The Best Movie Of Each Year From 1925-2025
72. 1954 - Seven Samurai
Honourable Mentions: Godzilla, On the Waterfront, Rear Window
Akira Kurosawa was one of the most breathtaking and innovative filmmakers of the 20th century, and no film within his oeuvre embodies those traits more than his 1954 masterpiece, Seven Samurai.
One of a number of collaborations with legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune (many of which are equally as deserving of the 'masterpiece' label, particularly Throne of Blood), Seven Samurai is the modern birthplace of the "men-on-a-mission" movie and one of Kurosawa's most technically accomplished productions.
Rain-soaked, fiery, and as balletic as it is frenetic, it's hard to describe Seven Samurai as anything but the definitive jidaigeki picture, as well as the high point of Kurosawa and Mifune's long-running and unimpeachable partnership.