Akira Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI Gets a 4K Upgrade From Criterion

Some people love to say that physical media is dying, but those people are toxic and should be cut out of your life. Physical media is more awesome than ever, and we're here to celebrate the new 4K UHDs, Blu-rays, and DVDs making their way into the world. Now join us as we explore... some of the best recent genre releases from the Criterion Collection!

We're kicking things off with a classic, as Criterion has updated their second-ever release, Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, with a new 4K UHD edition that is an instant must-own for action fans and film lovers.

A small village in 16th-century Japan is in need of protection from roaming bandits, and their answer is to hire a group of samurai to fend off the thugs. Yes, just like in the Pixar classic A Bug's Life. Along the way, both the villagers and samurai alike learn new realizations about their situations and the choices that led them here, and all of it leads up to a final battle where honor and bravery are no guarantee of survival.

As mentioned, Kurosawa's film was the second release from the preeminent home video label and has since been rebirthed on Blu-ray and now 4K UHD. This latest release is easily the best it's looked -- although the previous Blu-ray is still an absolute stunner -- as the black and white cinematography finds even more depth and detail now.

This edition is a three-disc combo pack featuring both the 4K UHD and two Blu-rays, and the numerous extras are spread across all of them. We get two commentaries featuring various film critics, two enlightening archival documentaries on the film's production, an archival interview with Kurosawa, and a sixty-page booklet featuring essays on the film and tributes by Arthur Penn and Sidney Lumet.

Sticking with the Asian action theme, Criterion is also home to some Hong Kong action classics. Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li are some of the big names on that front, but now a fourth martial arts master has joined the collection with Sammo Hung's Eastern Condors.

The United States is deep in the quagmire of the Vietnam War, and their latest bright idea is to gather together some Asian-American convicts and drop them in country on a secret, sure to be suicidal mission. Their goal is to prevent a large cache of weapons from being discovered by the Viet Cong, but our heroes have to find them first. Northern Vietnamese are hot on their trail, the friendly militia members might have plans of their own, and their survival rate is going to be close to nil.

Hung takes direct inspiration from the likes of Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen, but this time the ramshackle ensemble and wartime action beats are joined by Hong Kong-style stunts and fights. That should be expected from Hung, and what's not to love about that? He stars here (as well as directs) alongside Hong Kong friends and talents including Yuen Biao, Joyce Godenzi, Corey Yuen, Yuen Woo-ping, Dick Wei, Billy Chow, and Yuen Wah. Everyone gets their time to shine, and the spectacle is pretty damn glorious.

Criterion's new Blu-ray features a 2K restoration of both the original and export cuts, and the image delivers a sharp, vibrant excursion into a wartorn jungle. Extras include a new commentary with film critic Tony Rayns, new and old interviews with Sammo Hung, an onstage performance by the cast from 1987, and a new essay by film critic Sean Gilman.

We jump forward in time for Criterion's meanest release in recent months with the Coen Brothers' adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men. The Oscar-winner for Best Picture comes to 4K UHD and Blu-ray with a beautiful picture -- easy to do when working with cinematographer Roger Deakins -- and plentiful extras.

Josh Brolin stars as a "good" guy caught in the wrong place at the wrong time when he stumbles across dead bodies and a bag filled with cash. He takes off planning for a better life, but unbeknownst to him, an emotionless and psychotic killer is on his trail. Javier Bardem won his own Oscar for the performance, and it's understandable given how utterly terrifying he is here. Add in Tommy Lee Jones as a small town sheriff, Woody Harrelson as a killer sent to clean up the mess, and Kelly Macdonald as a wife caught up in the greedy and violent machinations of men, and you have an all-timer American tale.

The 4K UHD holds only the film while the Blu-ray also includes extras featuring new interviews with the Coen Brothers and Roger Deakins, older interviews with the cast, and archival featurettes exploring the production and its cast members.

The most recent genre addition comes via Criterion's Janus Contemporaries line, and it's something of a cerebral sci-fi tale headlined by a terrific Lea Seydoux performance. The Beast posits a near future where emotions are a drain on society as a whole, and the solution is to have them surgically removed from everyone. One woman begins experiencing side effects in the form of memories of past lives, and it's only then that she sees exactly what she's been missing... for both better and worse.

Seydoux is the heart and soul of the film, and she works in contrast to writer/director Bertrand Bonello's somewhat matter of fact style. We move between the early 20th century and the mid 21st, and as time passes we see how love and fear become the beast of the title dragging people into charged situations that don't always end well. It's something of a slowburn at nearly two and a half hours, but it's an engaging conversation piece all the same.

While traditional Criterion releases load up on special features, the Janus Contemporaries line of new films keeps it pretty simple with just an interview with Bonello here.