High and Low

High and Low

Stark, intense drama almost beyond belief!

NR 1963 · 142 min · ★ 8.4 (1K) · Drama, Crime, Thriller, Mystery

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

Directed by Akira Kurosawa · Written by Eijiro Hisaita

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

HBO Max Amazon ChannelHBO Max

Rent or Buy

Amazon VideoApple TV StoreFandango At Home

Cast

Trailers & Videos

Make it a double feature

5h 27m together

High and Low

Red Beard

Both from Akira Kurosawa.

More from Akira KurosawaSee all →

Seven SamuraiSeven Samurai · 1954
Seven Samurai
★ 8.51954
MovieActionDrama
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
IkiruIkiru · 1952
Ikiru
★ 8.31952
MovieDrama
Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.
Red BeardRed Beard · 1965
Red Beard
★ 8.21965
MovieDrama
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.
YojimboYojimbo · 1961
Yojimbo
★ 8.11961
MovieDramaThriller
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
RanRan · 1985
Ran
★ 8.01985
MovieActionDrama
Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.
RashomonRashomon · 1950
Rashomon
★ 8.01950
MovieCrimeDrama
Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.
The Hidden FortressThe Hidden Fortress · 1958
The Hidden Fortress
★ 8.01958
MovieDramaAction
In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.
Throne of BloodThrone of Blood · 1957
Throne of Blood
★ 7.91957
MovieDramaHistory
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
A Fistful of DollarsA Fistful of Dollars · 1964
A Fistful of Dollars
★ 7.81964
MovieWestern
The Man With No Name enters the Mexican village of San Miguel in the midst of a power struggle among the three Rojo brothers and sheriff John Baxter. When a regiment of Mexican soldiers bearing gold intended to pay for new weapons is waylaid by the Rojo brothers, the stranger inserts himself into the middle of the long-simmering battle, selling false information to both sides for his own benefit.
KagemushaKagemusha · 1980
Kagemusha
★ 7.81980
MovieActionDrama
A feudal epic presenting the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. The impostor becomes comfortable living his life among nobility, but his responsibilities to his station grow more demanding the longer he occupies it.
DreamsDreams · 1990
Dreams
★ 7.71990
MovieFantasyDrama
Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s canvases, nuclear nightmares, and a water-mill utopia—meditate on childhood, art, mortality, and humanity’s uneasy bond with nature.
Stray DogStray Dog · 1949
Stray Dog
★ 7.61949
MovieCrimeDrama
A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.
Drunken AngelDrunken Angel · 1948
Drunken Angel
★ 7.61948
MovieDrama
In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculosis, forging an uneasy bond that’s tested when the gangster’s ruthless former boss returns and drags him back toward the swampy underworld he can’t escape.
The Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent Seven · 1960
The Magnificent Seven
★ 7.51960
MovieWestern
An oppressed Mexican peasant village hires seven gunfighters to help defend their homes.
Kaze no YojimboKaze no Yojimbo · 2001
Kaze no Yojimbo
★ 7.42001
SeriesDramaAnimation
George Kodama is investigating an incident that occurred in the small town of Kimujuku over 15 years ago. George is soon caught up in the middle of a bloody gang fight for control of the town.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the SamuraiGhost Dog: The Way of the Samurai · 1999
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
★ 7.31999
MovieCrimeDrama
A Black hitman who models after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.

