Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows With Akira Kurosawa
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1. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2020)
TV-PG | 23 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Jedi Knights lead the Grand Army of the Republic against the droid army of the Separatists.
Stars: Tom Kane, Dee Bradley Baker, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor
Votes: 121,191
2. The Magnificent Seven (2016)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Seven gunmen from a variety of backgrounds are brought together by a vengeful young widow to protect her town from the private army of a destructive industrialist.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 228,811 | Gross: $93.43M
3. Seven Samurai (1954)
Not Rated | 207 min | Action, Drama
Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki
Votes: 367,640 | Gross: $0.27M
4. Runaway Train (I) (1985)
R | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Two escaped convicts and a female railway worker find themselves trapped on a speeding train with no brakes and nobody driving.
Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy | Stars: Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay, Kyle T. Heffner
Votes: 33,158 | Gross: $7.94M
5. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
R | 99 min | Action, Drama, Western
A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volontè, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy
Votes: 233,369 | Gross: $14.50M
6. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Approved | 128 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Seven gunfighters are hired by Mexican peasants to liberate their village from oppressive bandits.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach
Votes: 102,767 | Gross: $4.91M
7. Ran (1985)
R | 160 min | Action, Drama, War
In Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryû
Votes: 136,609 | Gross: $4.14M
8. Living (2022)
PG-13 | 102 min | Drama
In 1950s London, a humorless bureaucrat decides to take time off work to experience life after receiving a grim diagnosis.
Director: Oliver Hermanus | Stars: Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Adrian Rawlins
Votes: 33,037
9. Rashomon (1950)
Not Rated | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura
Votes: 180,977 | Gross: $0.10M
10. Ikiru (1952)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama
A bureaucrat tries to find meaning in his life after he discovers he has terminal cancer.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin'ichi Himori, Haruo Tanaka
Votes: 87,907 | Gross: $0.06M
11. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
R | 116 min | Crime, Drama
An African-American Mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Forest Whitaker, Henry Silva, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman
Votes: 97,158 | Gross: $3.31M
12. High and Low (1963)
Not Rated | 143 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Yutaka Sada, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyôko Kagawa
Votes: 53,517
13. Yojimbo (1961)
Not Rated | 110 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tôno, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yôko Tsukasa
Votes: 131,675
14. High and Low
Crime, Drama | Filming
Adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 crime thriller.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, Ice Spice
15. Fame (1982–1987)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Music, Musical
The stories of the students and faculty of the New York City High School for the Performing Arts.
Stars: Carlo Imperato, Gene Anthony Ray, Debbie Allen, Albert Hague
Votes: 4,462
16. Dreams (1990)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Fantasy
A collection of tales based upon eight of director Akira Kurosawa's recurring dreams.
Directors: Akira Kurosawa, Ishirô Honda | Stars: Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baishô, Toshie Negishi, Mieko Harada
Votes: 29,277 | Gross: $1.96M
17. Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980)
PG | 162 min | Drama, History, War
A petty thief with an utter resemblance to a samurai warlord is hired as the lord's double. When the warlord later dies the thief is forced to take up arms in his place.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ken'ichi Hagiwara, Jinpachi Nezu
Votes: 38,273
18. Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
G | 144 min | Action, Drama, History
The story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.
