• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Akira Kurosawa’s Ran to hit BluRay and return to UK cinemas fully restored in 4K

Status
Not open for further replies.

Oersted

Member
ran-kurusawa-600x330.jpg


51FYxNHTgYL._SY400_.jpg


Preorder link

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01BF2766W/dnos

The final masterpiece from legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, RAN, which translates as ‘turmoil’, is Kurosawa’s meditation on Shakespeare’s King Lear crossed with the history of Japan’s 16th century Civil Wars and the legend of Morikawa, a feudal warlord with three sons.

To commemorate 400 years since William Shakespeare’s death and thirty years on from its original UK theatrical release in 1986, RAN has been meticulously restored in digital 4K by French laboratory Éclair under STUDIOCANAL and Kadokawa Pictures’ supervision. Based on an original negative, the majority of the restoration work has been done manually, image by image. An action-packed historical epic of stylistic grandeur, the new restoration amplifies the film’s visual splendour, seen first in all its glory in 2015 where it screened at Cannes, New York and Toronto Film Festivals.

Ran will return to cinemas on April 1st and will hit DVD and Blu-ray on May 2nd

More here

http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2016/...rning-to-uk-cinemas-fully-restored-in-4k.html

Lock if old
 

Llyranor

Member
BTW, the French Blu is coming out sooner, April 12th. Subtitles include English among many others.

http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01AVIUYF6/

I'm really glad I invested in a regionfree Blu player recently.

Region B seems to be getting some good stuff on Blu before Region A lately. All of the Ozu works (eventually), Tarkovsky, Takeshi Kitano.
 
So as someone who's been getting into older movies of late, what would be a rough summary and/or review of this film? I know Kurosawa is legendary in the business but I've not properly watched one of his films before.
 

Kazaam

Member
I think this was announced a month ago. The film will also open in the US this Friday, 26th February, at New York's Film Forum. (Source)
Can't wait. Great extras as well (tho unfortunately we probably won't get Stephen Prince's commentary)

The final masterpiece from legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, RAN

Hmm...I'll assume they meant last epic.

So as someone who's been getting into older movies of late, what would be a rough summary and/or review of this film?

In 16th century feudal Japan, a warlord decides to split his kingdom to his 3 sons. Things don't go as he planned. It's pretty much Kurosawa's interpretation of King Lear.
 
So as someone who's been getting into older movies of late, what would be a rough summary and/or review of this film? I know Kurosawa is legendary in the business but I've not properly watched one of his films before.

This is not the Kurosawa you start with. Begin with the easiest to find 40s/50s film, most likely Rashomon or Stray Dog, and delve from there. Ran is big, and Shakespearean, and heavy, and you'd be better served getting adjusted Kurosawa's style and storytelling before going into this one.
 
This is not the Kurosawa you start with. Begin with the easiest to find 40s/50s film, most likely Rashomon or Stray Dog, and delve from there. Ran is big, and Shakespearean, and heavy, and you'd be better served getting adjusted Kurosawa's style and storytelling before going into it into this one.

It's Kurosawa at his most Shakespearean, which is REALLY dense and hard to penetrate if you're not used to how he tells his epic narratives.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
I assumed the uhd version is on the way?

Not a safe assumption at all. There are a lot of movies with 4K scans that barely even made it onto regular Blu-ray and some that aren't on Blu-ray.
 

Cikay

Member
One of the most beautiful movie I've seen. The colors are stunning. I never bought the previous BR as reviews said it was not better than the DVD, so I can't wait for this new one !
 

Moppeh

Banned
So as someone who's been getting into older movies of late, what would be a rough summary and/or review of this film? I know Kurosawa is legendary in the business but I've not properly watched one of his films before.

Watch Seven Samurai. It's his most known, his best, and the one that made his style click with me. I had seen Rashomon and Throne of Blood previously but they didn't resonate with me until I saw Seven Samurai. After that watch a mix of his jidaigeki films and his modern period ones.

Ran is great and probably my second favorite of his films that I've seen but would probably be better appreciated after watching some of his other samurai movies and adaptations.

If you want to know more about Ran just look at the Wikipedia page, it should have reviews as well. As far as summaries go, it's basically King Lear in Japan.
 

Ridley327

Member
Yeah, freaking Studiocanal phoned it in. Why'd Criterion have to lose the rights?
Studio Canal thought they could have been a new Criterion. Unfortunately, they made the grave error to team up with Lionsgate, who only wanted them for the rights to films like the Rambo series. They got just a handful of their world cinema classics out there before they stopped, and now we have a situation where some of their films are part of a burn-on-demand service through Amazon.

They fucked up.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Why are people supposed to be impressed with 4K in theaters when film would've looked so much better.

How is printing the restoration onto film, going through a few generations of dupes and then having it shake around inside a projector supposed to look "so much better" than just projecting the restoration directly?
Film projection has weak blacķ levels, too.
 

thenexus6

Member
I am planning on seeing this at BFI Southbank in 4K. I have never been before so I assume I am in for a good viewing experience? (The NFT1 screen)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom