Ran

Pros: Kurosawa's Direction/Editing, Script, Location, Cinematography, Look, Sound, Score, & Cast.
Cons: None.

Throughout the late 1940s and to the mid-1960s, there was no director who was as revered as Japan's Akira Kurosawa. Many of the films he made in that time were often considered seminal not just to filmmakers but were often considered landmark films ...

Pros: Excellent costumes, sometimes beautiful cinematography
Cons: Too long, very boring

I have always wanted to watch an Akira Kurosawa movie and decided to start with this one. It was supposed to be his dream project that he spent ten years storyboarding and preparing. This movie is his take on Shakespeare's King Lear and many people ...

Pros: another fine film on par with Kurosawa's Kagemusha
Cons: Violent and pessimistic

It seems as if many famous directors experience a sway in their careers only to be followed by another upswing which brings them up to prominence once again. Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was one of those guys. He made many famous films during the ...

Pros: fantastic characters, plot, beautiful costumes and fantastic sceneries
Cons: slow, tends to drag a little

In this complex world we live in, the definition of love is often vague and far fetched. More often we hear sweet words of love from those who have little knowledge of what love is. Many poets and writers have spent a lifetime writing novels, poems and...

Pros: Photography; acting; direction; story
Cons: The subtitles may alienate some viewers, but it's their loss

Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, the crowning gem in a career dedicated to the creation of crowning gems, is his 1985 epic, Ran. It is a film whose merits are difficult to communicate with words, for these mere units of language are unable to...

Pros: One of the great films of all time in every respect
Cons: Viewer must have tolerance for subtitles and long film

Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 epic, Ran, is an expansive and tragic masterpiece, well worth experiencing by any and all movie lovers. It is often viewed as Kurosawa’s supreme effort, which is a remarkable assertion considering that Kurosawa ...

Pros: If Kurosawa adapted all of Shakespeare's plays, the world would be a better place.
Cons: The excessive amount of blood may appear fake to some.

"Ran" is a 1985 Japanese adaptation of "King Lear" (i.e., Shakespeare meets "Seven Samurai"). A knowledge of Shakespeare's "King Lear" enriches the experience, but even those unfamiliar with it will appreciate Akira Kurosawa's final great epic. Hideto ...

Pros: Magnificent acting, brilliant story, beautiful cinematography, beautiful costumes
Cons: Difficult to read all the subtitles, even the text coloring could have been better.

I'm actually just a little emotionally drained right now, having just viewed Aikira Kurasowa's "Ran". All of that Shakespearean tragedy is about to give me a brain aneurysm, let me say it really makes an impact. This is the story of a house divided ...

Pros: Too many to list
Cons: None, but it is quite long

It has been said that the ending of Ran symbolizes the human condition for Kurosawa. In the ending the blind Tsurumaru nearly walks off a cliff, and while wobbling to regain his balance he drops an image of Buddha. The film ends with a long shot of the...

Pros: beautifully filmed, not a wasted shot or a false moment
Cons: may be too long or formal for some

This grand epic from the 75-year-old Japanese master Akira Kurosawa is one of his finest achievements. Crafted from Shakespeare's "King Lear," it concerns an aged warlord who wishes to divide his kingdom up between his three sons (instead of...

Pros: cinematography, direction, script, story
Cons: immortal horses, tragedy

In 1957, Japanese Director Akira Kurosawa borrowed from Shakespeare's "Macbeth" for his film "Throne of Blood". Nearly three decades later, Kurosawa returned to the setting of medieval Japanese armies at war, this time adapting plot...

Pros: Visuals, emotion, morality, action, angst.
Cons: On the long side. You'll miss a lot in pan-and-scan mode.

Although I caught this on VHS, a big screen (or at least
letterbox) is the only way to appreciate Akira Kurosawa's 1985
reinvention of Shakespeare's "King Lear" (a play I tried
desperately to read as a youngster and could...

Pros: beautiful cinematography, an interesting interpretation of a play just about everyone will have to read at some point
Cons: subtitled (if that kind of thing bothers you)

Akiro Kurosawa directs this adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear. He makes the daughters into sons, transplants the story to fuedal-era Japan, brings in a Lady Macbeth-style character as one of the warring sons' wives and bought stock in red paint...

Pros: Beautiful landscapes, Incredible fight scenes, engaging storyline, the work of a true master
Cons: The movie may seem a little slow or long at time

I personally think that Akira Kurosawa is one of the most influential directors in cinema in this century. His countless films such as Seven Samurai, and Throne of Blood influenced Americans and other countries so heavily, that Kurosawa's style was...

Pros: Wonderful adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, Wonderful composition, Heart wrenching score, Riveting dialogue
Cons: For those with short attention spans, the long scenes and patient camera may prove bothersome.

The master of Japanese cinema, Akira Kurosawa presents his most epic and likely his best film in a worthy adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, set in feudal Japan. Epic landscapes and grand battles unfold as Lord Hidetora's kingdom is split between his three sons. The piercing emotions of loyalty and loneliness are probed subtly with the backdrop of chaos and the clash of interests. Although some may find the running time long (160 min), rest assured, the time spent watching is worth every meaningful minute.