Ran: Masterworks Edition

[Andrew]

I picked this up as a hopefully superior replacement to the older DVD that I had.  I was not disappointed.  The sound was very good and the picture was heads and tails above the older disc.  Sure, some scenes are not crisp, but I am 99% certain that was intentional (focus, filters, depth of field).  The movie is very sad and features much talk, but look at the source tragedy.

Again on the DVD's quality, the scene where Hidetora emerges from the burning castle is my favorite scene.  The warlord is resplendent in white, while the attacking army is a dark and seething mass that  parts before him.  On this DVD the colors are amazing.

My favorite Kurosawa film will always be "Seven Samurai," but so many of his movies are worth watching.  Even the lesser ones have scenes that are interesting.  In my case, many are must haves for the collection.

[Flangepart]

Oh, yeah. This is a keeper. Hope the library here gets that disc. Kurosawa takes paticence to get the full effect. But, once you fall into the mood of the film, you can realy become part of the time and place. Groovy.



Post Edited (05-03-03 11:55)

[Andrew]

My musts from Kurosawa are:

Seven Samurai
Ran
Yojimbo
Rashomon

I have heard good things about "Sanjuro," but have not seen it yet.

[Squishy]

"Sanjuro" isn't quite as perfect as predecessor "Yojimbo"--and there's a downright embarassing death scene--but I'm sure once you see it, it'll be on your "must" list as well...

Happy happy joy joy! Criterion will be releasing "Throne of Blood" on DVD at the end of the month. Kurosawa + Mifune = Teh Awesome!

[The Burgomaster]

I just bought the older DVD print of RAN. Watched it today, as a matter of fact. Great movie, but I did notice that the picture quality was only slightly better than a VHS tape. I should have grabbed the masterworks edition.

[Johnny Blister]

Are you gonna review "Ran"in your site,Andrew?

[Andrew]

Johnny Blister wrote:

> Are you gonna review "Ran"in your site,Andrew?

No, unless as an April Fools joke.