4.67 out of 5 stars: This is the new best movie of all time – nearly 100,000 movie fans can’t be wrong!

The question of the greatest film of all time has always preoccupied fans and the trade press. In the end, of course, a lot of personal taste decides – so it’s not surprising that different leaderboards come to different results. For example, on FILMSTARTS “The Godfather” is the undisputed number 1 in which there’s no escaping the prison drama “The Condemned”. And on what is now the largest and therefore most representative film rating platform ? There is now a new leader:

With 4.6 out of 5 stars based on more than 98,000 votes, “harakiri“Lately this – Ranking of the best movies of all time – and that comes as a surprise. In recent weeks, months and years, several films have had the honor of leading the list, but the 1962 samurai classic has always had to admit defeat to one or the other classic and some new feature films:

While the hype around current audience favorites such as “Parasite”, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” caused a turnaround at the top here and there, the Soviet anti-war film “Komm en see “conquer rank 1. Now the title goes to Japan, at least for now:

“Harakiri” is one of only nine films in total with an average rating of 4.6/5 – and one of three Japanese films currently among the top ten films on the platform. The top 10 at a glance:

1. “harakiri(1962)
2. “Come and see(1985)
3. “The Twelve Angry Men” (1957)
4. “The Seven Samurai” (1954)
5. “The Godfather II” (1974)
6. “parasites(2019)
7. “The godfather(1972)
8. “Spider-Man: About the Spider-Verse(2023)
9. “Between Heaven and Hell” (1963)
10. “The convicts(1994)

The future will probably tell if Marvel’s latest multiverse adventure can stay in the top 10 of the all-time rankings. It is conceivable that the former No. 1 will soon be dropped and made way for a new film from “Harakiri” creator Masaki Kobayashi. The conclusion to his “Barefoot through Hell” trilogy currently ranks 11th.

Never seen? This is how you can overtake “Harakiri”!

Those who want to put “Harakiri” on their watch list right now have several options for catching up with the Japanese classic – which is quite surprising given the popularity of the film. In this country, the movie was only released as an extra on the Blu-ray Special Edition of the “Hara-Kiri” remake (directed by multi-talented director Takashi Miike), which is almost impossible to find these days:

The pinnacle of the international home cinema market is probably the British Blu-ray from Eureka. The label, celebrated by movie fans, released “Harakiri” in its series a few years ago – including a brand new picture master and extensive bonus material in the luggage:

But it doesn’t matter which release you choose. One thing you should know in advance: “Harakiri” only exists in the original Japanese version – with German or English subtitles.

This is “hara-kiri”

Masaki Kobayashi tells the story of the samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo, played by Tatsuya Nakadai (“Ran”, “Yojimbo”), who one day stands at the gate of Daimyo Iyi’s noble house and asks to be allowed to commit seppuku. But he is accused of being a freeloader trying to blackmail the royal family: after all, they are reluctant to accept the shame of a ritual suicide that comes with poverty. As a deterrent, Tsugumo is told the story of a samurai who also requested seppuku – and was eventually granted…

For many movie fans, “Harakiri” is one of the greatest revenge masterpieces in (Asian) film history, along with “Oldboy” and “Kill Bill”, but it is primarily a thoroughly classic Masaki Kobayashi movie that feels a lot like “Samurai Rebellionor the “Barefoot through Hell” saga about rebellion against an established power. The latter film series is nothing less than the best trilogy of all time: