In the “Seven Samurai” released in 1954 by Toho and directed by Akira Kurosawa, we follow the exploits of an unfortunate peasant village in feudal Japan as they recruit seven samurai to help them defend themselves against marauding ronin. In “The Magnificent Seven” released in 1960 by MGM/UA and directed by John Sturges, we follow the exploits of an unfortunate peasant village in rural Mexico as they recruit seven gun fighters to help them defend themselves against marauding bandits. And that’s just the beginning of the similarities between these two movies. Many people consider the “Seven Samurai” one of the best films ever produced. “The Magnificent Seven” is also held in very high regard. What are the similarities? What are the differences? Is one a better film than the other? Bob and I discuss these topics as we review these two films in this week’s episode.

Here's a link to the IMDB page for "Seven Samurai" and here's on for "The Magnificent Seven".

Up next we travel to the desert southwest for an invasion of super intelligent ants in "Phase IV" the only movie ever directed by the renowned artist Saul Bass.

After that we travel to the Middle Ages for a classic Danny Kaye film "The Court Jester"