Seven Samurai’s 4K Restoration
A 4K restoration of Akira Kurosawa’s epic Seven Samurai is heading to theaters this summer. The film screened at Cannes in May and screenings in the US start in July:
Janus will open the restoration on Friday, July 5 in New York at Film Forum after which a Los Angeles premiere will take place at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre on Sunday, July 7. The film will open wide on Friday, July 12 in Los Angeles at Laemmle Royal.
Here’s the official poster for the restoration:
On a personal note, I’m pretty disheartened there’s a 99% chance this won’t be playing anywhere near me in Vermont. Run Lola Run was rereleased in theaters last week and I couldn’t find it anywhere within a reasonable drive. And the nearest IMAX is 2h15m away. I’m thankful that I can get all sorts of culture pumped into my house at gigabit speeds, but per contemporary wisdom, “we’ve got Seven Samurai’s 4K restoration at home” is just not the same.
Discussion 6 comments
I didn't know until recently that a lot of classic movies like this are available to stream through your local library and kanopy.com.
The original Seven Samurai is on there.
Unfortunately, Kanopy's expensive price structure prompted a number of major libraries to stop offering it, including the NYPL.
A 4k classic pitched with a 1080 compressed trailer is sadness.
Yeah, I found it bizarre they didn’t produce a 4K trailer. Regardless, very excited about this 4K release!
I got to see Run Lola Run here on the big screen last weekend, even in my little city on the end of the earth. (We have one good art theatre that is the only place showing it. Fortunately we have a couple of famous actors from here from here who helped save it a few years back.) Of course, it was also a good opportunity to see the entire German-speaking population of my city. :) That movie is just so good. I can't see why a) the big theatres aren't showing it and b) my teen was 40 years younger than anyone else in the theatre.
I saw it, too! But it wasn’t showing in Seattle proper, as far as I could find. Had to go out to the burbs to see it, and it was a mere five bucks! Wild.
Brought the kiddos with me (12 and 16), and they both really enjoyed it. *Just* as it started I turned to the 12yo and said, “Oh, and it’s entirely in German with subtitles.” He groaned. (I’ll admit I planned that bit.)
I hadn’t watched it in YEARS. Forgot about the animations completely. But the story is told so well, and so clearly. No unnecessary anything. Time loop and multiverse storytelling done only as the Germans could do? Maybe. Kids both commented afterward how short it felt to them, even though the story is essentially told three times.
Bonus: The 16yo also loved the soundtrack. Almost more important to me than him liking the movie, tbh.
tl;dr The kids should see this, Jason!
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