I've been on a Kurosawa kick for a couple months now, dispersing his movies throughout my 50+ Netflix queue. I don't enjoy his movies for anything other than the good stories - art takes a backseat. I also enjoy the little cultural porthole his movies allow me. While I'm fairly familiar with most Western cultures, including a passing understanding of most Romance languages and a couple others, Asian cultures are highly obfuscated by both culture, language and space.
I've seen Ran, The Seven Samurai, Rashomon, The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo.
I've loved them all, except maybe The Hidden Fortress, which did nothing for me. The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo are my favorites, with Ran in another class of movie entirely. Ran is an epic, and qualifies itself into a different pantheon. The 7 Samurai and Yojimbo are like excellent versions of the popcorn flicks of Bay or Emmerich, but with actual, real talent. There's script, plot, action and character arc.
Not to mention the awesomeness that is Toshiro Mifune! He's become a Harrison Ford to me. An icon of awsomeness! His scruffy bearded visage is like a promise of good things! The image of him with an arm pulled through his robe scratching his neck is like seeing Indy with his hat.
A samurai sword replaces the bullwhip.
I have Sanjuro at home, and I've seen the first hour or so three times! I just can't get my head out of my ass long enough to plan an hour and a half to sit through it and enjoy it. I fear these interruptions are going to spoil the movie for me.
I'd love to collect all of Kurosawa's movies, but hot damn are they expensive! All Criterions, no less.
Some high-falootin' art snob is not my idea of myself. Maybe my priorities will switch around, and I can put his movies on my shelf, someday, but for now, I'll just plug along without them.