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Akira Kurosawa's Dreams Actors: Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baisho Directors: Ishirô Honda, Akira Kurosawa Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Running Time: 120 minutes Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-03-18 Buy from Amazon |
 "Visually stunning"I saw this "movie", Yume, which is more like a collection of 8 shorter vignette type cinematic experiences based on the dreams of Kurosawa, some good some nightmarish, on the whim of a self-confessed 'intellectual' friend from Tokyo. The first time I went through the whole DVD with a very open mind but failed miserably to see the exalted direction or deep meaning that a Kurosawa movie is supposed to convey. Although I did notice the stunning visuals. However, I have seen this movie about 2-3 times since, and I truly believe this is one of the most beautiful films ever made. I guess Japanese "art" may be growing on me a bit because a lot of their writing and filmmaking would seem to a non-native as a little, er, pointless. This movie, too, is characterized by extraordinary photography, and long periods during which very little occurs. There is no plot as such - a series of eight situations (dreams) which are virtually tableaux. From time to time people do things like dance in a stylized Japanese manner for a very long time. A fare of this genre is perhaps not for everyone, definitely not for the masses because the masterly cinematography carries a lot of the story and Hollywood has brainwashed most of us into needing a lot of dialog or action. If that's what you're after, you won't find it here. But I am sure it will make you think about life. Among other things, it has commmentary on war, the environment and the fragility of the earth. Overall, a very effecting and in the end hopeful movie. My DVD was still in original Japanese (I had expected it to be a dubbed version) and what little dialog there is, is subtitled for the English speaking viewers. The imagery though is absolutely lyrical and transcends language or geopolitical borders! Needless to say, I am smitten with Kurosawa and have since seen IKIRU, RASHOMON and DERSU UZALA -- grand films by a master film artist. One parting word of advice -- this film needs to be seen in the letterbox format as it was intended.  "Why this hasn't been released at original aspect ratio?"Ok, the box reports "Anamorphic Widescreen"... But the screen aspect - which hadn't been respected already on LaserDisc edition - has been even more trimmed down in the DVD edition. The DVD aspect ratio is only 1.8:1, while when released on screen the aspect ratio was 2.35:1! I already checked out if they used the entire frame of the Super 35mm original and it was not the case, as the DVD has fewer image details and lateral image compared to the LaserDisc edition. Alas! The sound is very good but comparable to the LaserDisc edition. Finally, the DVD has no extras at all - something disappointing, as Kurosawa declared at the time of theatrical release that the special effects available at the time were used to their maximum extent. And that he wouldn't commit other three of his dreams to the screen because there were no sufficient SFX at the time to allow this. A rather disappointing release. At least, the movie is beautiful, but I'll stick with the LaserDisc edition. "Finally Kurosawa movies coming out of limbo"I finally got online after a while and went poking around and stumbled across this DVD just in an off chance. I was almost completely shocked and amazed to have found it listed. Finally some of Kurosawa's best movies are coming out of Limbo. I have read some recent reviews of this new DVD, and hope it isn't quite as bad as they say it is as far as the widescreen and picture quality go. But of course I am not going to get my hopes up. I have had this for many many years on VHS, and managed to track down a copy on Laserdisc, just before DVD's for anything ever hit the market. To just make it brief on the review of this movie in general, this is a brilliantly artistic series of short stories, by a super brilliant movie maker. Years ago I had fallen in love with many japanese movies, and Kurosawa has always been a favorite, and almost never disappointed (even my discriminating and picky taste). If you have never watched much foreign movies, try to remember to keep an open mind and follow along as best you can. And watch it again and again to try and catch more things. Some sequences you may not like a whole heck of a lot, but others will surely touch your heart. I only wish Kurosawa could have been encouraged to have made many more of these. The world has truly lost a great visionary of great japanese culture. To tell you a little of what has been going on with some Kurosawa movies, at least in what I have observed. As near as I can tell, their must have been some problems with Kurosawa's properties when he passed away a number of years ago. Soon after his passing this particular movie Dreams (among some others), disappeared from the market anywhere on VHS or Laserdisc. And for years after that nothing was heard or much known what was going on. Because of this instance, the VHS was off the market for quite a while, then sort of reappeared. But mostly as a Rental copy... Hopefully now that this has hit the market, it means more of his properties have been released for the general market, and if this DVD copy isn't the best thing around, we can maybe get together and encourage some places (such as Criterion) to look into getting a super great version put out some time in the near future. Oh, and one other thing. I would have easily given the rating a perfect 5 (which is what the movie itself deserves), but from the reviews of possibly being a bad copied DVD version, I felt I should knock it down to 4. Hopefully it isn't as bad, but like I said, if it is, hope springs eternal that someone else will get the rights to it and make a super great copy like this so deserves. TANOSHIMU!  "A Feast for the Eyes"This is, quite simply, the most visually stunning film I have seen since "Days of Heaven." It surpasses even that earlier film in its intensity of visual content and technical mastery. Criticisms aimed at its literary content may be valid to a certain degree, but this is a film to buy just to LOOK at. Turn off the sound and the subtitles if you don't like them. This film doesn't need them. It is a complete joy to watch. I'm adding this caveat post-posting because I read a new customer review that criticizes the apparent fact that the DVD does not respect the original screen aspect of the film. This will be a terrible blow to fans of this beautiful film. I haven't received my copy of the DVD yet, but I'm considering returning it if this is the case. You just don't do that to fine works of art. "Disappointing Transfer"Being a great fan of the old 1991 Laserdisc version of this movie, I was excited to finally hear that a DVD copy was available. I purchashed it right away in hopes of showing off my progessive scan DVD player (with component hookups) and my snazzy new 16:9 widescreen 46" Sony HDTV. Sadly, this DVD version's quality wasn't anything like I remembered. 10 years ago, I owned this movie on the old Laserdisc format, and the quality was unbelievable. The colors in every segment seemed so perfect, so sharp - that the movie was almost surreal in it's presentation. It just jumped out at you with impossibly perfect reds and stunning blues. I remember loading this Laserdisc when friends came to visit and I really wanted to WOW them with the "new digital laserdisc" technology. Sadly, it appears this DVD version is a transfer from an inferior, analog source. The widescreen complaints from other reviewers confirm this suspicion. Sure, the DVD looks good, and sounds good, but just doesn't have the impact - color/picture/etc - that the original did. Film grain and dust specks are clearly visible throughout the movie and most edges are fuzzy. My 4 year old DVD of West Side Story is sharper and more vivid than Dreams. I can't stress enough that this DVD seems to be more of a transfer than an actual remastered version of the original. This DVD reminds me of the Goodfellas DVD transfer, which was also released years ago without any significant DVD bonus features or, more importantly, an enchanced digital transfer from an original copy. Perhaps I'm being picky, but I remember Dreams as being both a wonderful movie *and* a fabulous technological showpiece for my home theater system. Now it's just another DVD in my collection, looking as technically "good" as Animal House or Heat. Hopefully Criterion will release an enhanced, completely remastered version of this fantastic film in the near future. |
