50 Greatest Action Movies Of All Time

44. Seven Samurai (1954)

Seven Samurai
Toho

One of the greatest movies made in any genre, Akira Kurosawa's samurai classic is an epic Hollywood adventure filtered through an Eastern lens, and has influenced everyone from George Lucas, Sergio Leone and Steven Spielberg to Quentin Tarantino.

Kurosawa wanted his movie to be "entertaining enough to eat", and in that case he most definitely succeeded. Utilising the 'men on a mission' narrative before it became a cliche, the director fills the movie with themes of heroism and sacrifice without neglecting the action, with the climactic rain-soaked battle still one of the greatest set-pieces ever filmed.

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