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Ran (Masterworks Edition) Actors: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu Director: Akira Kurosawa Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 160 minutes Studio: Wellspring Media, In Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-04-15 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 156 Average rating: 4.5 "Great Movie, DVD a bit lacking" This movie is a spectacular epic, adapting King Lear to the world of Japanese fuedal kingdoms. The battle scenes are breathtaking to behold and the adaptation is briliantly carried off by everyone involved. The only thing keeping this from 5 stars, in my mind, is the DVD. I would have appriciated some special features or commentary, but there is nothing added to the disc. That said, the movie is alone worth the price. "Spectacular restoration" Having waited for a long time for a re-issue of this classic by Kurosawa, I was lucky enough to see this digitially restored disk when Wellspring released it in their Limited Edition Kurosawa Collection in the Fall of 2002. Not only is the film everything it's known to be, but this new DVD which is a Hi Def, Digitally restored one in 16:9, is simply stunning. The visuals are all one would hope for, and the commentary tracks (2) are insighful and thoroughly enjoyable. Once you view it, you will now understand why RAN was nominated for so many Academy Awards and, more importantly, why it won for Best Costumes. This "Masterworks" edition is a Masterworks on multiple fronts... a master's work on film, by a masterful director with a DVD product that is masterful in its own right! "The Greatest Movie Ever Made" Think true masterpiece. And not in the way the word "masterpiece" is tossed around these days. Think Proust's "In Search of Lost Time". Think Picasso's "Guernica". This is not easy entertainment but a multi-layered epic with a tangled web of complex themes. This film is an experience - an experience rich in countless rewards. I pray that reviewer Blakes_Angel from PA is an adolescent and will one day come to appreciate the difference between soda pop and a fine bottle of aged port. "A rich experience worth viewing over and over again" This is a magnificent movie. It is visually beautiful - the colors and the way the shots are framed are stunning. The visuals are controlled in ways that add to the poetic power of the story. I do not speak Japanese, but the sound of the language combined with the musical score also adds to the intensity of this movie. The subtitles are good, but I am sure that those who understand Japanese get even more from this story. This is not a film of Shakespeare's "King Lear". Rather, it is an adaptation and is based on the underlying themes of the play. It is not important for me to list the differences between the play and the movie, it is just important that a first time viewer not expect the Shakespearian story. If you know the play you will recognize aspects of the movie and enjoy the ways in which Kurosawa adapted the story to his own and Japanese sensibilities. It may nod to Shakespeare, but Kurosawa makes this his story. The costumes, music, and acting are superlative. For me, the trademark Kurosawa battle scenes are more wonderful here than usual. This is a masterpiece by a filmmaking virtuoso who is also a sensitive enough artist to make a spectacular movie that is also poetic, humorous and heart breaking, tender and brutal as well images that are beautiful and others that are hideous. This isn't light viewing or mind candy, but it has so much to offer that it is worth watching and learning from over and over again. "Leave the Classics Alone!" "Ran," based on Shakespeare's "King Lear" is an excellent movie...a classic film directed by Kurosawa. To think that someone would suggest remaking this movie for a more "modern" audience is a disgrace. This movie is by far more superior than a lot of epic movies that were made recently (and this was made in 1985). It was excellent when it first came out, it is excellent now, and it will be excellent for future generations. There are things that are meant to be left alone, and "Ran" is one of those examples.