Why did Seven Samurai have such an impact on the film industry? The film has been adapted in many areas, in addition to two Hollywood adaptations, I have also seen a science fiction Japanese animation film adapted from this masterpiece. In addition, not to mention its subtle impact on a large number of filmmakers. Hollywood's adaptation of Seven Samurai is the most interesting, set in the West, with cowboys replacing samurai, pioneers replacing farmers, and it wasn't enough to change it once in 1960, it was just 2016 that it came again, which is really interesting.
Hollywood's two adaptations of "Seven Samurai" are not bad, and the 2016 version of "The Brave Seven Dragons" has led Denzel Washington, following "Django Liberated", black people have once again become the protagonists in Westerns. In my opinion, the narrative of "Seven Samurai" itself is indeed a very Hollywood flavor of the structure, but also very compatible with commercial films. In Akira Kurosawa's version of Seven Samurai, despite the themes he is trying to represent, the entire story structure is also the classic structure of many blockbuster movies today.
1. Heroism: This is an eternal and appealing spiritual force in human history, no matter how modern and postmodern deconstruction in the development of human cinema, this classicist sentiment is still touching. A group of fallen samurai, brave to face a tough enemy, with their own sacrifices to preserve the tranquility of one side of the water and soil, of course, their motives seem to be impure, but this is another advantage of the script.
2. Imperfect heroes overcome themselves: The aesthetic of the tall and complete screen has now declined, and it will produce a sense of distance from the audience, which is not easy to resonate. As early as "Seven Samurai", the samurai under Akira Kurosawa's lens are more or less flawed, and Kikuchiyo, played by Toshiro Mifune, can be described as one of the representatives. Yes, the hero who does not eat human fireworks is a god, and the hero who overcomes his greed and cowardice is the hero of the world. The original intention of this group of people seems to be only for commissions, but after weighing the cost of revenue, it is still the hero who still stands up to fight. Such a temperament is too appetite for American culture, from the profession to the business world, from the battlefield to the universe, in American movies, a large and small character can always break through themselves and reach another realm of their own ability, which is the hero.
3. The bravery of the little people: In "Seven Samurai", although the seven samurai can be called the saviors and superheroes of the invaded villages, this film has a more grounded appeal, some movies, after the hero appears, the mortals retreat, often the hero and the evil forces directly confrontation. And "Seven Samurai" reflects the heroes' inspiration for the inner courage of the little people, and a group of villagers who look clumsy, trembling and majestic, have also become fighters fighting against evil forces. And in the process, they also really evoke the confirmation of self-interest and become their masters, as the surviving samurai at the end of the film has a meaningful line: "We still lose, and the real winner is the peasant."
4. The richness of the group drama: The role of the seven samurai is established, which not only makes the duel between the two sides of the film more balanced, but also enhances the thickness of the film. Seven people, with different strengths and personalities, whether it is external conflict or internal conflict, will make the film easy to burst into sparks everywhere, making the film more exciting and rich. This point, in today's American superhero movies, has a prominent embodiment, "group fight" has been the main tone of such movies in the United States, for the audience, the old look at a person a move is also tired, all at once wholesale some hero skill performance, naturally more painful. And the dramatic conflict involved in it is also more exciting, in life, being alone may be beneficial to personal thinking, but the one-man show in the movie is not so easy to interpret, so even Tom Hanks playing "The Rest of the Desert Island" also wants the whole volleyball to "opponent play".
5. One-line plot: "Cheesy! In fact, the well-designed plot is certainly applauded, but many times, some movies are not placed in the "cliché" of the plot clues, but the way of expression and the thinness of the content in the process of promoting along the clues. The reason why "Seven Samurai" has become a masterpiece of film history is not because its plot is difficult or flattering, it is basically a clue that goes down in order, there is no complicated switch, no special flashbacks, and there is no segmented plot and circular structure. However, under the single-line plot, Akira Kurosawa arranged characters with distinct personalities, one dramatic conflict after another, not to mention the thinking and depth of the thick angle of the historical era. Therefore, "Seven Samurai" is a film and television masterpiece, which is "easy to understand", from the main line to some detailed design, it is simply a classic story template, and commercial film reference can also be easily used to expand.
The Americans set the story of "Seven Samurai" in the west, which is also a tribute with American characteristics. Like the samurai era, the western cowboys are already a footnote to a bygone era, and like the samurai, they are a rootless group in an era of disorder. In the 2016 edition of "Seven Dragons of Divine Courage", we see the familiar "Seven Samurai" classic story promotion mode, that is, small people face the threat of foreign powerful forces to invade the land and homeland, with the help of another strong force, pluck up the courage to confront it. In the transplantation of the plot structure of "Seven Samurai" and the grafting with the characteristics of Westerns, the director still did a very good job, for example, the religion and mining of the Western Era were integrated into the film, making the film full of American flavor.
In addition, for the negative characters, this version has been strengthened, to put it bluntly, the buddies are more "nonsense", trying to present a kind of neurotic villain image that is more "popular" in American movies today. However, in my opinion, this role may be due to the performance of the actor, and the villain lacks enough direct conflict with the positive characters to pave the way, such a neurotic portrayal, it seems a little thin, some self-deprecating, some drama.
The whole film is still good-looking, and many of the advantages of the plot of "Seven Samurai" are well reflected in this version, especially a few cowboys, who also have distinct personalities and have ghosts. However, there are also adjustments in this regard, for example, more American gags, cynical style characters, but some "two" reckless characters like the original Kikuchiyo seem to find no benchmark. Although we can't ask a "Seven Samurai" adaptation to also reflect the depth of the original work, this "Heroic Seven Dragons" does only pay tribute to "Seven Samurai" in terms of plot structure, which strives to tell the story of a wonderful Western movie action movie, and it doesn't seem to have much idea. Even, the rhythm of the whole movie is not enough for the Western, it is extremely fast-paced, and the final decisive battle scene has become a performance field for heavy weapons and explosions, as if Michael Bay has a friendly director here, lacking the stability and atmosphere of the Western, and the final scene is more like an American Civil War movie.
In terms of paying tribute to the classics, Quentin Tastino's "Liberated Django" in tribute to traditional Westerns is different, he adds many of his own special symbols and fun, but the whole rhythm still makes people feel very Western. Therefore, "The Seven Dragons of Divine Courage" is still a good movie, and Denzel Washington's old-fashioned performance also adds a lot of color to the film, but after all, it is a direct remake of "Seven Samurai", so it is not a matter of the director's will to be examined by the audience with the standards of "Seven Samurai". In the future, I don't know how many films will directly hit the remake of "Seven Samurai", but we know that the essence of this classic will continue to penetrate and flow in the works of more filmmakers.