DVD : Ran (Masterworks Edition)
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780794203368
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0794203361
Label: Fox Lorber
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Fox Lorber
Region Code: 1
Release Date: April 15, 2003
Running Time: 160 minutes
Sales Rank: 13683
Studio: Fox Lorber
Theatrical Release Date: 1985
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
As critic Roger Ebert observed in his original review of Ran, this epic tragedy might have been attempted by a younger director, but only the Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, who made the film at age 75, could bring the requisite experience and maturity to this stunning interpretation of Shakespeare's King Lear. It's a film for the ages--one of the few genuine screen masterpieces--and arguably serves as an artistic summation of the great director's career. In this version of the Shakespeare tragedy, the king is a 16th-century warlord (Tatsuya Nakadai as Lord Hidetora) who decides to retire and divide his kingdom evenly among his three sons. When one son defiantly objects out of loyalty to his father and warns of inevitable sibling rivalry, he is banished and the kingdom is awarded to his compliant siblings. The loyal son's fears are valid: a duplicitous power struggle ensues and the aging warlord witnesses a maelstrom of horrifying death and destruction. Although the film is slow to establish its story, it's clear that Kurosawa, who planned and painstakingly designed the production for 10 years before filming began, was charting a meticulous and tightly formalized dramatic strategy. As familial tensions rise and betrayal sends Lord Hidetora into the throes of escalating madness, Ran (the title is the Japanese character for "chaos" or "rebellion") reaches a fever pitch through epic battles and a fortress assault that is simply one of the most amazing sequences on film. --Jeff Shannon
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
I enjoyed watching ran. it was quite different than most American films in a lot of ways. it had an unique combination of humor and drama. I particularly liked the large battle scenes. i think a lot of the epic battle scenes in movies that i like now were heavily influenced by this film. this film has an interesting mix of both American and foreign film styles. The influence of Japanese Noh theater is clearly strong. While some American audiences might be put off by some aspects of the film, i still ... Read More
Rating:  -
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Rating: -
Kurosawa may be the first world-class Japanese director that most Americans think of, but many Japanese consider him the most Western of their country's great artists. Old prints of his early works list his name in the traditional order: Kurosawa Akira. We, of course, know him as Akira Kurosawa.
RAN is a good example of that cultural balance. Not only is it an adaptation of KING LEAR -- in fact, it may be the best version of LEAR ever put on film -- but it casts the story in the historical ... Read More
Rating: -
Ran is my favourite Kurosawa film. And thankfully Criterion have made an edition with good transfer and tons of extras. The film is so rich, both visually pleasing and with a moral dimension. Here we follow an elder succesful warrior and clan-leader on a path where he is confronted with dark karma created by his earlier cruel deeds, and the deceitfulness of his nearest allies. The tranquil old age he seeks seems impossible because of the greed and brutality among allies and family members, the same greed and ... Read More
Rating: -
Ran is Kurosawa's final masterpiece and my favorite Kurosawa movie. For me, Ran is more of an experience than a movie. It just seems so "real" to me. Directed when he was 75, the master director presents a cast of thousands and renders a mortal struggle of good and evil, fealty and betrayal, cruelty and kindness, & greed and generosity. An old man who has achieved power through war and treachery, deludes himself into giving up everything he has lived his entire life to accomplish to his ungrateful and ... Read More
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