History Film / SevenSamurai

* RuleOfThree: The doorway gag in the village. Specifically, the peasants invite various samurai to Kambei's inn room to 'discuss' the job, and Katsushiro's hiding just inside the door ready to hit them with a stick (to test their skills). The first applicant is so fast that he actually dodges the blow and disarms Katsushiro... but he isn't willing to stay. The third (Gorobei) stops in front of the doorway, looks through at Kambei, and says with a smile, "Please! No pranks." The third applicant is a drunk Kikuchiyo, who gets whacked.

** During the duel between Kyuzo and the unnamed ronin, Kambei mutters that it's obvious who would win, even though the duellists came to a draw before. It is another indication to the audience that Kambei is a far more cunning warrior than his demeanour would suggest.

* UnbuiltTrope: This movie subverts or deconstructs many tropes, but only because ''they hadn't become tropes yet.'' For instance, the villagers aren't ''utterly'' helpless - they simply [[TrainingThePeacefulVillagers need leaders]]. The seven samurai aren't [[BoringInvincibleHero invincible warriors]] ''just'' because they're {{Samurai}}. The bandits are murderous thieves, but not faceless {{Mook}}s - they're shown relaxing, complaining, weeping in terror as they run for their lives... And, of course, since the GoryDiscretionShot hadn't been invented yet, it isn't subverted. WarIsGlorious, on the other hand, is a trope that ''did'' exist, and the movie subverted ''that'' pretty thoroughly.

* BadassGrandpa: Kambei is the oldest of the samurai.

* AttackAttackAttack: The bandits fight to the last man without ever considering that there might be easier places to rob. The final bandit, hiding with the women, still sees fit to shoot at the samurai and betray his position rather than simply flee. This is partially explained by the bandit leader executing a couple of men who try to flee. Most likely, raiding this village was the only way to keep forty bandits fed.

It has been remade, homaged, or flat out ripped off numerous times, in genres ranging from western (''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]'') to science fiction (''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'', ''Anime/SamuraiSeven'', ''[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E17BountyHunters Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'') and, if you're willing to stretch a bit, anthropomorphized animals (''[[WesternAnimation/ABugsLife A Bug's Life]]'') and goofy comedies (''Film/ThreeAmigos'').

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Gorobei lampshades this by explaining that despite his name, he isn't really that tough.

* BattleInTheRain: Arguably the TropeMaker for film.

* InterclassRomance: Katsushiro and Shino but they can't be together because she is a peasant.

** Kikuchiyo carries a [[{{BFS}} nodachi.]]

''Seven Samurai'' is a 1954 Japanese film directed by Creator/AkiraKurosawa under Creator/{{Toho}}; it starred his longtime collaborators Takashi Shimura and Creator/ToshiroMifune in two of the lead roles. It is considered by many Western critics to be the finest Japanese film of all time, and a few of them consider it to be the finest film ever made, period.

* AlliterativeTitle: In English, anyhow.
** Also in Japanese, if you discount the particle の ('no') - in Romaji, it is Shichinin no Samurai.

** Kambei's moment, in which he shaves his head to impersonate a monk, shows how he doesn't place much stock in honor or fair play if an innocent life is on the line. He rubs his bald head throughout the film to remind the audience of it.

** Kyouzo's moment comes when his unnamed duelling opponent demands a rematch with real swords, In one line he shows utter confidence, compassion, and a certain lack of diplomacy: "No use. You'd die."

* FakeWeakness: Kambei says:
--> "A good fort needs a gap. The enemy must be lured in. So we can attack them. If we only defend, we lose the war."

* TheGadfly: Heihachi is a joker and a clown who likes to tease people sometimes. He's particularly fond of picking on Kikuchiyo. He is the one who coined "Kikuchiyo" as the samurai wannabe's new permanent name, as a reminder of the drunken scene that the man made the night before the samurai left for the village.

* ManipulativeEditing: How Kyuzou is shown to be such a great swordsman. The actor was terrible at it, but clever editing made him look awesome.

* MasterSwordsman: Kyūzō is the best example. Kambei certainly counts as well. Subverted by Kikuchiyo, who wields the impractically long odachi and takes five katana as "reserves" should his sword break while killing the bandits.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: See MyGodWhatHaveIDone above.

* OneHitKill: See SingleStrokeBattle. There are also several cases where swords, spears, arrows, and (particularly) bullets are immediately lethal.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Kikuchiyo is revealed to be a common-born farmer's son. This explains his reactions to the villagers, lack of training, and his unwitting assumption of a child's name. A thirteen-year-old girl's, no less]]

* {{Samurai}}: Technically, like the Ronin entry above notes, they're not ''really'' samurai: but all seven are still striving to follow bushido.

