I think Yojimbo is really tight, though Seven Samurai is famous for a reason and is maybe my favorite. It's definitely the one I rewatch. Ran has some really fantastic costuming and use of color, if a bit larger-than-life.
One non-samurai film of his that's really fucking good is Ikiru. Just. Really neat narrative framing (probably came after Rashomon, which is also excellent) and really captures the intentional gridlock and hollowness of civil administration.
And of course there's the wonderful sleeper bromance of Dersu Uzala. A very touching movie about a russian surveyor and an indigenous trapper dudes-rocking in the woods.
I've only seen Seven Samurai so far, but I've yet to stop talking about it. It was really something. Yojimbo will be next, I think
Probably have re-watched Yojimbo the most. Great story, beautiful cinematography, and some tight action. I actually own it on Criterion dvd.
It's well worth the time. While kind of super sad and infuriating for a variety of reasons, it ends up feeling very sincere and sweet.
Stupid trivia I know off the top of my head: In Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, the first boss who is named Tajima is directly based off Unosuke from Yojimbo. He uses a three barreled flintlock instead of a revolver.
Sanjuro
Also ran is insane in scope.
But everything with Mifune
Ah yes my favorite Kurosawa work, with Betty "Gazongas" McButt.
Yojimbo is up there for sure. I just saw Ran for the first time at a special screening not too long ago. I had no idea walking into it that it was another Shakespeare adaptation like Throne of Blood (also good, but mostly carried by Mifune's performance) and I don't know if that helped or hindered my appreciation of it. The visuals, though, were incredible of course, and I definitely want to give it a second watch.
Other than those three, I've only seen Rashomon, Hidden Fortress, and Seven Samurai. Definitely need to get cracking on the Kurosawa DVD set I picked up a while back lol
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Ran
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Rashomon
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Yojimbo
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Seven Samurai
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Hidden Fortress
Need to watch Kagemusha, never finished it.
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Ran is my favorite, but High and Low is the tightest. The Bad Sleep Well is Hamlet translated to corporate Japan and it's a hidden gem (as far as Kurosawa goes).
I've actually only seen Seven Samurai - started watching Yojimbo but couldn't finish, don't remember why.
I've only see Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo. I loved Yojimbo, the other two did not do it for me.