Directors: Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, Toshio Masuda, Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Jason Robards, Joseph Cotten
Votes: 37,312 | Gross: $29.55M
19. Throne of Blood (1957)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
A war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura
Votes: 56,122
20. Last Man Standing (1996)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A drifting gunslinger-for-hire finds himself in the middle of an ongoing war between the Irish and Italian mafia in a Prohibition era ghost town.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Christopher Walken
Votes: 61,068 | Gross: $17.60M
21. The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Not Rated | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Lured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara
Votes: 42,376
22. Dersu Uzala (1975)
G | 142 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The Russian army sends an explorer on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Maksim Munzuk, Yuriy Solomin, Mikhail Bychkov, Vladimir Khrulyov
Votes: 33,606
23. Rhapsody in August (1991)
PG | 98 min | Drama, War
Three generations' responses to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Sachiko Murase, Richard Gere, Hisashi Igawa, Narumi Kayashima
Votes: 7,588 | Gross: $0.52M
24. Sanjuro (1962)
Not Rated | 96 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen trying to save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yûnosuke Itô
Votes: 41,242
25. Red Beard (1965)
Not Rated | 185 min | Drama
In 19th-century Japan, a rough-tempered yet charitable town doctor trains a young intern.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Yûzô Kayama, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Reiko Dan
Votes: 21,176
26. Stray Dog (1949)
Not Rated | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
During a sweltering summer, a rookie homicide detective tries to track down his stolen Colt pistol.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, Eiko Miyoshi
Votes: 19,004
27. The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
Not Rated | 151 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A vengeful young man marries the daughter of a corrupt industrialist in order to seek justice for his father's suicide.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Kyôko Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi
Votes: 14,076
28. Samurai 7 (2004)
TV-PG | 702 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A small village gets raided by bandits every harvest season. The villagers can't take it anymore, and decide to recruit samurais to defend them in exchange for rice. Will the villagers find who would defend them from the bandits?
Stars: R. Bruce Elliott, Christopher Sabat, Sean Teague, Colleen Clinkenbeard
Votes: 4,444
29. Madadayo (1993)
134 min | Drama
Following World War II, a retired professor approaching his autumn years finds his quality of life drastically reduced in war-torn Tokyo. Denying despair, he pursues writing and celebrates his birthday with his adoring students.
Directors: Akira Kurosawa, Ishirô Honda | Stars: Tatsuo Matsumura, Hisashi Igawa, George Tokoro, Masayuki Yui
Votes: 6,174 | Gross: $0.05M
30. Drunken Angel (1948)
Not Rated | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A drunken doctor with a hot temper and a violence-prone gangster with tuberculosis form a quicksilver bond.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Reizaburô Yamamoto, Michiyo Kogure
Votes: 13,402
31. Arena (1975– )
60 min | Documentary
Wide-ranging arts program.
Stars: Gavin Millar, Kenneth Tynan, John Walters, Jonathan Miller
Votes: 321
32. Dodes'ka-den (1970)
Not Rated | 140 min | Drama
Various tales in the lives of Tokyo slum dwellers, including a mentally deficient young man obsessed with driving his own commuter trolley.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, Toshiyuki Tonomura, Shinsuke Minami
Votes: 7,638
33. The Idiot (1951)
Not Rated | 166 min | Drama, Romance
A Japanese veteran, driven partially mad from the war, travels to the snowy island of Hokkaido where he soon enters a love triangle with his best friend and a disgraced woman.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Setsuko Hara, Masayuki Mori, Toshirô Mifune, Yoshiko Kuga
Votes: 5,677
34. After the Rain (1999)
91 min | Drama
During a downpour, a generous ronin and his supporting wife are stranded at a country inn. The ronin comes to the attention of a lord who wants to hire him as an instructor for his men, who treat the ronin with disrespect.
Director: Takashi Koizumi | Stars: Akira Terao, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Shirô Mifune, Fumi Dan
Votes: 4,482
35. I Live in Fear (1955)
103 min | Drama
An aging Japanese industrialist becomes so fearful of nuclear war that it begins to take a toll on his life and family.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Eiko Miyoshi
Votes: 5,567
36. The Outrage (1964)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Western
Travelers in the 1870s Southwest discuss a recent murder trial in which all the principals told differing stories about the events.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Edward G. Robinson
Votes: 2,529 | Gross: $3.92M
37. The Lower Depths (1957)
Not Rated | 137 min | Drama
In a Japanese slum, various residents play out their lives, dreaming of better things or settling for their lot. Among them is a man who pines for a young woman but is stymied by her deceptive family.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Kyôko Kagawa, Ganjirô Nakamura
Votes: 5,963
38. Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
Not Rated | 79 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Sugata, a young man, struggles to learn the nuance and meaning of judo, and in doing so comes to learn something of the meaning of life.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Denjirô Ôkôchi, Susumu Fujita, Yukiko Todoroki, Ryûnosuke Tsukigata
Votes: 5,648
39. A Little Bit Zombie (2012)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Infected by a virus, a mild mannered HR manager attempts to fulfill his overwhelming desire for brains, all while trying to keep it together so as not to incur the wrath of his bridezilla-to-be.
