15 Most Bad-Ass Teams In Movie History
1. The Seven Samurai
One of the first major movies to implement the storytelling techniques that would soon form the backbone of the 'men on a mission' genre, Akira Kurosawa's first samurai adventure has inspired everyone from Sergio Leone to Quentin Tarantino via Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
The seven samurai themselves are all given distinct personalities and character traits, which would again go on to become almost ubiquitous within the genre; the world-weary leader and his old friend, the second-in-command, the untried youngster, the less-skilled member that eventually proves his worth, the outsider that initially refuses to join before changing his mind, and the comedy relief.
Rightly referred to as one of the greatest movies ever made, Kurosawa created an Eastern story with Western production values, with the result being a frequently stunning action epic. The narrative spawned a thousand imitators, as a reluctant hero is forced to assemble a team to protect the innocent from the threat posed by the villains.
The climactic rain-soaked battle remains one of the greatest action scenes ever put to film and the combination of well-developed characters and combat proficiency sees the seven samurai endure as the original, and still best, collection of cinematic bad-asses.