Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece tells the story of a group of 17th Century warriors recently detached from the powerful masters who once paid them. Veteran Samurai Kambei (Takashi Shimura) is the leader of the group who are hired by the residents of a village suffering at the hands of a marauding band of thieves. Five of his cohorts are trained warriors, but the sixth, Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), is actually the son of a farmer, desperate to earn his spurs on the battlefield.
The basics of the story served as the blueprint for the western re-make 'The Magnificent Seven'.