Director: Casey Walker | Stars: Kristopher Turner, Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe, Shawn Roberts, Kristen Hager
Votes: 2,989
40. The Quiet Duel (1949)
95 min | Drama
A surgeon gets syphilis from a patient when he cuts himself during an operation. The doctor's life is destroyed, but unlike the patient, he doesn't destroy others along with him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Miki Sanjô, Kenjirô Uemura
Votes: 3,921
41. Throw Down (2004)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
A former Judo champion is given the chance to redeem himself after he befriends a competitor and an aspiring singer.
Director: Johnnie To | Stars: Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok, Cherrie Ying, Tony Ka Fai Leung
Votes: 2,505
42. No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
PG | 110 min | Drama
The daughter of a politically disgraced university professor struggles to find a place for herself in love and life, in the uncertain world of Japan leading into WWII.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Setsuko Hara, Susumu Fujita, Denjirô Ôkôchi, Haruko Sugimura
Votes: 3,979
43. China Gate (1998)
175 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
10 old exiled army men decide to free a village from an evil bandit
Director: Rajkumar Santoshi | Stars: Om Puri, Amrish Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Danny Denzongpa
Votes: 1,827
44. The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
Not Rated | 59 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
A Japanese general and his men disguise themselves as monks in order to pass an enemy border patrol.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Denjirô Ôkôchi, Susumu Fujita, Ken'ichi Enomoto, Masayuki Mori
Votes: 4,385
45. Nioh (2017 Video Game)
M | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
It's the 16th century. A western seafarer finds himself in Japan and is met by war and demons on his quest of search and find. Will his path do the unfinished Kurosawa script justice?
Directors: Yosuke Hayashi, Fumihiko Yasuda, Shinji Higuchi, Makoto Kamiya | Stars: Ben Peel, Masachika Ichimura, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Takahiro Sakurai
Votes: 1,272
46. Play of the Week (1959–1961)
Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
This syndicated anthology series staged a different play every week covering all genres, dramas, comedies, musicals, fantasies, mysteries, et al, utilizing some of the best talent appearing on Broadway.
Stars: Myron McCormick, Cathleen Nesbitt, Frank Conroy, Tim O'Connor
Votes: 81
47. Scandal (1950)
Approved | 105 min | Drama
A celebrity photograph sparks a court case as a tabloid magazine spins a scandalous yarn over a painter and a famous singer.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Shirley Yamaguchi, Yôko Katsuragi, Noriko Sengoku
Votes: 4,687
48. The Most Beautiful (1944)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
World War II film about female volunteer workers at an optics plant who do their best to meet production targets.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Sôji Kiyokawa, Ichirô Sugai, Takako Irie
Votes: 2,421
49. One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Romance
During a Sunday trip into war-ravaged Tokyo, despairing Yuzo and optimistic Masako look for work and lodging, as well as affordable entertainments to pass the time.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Isao Numasaki, Chieko Nakakita, Atsushi Watanabe, Zekô Nakamura
Votes: 3,692
50. Cannes Film Festival (1952– )
News
A festival for international movies, which give each year the Palme d'Or.
Stars: Bjorn Jiskoot Jr., Isabelle Huppert, Pedro Almodóvar, Kristin Scott Thomas
Votes: 120