Yojimbo

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Yojimbo

Released Oct 15, 1961

1h 50m

Adventure

Comedy

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

47 Reviews

96%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master (Toshirô Mifune), enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon (Kamatari Fujiwara) and sake merchant Tokuemon (Takashi Shimura) to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

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Critics Consensus

As effortlessly engaging as it is widely influential, Yojimbo represents Kurosawa at the peak of his powers -- and lays the groundwork for the modern American western.

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Chuck Bowen

Slant Magazine

Yojimbo’s premise, concerning fisticuffs between samurai and ruffians that distract the populace from the seizure of power by white-collar thugs, has only grown more pertinent to our present day.

Jan 9, 2025

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David Parkinson

Empire Magazine

Yojimbo is intimate to the point of claustrophobia. Its wit is wry, its characters flawed and its world-view uncompromisingly cynical.

Rated: 5/5

Jun 14, 2020

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TIME Magazine

A movie that is both a wow of a show and a masterpiece of misanthropy.

Mar 4, 2013

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Penelope Gilliatt

Observer (UK)

[Yojimbo] is not four-star Kurosawa, but it rates a good three.

Mar 6, 2024

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Pauline Kael

Partisan Review

Yojimbo is not a film that needs much critical analysis; its boisterous power and good spirits are right there on the surface. Lechery, avarice, cowardice, coarseness, animality, are rendered by fire; they become joy in life, in even [its] lowest forms.

Oct 17, 2023

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Howard Waldstein

CBR

The film hasn't aged a day. Watching Yojimbo now, viewers will feel surprised by how modern it feels.

Jun 27, 2023

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Omar G

Yojimbo (1961). I like A Fistful of Dollars (1964) better, both based on Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest. For example Sergio Leone improved the scene where the protagonist kills the first thugs. I also like Sanjuro (1962) better. Toshiro Mifune Kuwabatake/Tsubaki Sanjuro one of the synonyms of cunning next to Philip Marlowe, The Man With no Name, Batman his weapon is cunning above all. I liked how Mifune refused to be Obi Wan Kenobi, he have said "I am Toshiro Mifune, why would I make that movie?" I like the quote "Kill one or a hundred you will only be hanged once." Sanjuro's plan to make them exterminate each other and he profit it like balkanization. The worst would be that crying child, hateful, loud and complaining, along with his father who is a bit of a man, a good-for-nothing idiot. Seibe's wife is one of the most memorable characters.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/25/24

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Hao Ian L

Kurosawa's display of a classic modernist in <i>Yojimbo</i>, as plain and simple as it is, goes a long way to paving the road for the later American westerns to come.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/10/24

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Micah H

My favorite Kurosawa movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/05/24

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Guilherme M

A very fun and easy movie to watch, its a cynical movie that show us how society can get so low to the point that its funny to watch.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/16/24

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Michael W

Yojimbo is a perfect Samurai movie. Great story, great acting and great characters. In my personal opinion Toshiro Mifune is the greatest movie Samurai. The only American actor that compares to Toshiro Mifune is John Wayne who is the greatest movie Cowboy.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/23/24

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James B

classic samurai film well shot great acting great swordfights i loved it

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/14/24

Full Review

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Akira Kurosawa

Director

Toshiro Mifune

Sanjuro Kuwabatake

Tatsuya Nakadai

Unosuke

Eijiro Tono

Gonji, tavern keeper

Takashi Shimura

Tokuemon

Seizaburô Kawazu

Seibei

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Synopsis

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master (Toshirô Mifune), enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon (Kamatari Fujiwara) and sake merchant Tokuemon (Takashi Shimura) to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Producer: Akira Kurosawa
Screenwriter: Ryûzô Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa
Production Co: Toho Company Ltd.
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 15, 1961, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Runtime: 1h 50m
Sound Mix: Perspecta Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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