View Larger Image

Kurosawa DVD Collection (Individually Numbered Limited Edition) (Amazon.com Exclusive) Directors: Ishirô Honda, Akira Kurosawa Number of Items: 3 Picture Format: Letterbox Format: Box set Studio: Wellspring Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2002-09-23 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 22 Average rating: 3.5 "Kurosawa done right!" This set is fantastic. Sadly, mine came defective (Madadayo slipped off it's holder and bruised itself). But that's another matter... Sure, the transfers for Kurosawa (the documentary) and Madadayo are the same as the individual releases, but there wasn't too much to fix there. Excellent. Watched them both yesterday. Though the latter certainly does not compare to Kurosawa's prior films it is a touching story with plenty of pearls of wisdom. THe documentary is essential for any Kurosawa fan. And I agree with a prior reviewer of the doc (sad to see Hidden Fortress omitted). Great to see Clint Eastwood watching Yojimbo on a mini DVD player somewhere down in Monterey and reflecting on Kurosawa's influence. The documentary does a great job juxtaposing Seven Samurai and Yojimbo with the western classics that reworked them. Onto Ran: check out the Restoration demo. Nice. Though this new master is not perfect either the detail comes through beautifully. The colors as well, though there's a strange luminosity to it that may or may not have been intended. But this is definitely a must-have. Epic film; up there with Seven Samurai. I haven't had a chance to check out more than a few minutes of the two included commentaries but they will most likely enhance this fine update. Also includes lengthy production notes and a nice 5.1 soundtrack. Very pleased with this. The box itself is nice, though the soji is a little cheesy. Great poster fit for framing. Beautiful box with the edition number stamped into the forward label. I would like to see more great autures addressed this way? Fellini next? A must-have. You won't regret it. "Satistied with "Ran"" I found the Fox-Lorber version of "Ran" deeply disappointing, but this newly restored version is really satisfactory. Visually stunning and sounds very clear. I am also happy that what I got with the disks isn't actually a "shoji," which is made of wood and white paper, but a "byobu," an ornamental partition, with images from "Ran." This can stay in my living room. "Not a great value" First, let me set forth what is good about this set. It comes in a great looking box. The remastering of Ran (which is the real reason most will buy it) brings out the sound wonderfully, giving it a dimension that it previously lacked in home video formats. Now for its' shortcomings. That beautiful box will not fit on your storage shelves with the rest of your DVDs. It is a poorly bundled package. The two DVDs accompanying Ran have been readily available in acceptable quality DVDs for some time. How much more exciting if it had included, instead, Dreams and Do Des Ke Den with the missing 40 minutes or so of footage. The remastering of Ran is only partly what one would hope. It has a bleary look, especially in the opening scenes and, overall, looks no better that nay DVD ought to. True earlier versions on both the Hong Kong and domestic DVD release are awful to the point of being unwatchable and one of the VHS versions was awful, too. There was an earlier VHS version (by Criterion?) that looked as good as this DVD. Worse yet, my hopes that the new DVD would include footage cut since the original theatrical release were dashed completely. In fact it has been shortened even more! The once sky darkening arrow salvos that were so stunning originaly and then shortened in later releases are gone completely now as the 3rd castle is besieged. The opening shot of Lord Hidetore's face as he rides in the boar hunt is shortened too, I believe. Would I buy it again? I guess so. Would I sell it in a heartbeat if a restored Criterion release were available? You bet! "[Poor] packaging ruins another DVD" Once again, creative packaging results in damaged DVDs (remember Columbia's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens set?). All 3 of the DVDs included in this Kurosawa set arrived floating around in the box, covered with scratches, cloudy abrasion marks, and what appeared to be threads of glue. I have no doubt they will have problems with playback. When I tried to put the discs back on their spindles, they came right off. The spindles simply don't hold them. The threads of glue appear in other parts of the packaging as well. I can't recommend this version. Save money and wait until these titles come out in normal DVD cases. "[Bad] packagine" Great transfer on Ran. Great features and extras all around. Sadly, very little thought went into actually packaging it so that the discs would not move freely in the large case. I've seen five boxes opened. Four had discs damaged beyond use. Sad. The fifth was undamaged though the discs were not in their holders upon arrival.