, and Stray Dog. This one is specifically about Samurai and features comments from Kurosawa, co-writer Shinobu Hashimoto, set decorator Koichi Hamamura, script supervisor Teruyo Nogami, and actors Seiji Miyaguchi and Yoshio Tsuchiya.
This is followed by “My Life in Cinema: Akira Kurosawa” (116 min.), which has fellow director Nagisa Oshima in conversation with Kurosawa about his films and career, but focuses mainly on his rise in the ranks.
The featurette “Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences” (55 min.) enlists Stephen Prince, Joan Mellen, Tadao Sato, David Desser, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie to talk about the film and where it came from.
The second disc finished out its supplements with three trailers and the film’s teaser, and two still galleries for behind-the-scenes stills and poster images.
The set also comes with a booklet with essays by Kenneth Turan, Peter Cowie, Phillip Kemp, Peggy Chiao, Alain Silver, Stuart Galbraith IV, directors Sidney Lumet and Arthur Penn, and from Mifune himself.
Few Blu-rays have been as essential as this one.
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