Leading film guide Empire magazine has picked Akira Kurosawa's landmark Seven Samurai as the best piece of world cinema in human history.
People with an Empire magazine subscription can read a list of the 100 Best Films of World Cinema, which includes the famed Japanese director's first foray into the samurai genre.
It is described as one of the greatest masterpieces the genre has ever produced.
"All human life is here as are debatably cinema's greatest battle scenes, the climactic showdown in the rain - the stuff of cinematic legend," it claimed.
Unconventional French romance Amelie took the number two spot, 1925 classic the Battleship Potemkin the third place and Bicycle Thieves and Pan's Labyrinth rounded out the top five.
Other key top ten entries included the Brazilian City of God at number seven, Ingmar Bergman flick The Seventh Seal in number eight and Spirited Away, which crept into the number ten spot.
This year's Rome Film Festival will use its Focus Section to spotlight Japanese cinema in recognition of the centenary of the birth of Kurosawa.
Posted by Tori Gibson
