First Films of Akira Kurosawa (Criterion Collection - Eclipse Series 23) (DVD)

Years before Akira Kurosawa changed the face of cinema with such iconic works as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo, he made his start in the Japanese film industry with four popular and exceptional works, created while World War II was raging. All gripping dramas, those rare early films - Sanshiro Sugata; the Most Beautiful; Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two; and the Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail - are collected here, including a two-part martial arts saga, a portrait of female volunteers helping the war effort, and a kabuki-derived tale of deception. These captivating films are a glorious introduction to a peerless career.

Starring: Kunio Mita, Sugisaku Aoyama, Denjiro Okochi, Yukiko Todoroki, Susumu Fujita, Takashi Shimura, Akira Nakamura, Ryunosuke Tsukigata, Soshi Kiyokawa, Ranko Hanai, Yoshio Kosugi, Akitake Kono, Yoko Yaguchi, Koyuri Tanima, Ichiro Sugai, Takako Irie, Toshiko Hattori, Masayuki Mori, Dekao Yokoo, Kuninori Kodo, Hanshiro Iwai