Henry Henzell

Kurosawa’s underrated epic about leadership and hallucinations. Not enough people are talking about Kagemusha. The score, the direction, the performances, the set pieces and the action sequences all create such a powerful and emotionally rich film. The action sequences and set pieces in particular just blow you away in amazement, and don’t let the runtime intimate you, once you understand what’s going on and you’re concentrating, it’s one powerful piece of underrated cinema.

Kurosawa’s baby. Akira Kurosawa is the filmmaker behind some of the most entertaining and visually striking pieces of cinema. Such films include Yojimbo, Sanjuro, The Hidden Fortress, Rashomon, Ikiru, Kagemusha, Ran, Dreams, and many more unforgettable classics. Seven Samurai is perhaps the most famous of this man’s filmography, and for good reason. The impeccable action sequences, the magnetic performances, the glorious production design, the electric direction and score all working together to create such a powerful and entertaining piece of cinema. The story was so good that once it reached western audiences, Hollywood would then create there own version of the film such as the Magnificent Seven and The Dirty Dozen, which none of them lived up to the great and iconic Seven Samurai.

Sam Mendes’ WW1 epic tells the story of two British foot soldiers sent to the front lines of the Western Front to warn a fellow battalion that they will be in grave danger in the hands of the German army. It’s a matter of time before thousands of lives are at stake, will the duo make it in time alive before the massacre happens? There’s so much to not only love, but also appreciate a lot of what makes 1917 so great. The impressive long takes in the film are very precise and well choreographed, and are all seamlessly stitched together to create the illusion that it’s almost all in one whole take throughout the film, to show the perspectives of the two very likeable leads that you want them to succeed since they reveal more about their backstories as the plot unfolds, this makes the characters very real and sympathetic. The actual plot of the film creates a lot of intense and gripping one take scenes which adds to the pacing of the film, making the flow of the story more gripping and engaging. 1917 is a masterclass of technical and entertainment quality. A film that will go down as a war film classic as time goes on.