The Duel with spears may be the single greatest action sequence I've ever seen! The whole movie is fantastic, and one of my favorites! More directors should take a lesson from this flick (also Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Sajuro) on how to make action movies! Rarely do you get a good action film today!
shareAgree. Everyone seems to try too hard. In the furture, when we have 3D movies, it seems it will be even worse. battle scenes today already seem like rollercoaster rides, and not at all like being in the battle itself. One of the greatest battle scenes of all time, is virtually non-existent in terms of fast movinf action - Obi Wan vs Darth Vader.
Next time you watch the scene, notice the two warrior's shadows. They're not parallel. This shows how much Kurosawa lighted his pictures up, he had big lamps everywhere. That's why you can see so much detail in his films, which I feel is only to their advantage. Occasionally he goofs, just like everyone else.
shareMy favorite part about that scene is the fact that they manage to maintain a level of continuity in the scene. Things that get cut and broken stay that way. I would imagine a lesser director would've screwwed up at least once if not more.
shareAgreed; the spear duel was absolutely amazing. I also just recently saw FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE again, and was pleasently surprised to see how well the train compartment fight between Sean Connery and Robert Shaw holds up; it's STILL the best fistfight scene I've seen in a movie. What modern filmmakers don't seem to realize in regards to action is that it's NOT about how much stuff you blow up or how many people get killed, it's how involved we are in the action. The spear duel was real "edge-of-your-seat" filmmmaking.
shareAgreed. I love everything about the spear duel scene.
The two generals are clearly friends and rivals and both honorable men. The drums and shakuhachi fit the tension of the match perfectly. Not to mention the awesome choreography and acting by both Mifune and Fujita, who played Tadokaro.