More Like This

Modern TimesModern Times · 1936
Modern Times
★ 8.31936
MovieComedyDrama
A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...
Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonMr. Smith Goes to Washington · 1939
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
★ 7.81939
MovieComedyDrama
After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.
His Girl FridayHis Girl Friday · 1940
His Girl Friday
★ 7.41940
MovieComedyRomance
Walter Burns is an irresistibly conniving newspaper publisher desperate to woo back his paper’s star reporter, who also happens to be his estranged wife. She’s threatening to quit and settle down with a new beau, but, as Walter knows, she has a weakness: she can’t resist a juicy scoop.
Red RiverRed River · 1948
Red River
★ 7.31948
MovieWesternDrama
Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.
Seance on a Wet AfternoonSeance on a Wet Afternoon · 1964
Seance on a Wet Afternoon
★ 7.21964
MovieCrimeThriller
Working-class British housewife Myra Savage reinvents herself as a medium, holding seances in the sitting room of her home with the hidden assistance of her under-employed, asthmatic husband, Billy. In an attempt to enhance her credibility as a psychic, Myra hatches an elaborate, ill-conceived plot to kidnap a wealthy couple's young daughter so that she can then help the police "find" the missing girl.
The TrainThe Train · 1964
The Train
★ 7.61964
MovieWarThriller
As the Allied forces approach Paris in August 1944, German Colonel Von Waldheim is desperate to take all of France's greatest paintings to Germany. He manages to secure a train to transport the valuable art works even as the chaos of retreat descends upon them. The French resistance however wants to stop them from stealing their national treasures but have received orders from London that they are not to be destroyed. The station master, Labiche, is tasked with scheduling the train and making it all happen smoothly but he is also part of a dwindling group of resistance fighters tasked with preventing the theft. He and others stage an elaborate ruse to keep the train from ever leaving French territory.
RansomRansom · 1996
Ransom
★ 6.71996
MovieActionThriller
When a rich man's son is kidnapped, he cooperates with the police at first but then tries a unique tactic against the criminals.
Barry LyndonBarry Lyndon · 1975
Barry Lyndon
★ 8.01975
MovieDramaHistory
An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.
Battle RoyaleBattle Royale · 2000
Battle Royale
★ 7.32000
MovieDramaThriller
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Battle Royale II: RequiemBattle Royale II: Requiem · 2003
Battle Royale II: Requiem
★ 5.02003
MovieActionThriller
It's three years after the events of the original Battle Royale, and Shuya Nanahara is now an internationally-known terrorist determined to bring down the government. His terrorist group, Wild Seven, stages an attack that levels several buildings in Tokyo on Christmas Day, killing 8000 people. In order for the government to study the benefits of "teamwork", the new students work in pairs, with their collars electronically linked so that if one of them is killed, the other dies as well. They must kill Nanahara in three days - or die.
Good Night, and Good Luck.Good Night, and Good Luck. · 2005
Good Night, and Good Luck.
★ 7.12005
MovieDramaHistory
The story of journalist Edward R. Murrow's stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist witch-hunts in the early 1950s.
Mildred PierceMildred Pierce · 1945
Mildred Pierce
★ 7.61945
MovieCrimeDrama
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
The Night of the HunterThe Night of the Hunter · 1955
The Night of the Hunter
★ 7.91955
MovieCrimeDrama
In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
Midnight CowboyMidnight Cowboy · 1969
Midnight Cowboy
★ 7.51969
MovieDrama
Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.

More on MaxSee all →

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone · 2001
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
★ 7.92001
MovieAdventureFantasy
Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful wizard—with a place waiting for him at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he learns to harness his newfound powers with the help of the school's kindly headmaster, Harry uncovers the truth about his parents' deaths—and about the villain who's to blame.
The BatmanThe Batman · 2022
The Batman
★ 7.72022
MovieCrimeMystery
In his second year of fighting crime, Batman uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family while facing a serial killer known as the Riddler.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King · 2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
★ 8.52003
MovieAdventureFantasy
As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power.​
InterstellarInterstellar · 2014
Interstellar
★ 8.52014
MovieAdventureDrama
The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Dune: Part TwoDune: Part Two · 2024
Dune: Part Two
★ 8.12024
MovieScience FictionAdventure
Follow the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
SupergirlSupergirl · 2026
Supergirl
★ 6.62026
MovieActionAdventure
When an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion on an epic, interstellar journey of vengeance and justice.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire · 2005
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
★ 7.82005
MovieAdventureFantasy
When his name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools. Signs of Voldemort's return emerge as Harry's friends help him prepare for the Triwizard Tournament.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban · 2004
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
★ 8.02004
MovieAdventureFantasy
Harry Potter's life is in danger once more as dangerous wizard Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is heading to Hogwarts.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets · 2002
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
★ 7.72002
MovieAdventureFantasy
Cars fly, trees fight back, and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year at Hogwarts. Adventure and danger await when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione's magical abilities and courage.
InceptionInception · 2010
Inception
★ 8.42010
MovieActionScience Fiction
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
DuneDune · 2021
Dune
★ 7.82021
MovieScience FictionAdventure
Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence - a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential - only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
A Minecraft MovieA Minecraft Movie · 2025
A Minecraft Movie
★ 6.22025
MovieFamilyFantasy
Four misfits find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they'll have to master this world while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve.
Mortal Kombat IIMortal Kombat II · 2026
Mortal Kombat II
★ 7.82026
MovieActionFantasy
The fan favorite champions—now joined by Johnny Cage himself—are pitted against one another in the ultimate, no-holds barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.
The Dark KnightThe Dark Knight · 2008
The Dark Knight
★ 8.52008
MovieActionThriller
Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.
Friday the 13thFriday the 13th · 1980
Friday the 13th
★ 6.41980
MovieHorror
Camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp that was the site of a child's drowning.
SupermanSuperman · 2025
Superman
★ 7.32025
MovieScience FictionAdventure
Superman, a journalist in Metropolis, embarks on a journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 · 2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
★ 8.12011
MovieAdventureFantasy
Harry, Ron and Hermione continue their quest to vanquish the evil Voldemort once and for all. Just as things begin to look hopeless for the young wizards, Harry discovers a trio of magical objects that endow him with powers to rival Voldemort's formidable skills.
JokerJoker · 2019
Joker
★ 8.12019
MovieCrimeThriller
During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.
The MatrixThe Matrix · 1999
The Matrix
★ 8.31999
MovieActionScience Fiction
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix · 2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
★ 7.72007
MovieAdventureFantasy
When a new professor's methods leave Hogwarts unprepared to fight the rising tide of evil, Harry teaches students how to defend against the dark arts.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter