A Solitary Samurai Born of Collaboration

One reason movie lovers the world over hold the filmmaker Akira Kurosawa in such high regard is that he instilled visceral excitement into Japanese cinema as no one had before him. Whether he was more influenced by Hollywood or the other way around remains debated. But what isn't in doubt is the hold his pictures had-and continue to have-on audiences since his international breakthrough, the landmark "Rashomon" (1950).

- By DAVID MERMELSTEIN

That movie was followed by "Seven Samurai" (1954), among the most beloved and influential pictures of all time, which further increased the celebrity of Toshiro Mifune, who starred in both films. But Mifune's global reputation-27 years after his death, he's still Japan's most famous actor-was cemented by two Kurosawa films from the following decade: "Yojimbo" (1961) and "Sanjuro" (1962). Now, having given "Seven Samurai" an immensely satisfying 4K release in November, the Criterion Collection is doing something similar with "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro," packaging sparkling 4K restorations of them in a 4-disc box that includes the films in 4K UHD and Blu-ray forms along with commentary tracks and archival bonus features.

Kurosawa, who died at age 88 in 1998, strongly believed that good movies were also entertaining ones, and few, if any, tick both boxes as effectively as these companion pictures-each featuring Mifune as a salty, unkempt lordless samurai, or ronin, who happens upon situations that his presence alone alters fundamentally. (Though he reluctantly gives his name as Sanjuro in both films, he is effectively a nameless protagonist-something the Italian director Sergio Leone would amplify to great effect in "A Fistful of Dollars," his unauthorized 1964 remake of "Yojimbo," which made Clint Eastwood a star.)