Number 123 on IMDb's Top 250
Yojimbo, a wandering samurai enters a rural town in nineteenth century Japan. After learning from the innkeeper that the town is divided between two gangsters, he plays one side off against the other. His efforts are complicated by the arrival of the wily Unosuke, the son of one of the gangsters, who owns a revolver. Unosuke has Yojimbo beaten after he reunites an abducted woman with her husband and son, then massacres his father's opponents. During the slaughter, the samurai escapes with the help of the innkeeper; but while recuperating at a nearby temple, he learns of innkeeper's abduction by Unosuke, and returns to the town to confront him. Hilarity ensues.
Trivia: If this plot sounds familiar, it should, it was later remade into the western Per un pugno di dollari (1964) or "A Fist Full of Dollars" as part of the Man With No Name trilogy with Clint Eastwood. "Yojimbo" means "bodyguard" in Japanese.
It is pretty amazing how Kurosawa's movies have translated into the western cinema, especially into westerns. His Seven Samuri became the Magnificent Seven and now Yojimbo becomes A Fist Full of Dollars. Yojimbo actually had a western feel to it. Although I liked Leone's ending better (Eastwood gets shot multiple times but gets back up and we then see he had a metal plate under his poncho.) The Samuri dodges and throws a kife that hits the man with the gun in the arm before he can get a good shot off.
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