8.5 | / 10 |
Users | 2.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Set in medieval Japan, an elderly warlord announces his intention to hand over his empire to his sons. A power struggle ensues between the heirs.
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryű, Mieko HaradaDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 99% |
Period | 28% |
War | 21% |
Epic | 13% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Region B, A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Akira Kurosawa's legendary "Ran" (1985) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Studio Canal. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc are: "AK", a French documentary film by director Chris Marker; "Akira Kurosawa: The Epic and the Intimate", a French documentary exploring the Japanese director's rich legacy; "The Samurai", a fascinating documentary on Samurai art, Samurai rituals, and the history of Samurai culture; "Akira Kurosawa by Catherine Cadou", trailer and more. With optional English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish subtitles. Region A/B "locked".
Betrayed
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with VC-1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Akira Kurosawa's Ran arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. Please note that the disc's main menu can be set in one of the following languages: English (Australian territories), Danish, German, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, English (UK territories) and English (North America).
Ran is the only entry in the Studio Canal Collection that I am not overly enthusiastic about. From what I could tell, this VC-1 encoded high-definition transfer is very similar, if not identical, to the one Studio Canal used awhile back when they released the film on HDDVD in France. And, unfortunately, this is quite disappointing, given that there are a number of issues with it.
The most serious one is the presence of mild to strong edge-enhancement throughout the entire film. Indeed, there are key scenes in Ran where detail and clarity suffer greatly because of it. The film's color scheme is also problematic; I noticed numerous color pulsations, and, in particular, bleeding reds and greens. Furthermore, many of the darker scenes in the film reveal a good dose of digital noise that will undoubtedly annoy folks with larger screens and projectors. Film grain has also been tampered with. On a positive side, the transfer is fairly clean -- I did not see any large damage marks, scratches, or stains. To sum it all up, given that Studio Canal control the rights for Ran in a number of key territories, it is quite disappointing to see that this would likely be the only transfer in circulation that different distributors -- Optimum Home Entertainment, Kinowelt, and possibly even LionsGate -- would be able to access. (Note: This Blu-ray disc has been coded for Regions A and B. Therefore, you must have a native Region A or B, or Region-Free player in order to be able to access its content).
The following audio tracks are included on this Blu-ray disc: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish subtitles for the main feature.
I opted for the Japanese DTRS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and was fairly pleased with it. The dialog is crisp, clear and very easy to follow, and there are no balance issues that I detected with Toru Takemitsu's music score. The flute solos, in particular, sound a lot more convincing on this Blu-ray disc than they do on my French R2 SDVD.
The Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers an improved dynamic amplitude - and many of the massive battles benefit greatly from it - but I am not particularly fond of it. I felt that during a few of the quieter scenes the sound was spread out quite unevenly. Still, the dialog is just as clean, crisp and easy to follow as it is on the Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track.
Note: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in 480/60i. Therefore, they are perfectly playable on Region-A PS3s and SAs.
AK - a French documentary feature by director Chris Marker focusing on the production history of Ran. In French and Japanese, with imposed English subtitles. (72 min, 480/60i).
Akira Kurosawa: The Epic and the Intimate - a French documentary feature exploring the Japanese director's rich legacy. In French and Japanese, with imposed English subtitles.(42 min, 480/60i).
The Samurai - a fascinating documentary on Samurai art, Samurai rituals, and the history of Samurai culture. In English. (53 min, 480/60i).
Akira Kurosawa by Catherine Cadou - Japanese cinema expert and translator Catherine Cadou recalls her encounter with Akira Kurosawa at the premiere of Ran at the Cannes Film Festival. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (15 min, 480/60i).
Art of the Samurai - renowned French specialist on Japan's ancient warfare art Jean-Christophe Charbonnier talks about the weapons and costumes used in Ran, samurai art and rituals, etc. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (42 min, 480/60i).
Trailer - a French theatrical trailer for Akira Kurosawa's Ran. (2 min, 480/60i).
BD Live functionality -
Booklet - a 20-page illustrated booklet containing David Jenkins' essay "World Gone Wrong: An Introduction to Akira Kurosawa's Ran".
I believe that there are a couple of things one has to consider when one determines whether or not it is worth adding this Blu-ray release to one's collection. First, it is the fact that it is unlikely, at least in a foreseeable future, that Ran would be fully restored and rereleased on Blu-ray. Studio Canal control the rights for the film in a number of key territories, and I simply don't see it happening. Hopefully, I am proven wrong, but I have a feeling that this flawed transfer would be in circulation for a very, very long time. Second, unlike what some of my colleagues have claimed on other sites, I don't find the Criterion SDVD release to be better than this Blu-ray disc. Finally, like the rest of the Studio Canal Collection discs, this one has some terrific supplemental features.
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