RAN - MOVIE [DVD] [1985]

That the movie is a masterpiece is unquestionable . However the picture quality on 4K is more like a poor bluray . On my 4k 85inch Sony screen , from the first images it shows unsharpness. The colors are ok , same for the sound , but that poor sharpness which I can at best compare with a VHS tape on a 32inch screen is about correct.If you want this , watch it on a very small screen and hope that one day in our life , someone will finally do justice to this movie.

I noted some other reviews about the quality of the Blue Ray, but decided as I have heard so much about this film I had to purchase it anyway, and I'm not disappointed in any way.Kurosawa's final epic film is just a master class , a truly incredible piece of cinema. The opening shots of the horsemen, with a huge landscape behind them, clue's you into what the director is trying to achieve in making a version of King Lear. This play is regarded as a tour de force in theatre and one which only experienced actors attempt, so Kurosawa was making a brave choice in making this film, which was his last.He made an incredible version of Macbeth in 'Throne of Blood', itself regarded at the time as the best film to capture Shakespeare. Amazingly, I would argue that Kurosawa managed to better himself.Its majestic, in its cinematography, characterisation, even changing Lear's daughters into Son's, but still retaining the plays essential story of the corruption of power and its destructive effect on a dynasty. The battle scenes are almost beautiful to watch, Kurosawa obviously using Japanese paintings from the period as an inspiration.I judge how good a film on how it keeps me enthralled, and I can say that RAN did that easily. In fact I watched the whole thing, never moving from my seat once. Its a magnificent film, a true classic of cinema from any country and equal to any of the great directors such as Kubrick or Lean. Kurosawa manages to take one of Shakespeare's more difficult plays and makes it easily accessible, which is helped by his choice of an excellent cast.Its a film that is still resonating in my mind and I watched it two weeks ago. If you are a true film lover, RAN has to be in your collection, its an incredible swan song, from a director even in his own lifetime, was a huge influence on so many others.

I saw this when it was released and have wanted to own it ever since. This is Kurosawa's great late masterpiece, a summing up of the themes in his entire oeuvre - war, power, self destruction, history - in an unforgettable retelling of Lear, but with deep references to Japanese culture. I watched this with my son (12), both in a state of utter fascination at the panorama of life and death in this long film. (He was full of questions!) It was an utter delight.***spoiler alert*** I assume the reader knows the story already.The story takes place in the 16C or so, a time of upheaval and disorder worldwide. An old war lord has spent his life ruthlessly crushing enemies nearby, stopping at nothing in his striving to dominate. Perhaps as a result of his deteriorating mind, perhaps out of guilt at the terrible things he has done, he makes a catastrophically stupid decision - to divide the power of his armies between his sons in order to retire. Only one son opposes this course of action, which his father finds violently offensive. The son is banished, along with a faithful aide.Almost immediately, the two remaining sons begin to flex their muscles, first by humiliating their father - denying him access to their castles with his reduced entourage - and then by besieging him. This is one of the most horribly graphic war scenes I have ever seen, hiding nothing of the blood and meaningless deaths. The father begins to lose his mind, paralyzed in despair and appearing like a popular demon with his ashen face. Once his forces are annihilated and his concubines have committed suicide, he stumbles out of the burning palace. Having been rejoined by the faithful servant and the eunuch court jester, the only refuge he finds is in a filthy shack that houses a boy he blinded years before. This is just one of the past crimes that revisits the war lord, who sees the irony through his psychotic despair.As soon as the sons are rid of him, they turn on eachother. Here, there is a scheming wife, whose family we learn was murdered by war lord soon after his son married her for the purposes of alliance. She is a Shakespearean character, waiting years for revenge and then executing it at exactly the right time to perfection. She sows destruction on an unimaginable scale. As the war lord his last son, the faithful one, the tragedy is complete.This is one of the best films I have ever seen, by far the most intense war film. Its psychology is also realistic, with the self-destructive decision of a father full of guilt. Recommended with the greatest enthusiasm.