1980 was a remarkable year for movies: “Ordinary People” and “Raging Bull” slugged it out for the awards, comedy cult classics “The Blues Brothers,” “Caddyshack” and “Airplane!” left audiences in hysterics, “The Empire Strikes Back” rewrote the “Star Wars” saga, “Heaven’s Gate” nearly destroyed United Artists and an obscure Soviet film trumped great works by Kurosawa and Truffaut for the Foreign Film Oscar.
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Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” is one of the most influential, if not the most influential movies ever made. It’s a masterpiece of epic cinema that not only helped usher in foreign cinema, but also displayed a talent for storytelling that went beyond the reaches of ninety minutes. Kurosawa inspired many American directors, as well as his own contemporaries to try for their own cinematic epics, and to this day, the template for “Seven Samurai” has given influence to the creation of many great films like “Galaxy Quest,” and “The Magnificent Seven.” You can feel author Richard D. Pepperman’s love for Kurosawa’s film pulsating in every page of his book.