* ScreamingWarrior: Kikuchiyo, going with his boisterous personality.

* SingleStrokeBattle: Early in the film, Kyūzō is seen holding a duel with another swordsman. They face off, neither moving for some time - then there is a sudden charge, Kyūzō swings, his opponent falls to the ground, dead. It's possibly the most famous SSB in film history. Some argue that it is the TropeCodifier, if not TropeMaker, for SSB.

* TheStoic: Kyūzō has an unshakeable composure, although he's seen smiling and laughing with the others, usually when there's a joke at Kikuchiyo's expense.
** During his first battle, while his opponent fidgets nervously and moves back and forth, Kyūzō barely moves at all, and when he does, it's calmly and with confidence.
** NotSoStoic: When it is revealed [[spoiler:the villagers scavenged weapons and armor off dead/dying samurai, Kyuzo is the first to say that he wants to avenge them by killing the villagers]].

* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: TropeMaker

* AndYourRewardIsEdible: The peasants can offer nothing more than food to the samurai they hire to defend them from bandits. Even this petty reward means that the peasants don't have enough rice for themselves and must subsist on millet.

* CentralTheme: Who has it better, the peasants who live normal but undistinguished lives or the warriors who live exciting but violent lives?

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: A modern viewer watching this probably wouldn't notice anything special... except this movie pioneered many of the tropes in media that we now take for granted. However, the film displays a strong social commentary unique to Japan.

SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The movie pioneered and inspired many tropes in media, that to a modern viewer the film doesn't seem like anything special. Hoewever, the film displays a strong social commentary unique to Japan.

It has been remade, homaged, or flat out ripped off numerous times, in genres ranging from western (''Film/TheMagnificentSeven'') to science fiction (''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'', ''Anime/SamuraiSeven'', ''[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E17BountyHunters Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'') and, if you're willing to stretch a bit, anthropomorphized animals (''[[WesternAnimation/ABugsLife A Bug's Life]]'') and goofy comedies (''Film/ThreeAmigos'').

* RuleOfThree: The doorway gag in the village. Specifically, the peasants invite various samurai to Kambei's inn room to 'discuss' the job, and Katsushiro's hiding just inside the door ready to hit them with a stick (to test their skills). The first applicant walks right in and gets smacked. The ''second'' is so fast that he actually dodges the blow and disarms Katsushiro... but he isn't willing to stay. The third (Gorobei) stops in front of the doorway, looks through at Kambei, and says with a smile, "Please! No pranks."

SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The movie pioneered and inspired many tropes in media,That to a modern verier the film doesn't seem like anything special.

* EnsignNewbie: Katsushirou

* EyepatchOfPower: One of the bandits sports one.

* ARealManIsAKiller: Katsushiro spends most of the movie as Kambei's attendant and messenger and not allowed to participate in battle (even Kikuchiyo is allowed to fight). By the eve of the final battle, [[spoiler: he sleeps with Shiro]], and the next day, Kambei lets him fight and he kills his first man. [[BreakTheCutie Neither fills him with the sense of manhood that he had expected.]]

* TheMario: The samurai have their own specialities, but Kambei is pretty good in all those fields as well. He's a damn fine swordsman, but [[MasterSwordsman Kyuzo is the best fighter]]; he looks at morale from the big picture while [[DrillSergeantNasty Shichiroji]] is good at personally motivating the men; he's good with a bow, but [[TheArcher Gorobei is the designated archer]]; and while he's a great tactician and strategist, Kikuchiyo is the TheSocialExpert, and the [[TheHeart true conscience]] to remind the samurai what they're truly fighting for.

* SamuraiPonytail: All seven feature the short-and-straight version, except the drunken badass portrayed by Mifune, who has a short-and-messy version. Kambei's hair, sadly, is [[IDidWhatIHadToDo sacrificed to a greater goal.]]

* ShoutOut: The bandit leader and his lieutenant wear headgear that makes them look like [[UsefulNotes/DateMasamune Date Masamune]]. One of them even has an eyepatch.

* ThanksForTheMammaries: Played for drama. Katsushiro realizes that Shino is a girl when accidentally feels her breast.

* GenreSavvy: The samurai at various points of the movie, but Kikuchiyo is the only one who truly understands the psychology of the farmers.
** Old man Gisaku told Rikichi and Yohei to recruit four samurai, expecting them to return with ten. When asked why he lowballed the number, he explains if he had instructed to recruit ten samurai, they'd have brought back fifteen (which they would not be able to afford).