Ran



With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa's late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC FEATURES:

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary by Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
- An appreciation of the film by director Sidney Lumet
- A.K., a 74-minute film by director Chris Marker
- A 30-minute documentary on the making of Ran, part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
- A 35-minute video piece reconstructing Ran through Kurosawa's paintings and sketches, created as part of the series Image: Kurosawa's Continuity (NOTE: not included in the Blu-ray edition)
- New video interview with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
- Theatrical trailers
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Plus: a 28-page booklet featuring film critic Michael Wilmington and interviews with Kurosawa and composer Toru Takemitsu

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

This is the best new news so far this year it think. I would never thought they'd get this out this year. With this plus five more Kurosawa films (Dodes'ka-den, Sanshiro Sugata, I Live in Fear, Drunken Angel, The Bad Sleep Well) known to be in the works are just overwelming.

...and the "Masterworks Editions" croaked their last croak (what a rip-off that edition was). Hurrah for the unexpected!

Could this signal more Wellspring > Criterion action?

I can't recall where it appeared, but there was a rumour about the forthcoming addition of Chris Marker to the collection, so A.K. would be an obvious inclusion here. With the inevitable It Is Wonderful to Create and likely commentary (I don't think any of the recent Kurosawas have been commentary-free) this could be a very generous 2-disc offering, possibly even warranting the 3-disc treatment.

I've been wondering when they would get around to doing this. Absolutely perfect news.

I'm off to sell my Wellspring disc.

This is insane news! I wonder if they would think of incorporating the Prince commentary track from the Wellspring edition or if they will use another scholar.


Ok, you meant something like Wellspring ----> Criterion, right? The idea that Wellspring is "greater than" Criterion is making me slightly queasy.

HOLY CRAP!!!

This was the last thing I was expecting. I'm super pumped now.

[Masturbates furiously]

best news ever on the Criterion site? it seems so.

Well, so much for the Wellspring Masterworks. have to sell that one off...

Best. Criterion. Year. Ever.

So. Wellspring relationship. Dare I hope for Nostalghia? I'm sure it's too much to hope for some Tsai Ming-Liang, but Nostalghia's been out of print a while, and it was a Criterion laser. Hell, back when Wellspring was Fox Lorber, unless I am mistaken they even used Criterion's laser transfer for the DVD. Time to give it back!

I was literally seconds away from buying the Wellspring version only yesterday... thank God for the little voice that told me to wait for another time!

My favorite Kurosawa is finally getting the treatment it deserves! This calls for a big ol' happy dance!

-Toilet Dcuk

Man this is so f*cking great, My guess is that it'll be the Criterion release of the year bar none...


Axel.

Do Criterion play April's Fools, I wonder?

This news is especially nice to hear, coming as it does after numerous reviews of the "Kagemusha" DVD where critics damned the movie with faint praise by comparing it to "Ran." Serves them right (and us too).

-BJ

I have the Masterworks edition, and, on several occasions, I almost bought the R2 because of the AK documentary and the famed transfer.

Hopefully, as others have said, this will be a ridiculous 3-disc edition, with a Michael Jeck commentary, AK with a HD transfer and Chris Marker commentary, and a 60+ page booklet. If it was something in this league, I'd easily drop fifty dollars on this. But, beyond everything else, the transfer better beat the crap out of the R2!

I'm officially excited. I also hope they get around to releasing an anamorphic High and Low.

I hope this is true. I have the Masterworks Editions, and it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Looks like I've got something to ask Santa for now at Christmas

Its going to take a special kind of release for me to fork out for 'RAN' again. Particularly as I don't even particularly like it!

Boy do I sure hope so! Starting with their other Masterworks massacre, "Z", and continuing on with:
Every Eric Rohmer title that Wellspring owns.
36 Fillete (worst DVD transfer EVER)
Tampopo
What Time Is It There..?
Goodbye Dragon Inn
Every other Tsai Ming-liang title in Wellsprings clutches
Perfect Love!
Beau Pere
Yi Yi
any Jacques Demy
Girls Can't Swim
Truffaut...
etc., etc.

The one thing you could never accuse Wellspring is of bad taste, so if the CC got their entire library, lock, stock and barrel, it would be a great thing...

Ted

Whereas the one thing you could accuse Wellspring of is giving you blurred vision.

First thing I thought of, after getting excited about "Ran", was "Z" I've almost bought this I don't know how many times but I keep holding off because it doesn't look like there is really anything on it and it's friggin expensive. Plus I'm wary of Wellspring DVDs. I keep hoping Criterion will release it since they did on laser. This only increases my hopes now that they might.

yup. i bought that stupid box set from amazon (two of them actually) all excited. Man, was I pissed. I still haven't watched that Ran disc all the way through as the blurriness and colors bleeding all over the place started pissing me off. I hope Criterion will have a different commentary so that I can "collect them all".

Add me into the enthusiasm for a Criteion edition of RAN. I own the first R1 DVD of it and am very unhappy with it. I never bought the later specia editions due to the poor reviews they received. This DVD won't come fast enough for me. I hope the DVD cover isn't just an augmented photo. I'd love to see some original art for it.

Or even better, some of Kurosawa's art for the film. This image, for instance, would make a wonderful cover:

I'm also very happy about this. I once received the Fox Lorber release as a gift and returned it unopened. I've been tempted to get the Masterworks reissue or the R2 ever since they came out but I'm glad I waited.

This early anouncement will hurt wellspring sales, I hope they won't hold a grudge against criterion and will let them release more of their movies in the future.