I suppose it's just me -- but (based on the screen shots) the color looks more attractive (and possibly more correct) in Criterion's DVD version of part 1 and some of the otherwise poor-looking versions of parts 2 and 3. The new version looks too pink (among other things).

Yep, it sure has been 'Criterionized'. I thought they had been swayed once and for all by recent non-US editions to fall into line with the now univerally accepted Japanese colour balance.

Mystifying. Oh well, saves me money.

I always thought the greenish hue from older Japanese films were just faded colors. The new transfers look fantastic. Glad I waited instead of going for the DVD releases.

The give-away is the skin colors. Criterion has a distressing tendency to color balance Japanese films as if Japanese actors andd actresses were the same color as ordinary American "whites" (i.e. a bit pinkish). This obviously throws off the overall color scheme. See this vintage poster -- which confirms (I think) the intended non-pinkness of the characters: http://madamepickwickartblog.com/wp-con ... ifune5.jpg .

Everyone is tricking their eyes. You compare an overtinted green to a proper one and the proper looks pink. But compare to a western colour film of same period and the Samurai films still contain a much more blue/green/yellow shift.

Example

Yeah, if anything the "pinkishness" is very slight, IMO. The improvement in every other conceivable category of visual measurement is significant, so a slight move to the magenta side of the coloring won't prevent me from picking it up.

Maybe everyone in those screenshots is just doing this

Has anyone ever found any screen captures of the Toho remastered HD version?

Same for me here.
If I don't take the new Criterion box set, what will I bought then to be able to watch correctly these movies ?

Maybe a 17th century haircut and some sake. Other than that, you should do just fine with the CC BD's.

Or a pair of green-tinted glasses.

Caught up with these. they have a fun aesthetic that I previously associated with B westerns, which I suppose this is somewhat equivalent to (I'm well aware of the pitfalls of presuming too much with such associations). Toshiro Mifune, over the course of the three films gives a very nice performance. I did miss the sense of openness and epic sweep the first film had, with the big battle scene at the start, but there's really nothing wrong with the more set-bound sequels. My biggest problem with the films was the Akemi storyline, if only because there was no sense of choice for Miyamoto, he never had any interest in Akemi, and she was often just a plot device, only there to provide a suspicious visual for Otsu at opportune moments.

The new transfers are very nice, not stellar, which is to be expected since the harvest originates with prints rather than the negative, I have no real complaints, color was excellent (and not hollywood, nor was it the presumably desired green-blooded japanese). The brief interviews that comprise the extras are fine, they give a teeny bit of context, but I wish there was more, as the subject seems to have a lot of possibilities for a better criterion treatment.