Other films starring Godzilla actors

The amount of Godzilla actors who worked on Seven Samurai alone is impressive. Takashi Shimura and Minoru Chiaki (Kobayashi in Godzilla Raids Again) both played major roles in the film, and even Haruo Nakajima himself had a minor role as a bandit.

Interestingly, Akira Kurosawa was reportedly a huge fan of the Godzilla series and dreamed of making his own Godzilla film, but Toho wouldn't let him because they were supposedly afraid it would be too expensive. 

The King of The Monsters - There's a reason those films are usually listed as the #1 and #2 films to EVER come out of Japan in most foreign lists. It's always Seven Samurai followed by Gojira. Maybe not the best directed or acted pictures, but they're the ones everyone knows. My favorite is Ikiru with Takashi Shimura, but that's personal preference because the subject matter strikes home. Akira Kurosawa... I can't even imagine what he'd do with a kaiju film. I'm trying right now, but nope... We always talk about how great this and this director would be with so and so. With G'16 and Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi directing and doing the special effects respectively, you can look back on their past works and surmise what sort of film you'll be getting. Might they surprise you, sure. But an Akira Kurosawa Godzilla picture... I really can't even begin to imagine such a film.

https://youtu.be/8V4dEWPJKNk