Rating: 
Summary: Uninteresting and very slow...
Review: When I read the very positive reviews,I was planning to buy it straight away, well fortunately I rented it first.
I thought this movie was really slow it seemed to drag on and on.
For example, lots of times somebody is walking to a place, or just standing still for minutes long, and you could get the point
after 30 seconds or something.
The visuals of the movie were ok and sometimes very original, the effects I remember the best were the of the man walking in Van Gogh paintings.
The stories are filled with various lessons and philosophies about live, but somehow a lot of this felt cliched.
I think I understood the deeper meaning of most of the stories, but it failed very much to impress. It was as if I had heard or read these lessons about the destructivity of the human species
for example, lots of times. That's my main reason, I seemed to already know that, and now somebody is repeating it for me in some dreams.
Rating: 
Summary: Kurosawa is a God
Review: Cinematography like no other. Beautiful stuff. Like a live action haiku. I fully recommend it. No words... Dark and melencholy at times, sweet and lighthearted at others. I love this movie, and I hope you can have a chance to see it once. A triumph of a great director who has influenced some of the most well-known directors of our times.
Rating:
Summary: kon na yume o mita
Review: This is an extraordinarily beautiful movie that is at parts mysetic, fanciful, and downright depresing. The viewer experience everything from a fox wedding, a gorgeous scene with traditional wedding dress, Doll festival dolls coming to life, the dolls have gorgeous Heian era atire, a severe blizard, with the appearance of the yukionna, a moving scene of a former commander of a japanese unit who meets his ghostly shoulders. This is probably my favorite scene in the movie because the officer shows his pure sadness for the meaningless deaths of his soldiers, and the cruel fate that awaited him aftr the war. In the fifth scene we meet vincent van gogh withing a painting and he discusses the creative process, Mount Fuji in Red is a strange scene in which Kuroawa displays his fears of nuclear technology, the next scene shows mutations caused by the nuclear power plant explosion. The last scene is set in a quiet village away from the modern world, and even though the main part of the scene is a funeral it is quite a moving piece about the celebration of life not the tragedy of death. Great movie at a great price.
Rating:
Summary: A Movie That Future Generations With Discuss
Review: Clearly his most personal film, this is a film that will be name checked, discussed, studied, and ultimatley be copied in the future. The dream sequence is pretty much in every single film made at this point, but no one dared to make an entire movie out of a dream sequence, or sequences as Kurosawa did. Cinema has always had its boundaries pushed forward, but more people need to think outside the box. If there are no rules of reality in making a film, then make the film acording to a reality that doesn't exist. That is what Kurosawa finally was able to do at 80 years of age, and more people will start using this movie as a reference tool to further go into their souls. As for the DVD itself, it is pretty bare-boned, but the low list-price makes it a very clear decision on what will become a classic masterpiece.Best shot/sequence:
This was a tough one to pick out from the entire movie,
but the very last shot in the movie, the entire credit sequence where all you see is the stream flowing with the Moscow Symphony playing the music in the background is astonishing. Stay for the credits.
Rating:
Summary: Now THIS is a movie!
Review: I remember seeing this movie some 6 years ago on PBS (a cultural/educational channel stationed here in New York).Not knowing what I was really watching,and also catching the film in the middle,I thought it was kind of wierd,yet very intriuging. I wanted to find out more about this movie and the director behind it.
At the time I didn't have a computer,so research was kind of limited or took lots of work(you know what I mean). So I left the issue alone and concentrated on other things. Then one year later,"DREAMS" came on PBS again, and I happily watched it from start to finish. I have to say, this one of the best films I have seen ever.(and I have seen a lot!)
For one thing, This film "DREAMS" has opened my heart to foriegn-Japanese films and Japanese/Asian art as well.
In this film, Akira Kurosawa showed stunning visual perception and artistic quality you don't see very often in U.S. films. It was one of those art films that allows you take a mental and emotional journey into the mind and life of Kurosawa.
These are 8 beautifully,carefully shot and written stories that will move you in ways you never thought possible (only if you allow it to.)
If you are ONLY into high-budget commercial American films that are only there to dull your brain and steal your money, then you might want to stay away from this powerful gem. But, I sincerely recommend anyone to give it a chance.
You're getting deep stories with abundant amount of heart and soul. If you're an open-minded individual, you won't regret checking it out. P.S.(If you love this movie then check out "RAISE THE RED LANTERN". It's not directed by Kurosawa, but it's also a powerful and thought-provoking Asian art film.)
Rating:
Summary: a stunning work, what cinema and film should be
Review: If you don't know Kurosawa's work, this film is an excellent start. If you like western movies, check out Kurosawa's samurai films. Who do you think brought the American western movies back to life? Ever seen the Magnificent Seven? You can thank Kurosawa for that. Not the film itself, just the story line and brilliant message. Dreams is an enchanting visual experience besides a commentary on war and humanity. Do yourself a favor and find out why western film makers have been stealing Kurosawa's chops for decades. Go to the original master source.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty but Boring
Review: This DVD is a series of vignettes.
Most often, the vignettes have the protaganist coming into contact with some natural or supernatural force or person.
There are a number of visually striking scenes, but often they are sandwiched between bombastic lectures on the dangers of technology and nuclear power. The scene of the 6 nuclear power plants all exploding at once was particularly funny. Frightened people running around in front of a flaming Mount Fuji backdrop that is so two dimensional and fake that it looked like something from a High-School film project. I expected to see a guy in a Mothra or Godzilla suit jump out of the flaming crater.
The "blizzard" sequence was similarly distracting in that the snow and terrain are so fake looking that it was hard to feel very worried about the poor mountaineers.
Many of the sets and effects were very reminiscent of the old Star Treck sets.
The dialogue and story lines have no subtlety at all. You simply get the impression that the director is taking advantage of the captive audience to introduce you to his world view. I'm all for movies with a deep message (and I share most of the views espoused in this movie), but there is no subtlety at all in this movie's presentation of it's agenda.
If you want to see a truly beautiful and engaging Japanese movie with a similar theme, watch Princess Mononoke. Dreams is simply a waste of time. It's a lecture on Kurosawa's pet philosophies, masquerading as a movie.
Rating:
Summary: Actually its more like 8 stars...
Review: if you have an imagination you will like this movie.
there are some beautiful fantastic settings here that really would fuel a dream. As you've probably read its a set of short stories, each one has a flare of fantasy and mystery, yes a dreamlike quality. GORGEOUS visuals and of course, beautiful stories.
I cant recommend this enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally Kurosawa movies coming out of limbo
Review: I finally got online after a while and went poking around and stumbled across this DVD just in an off chance. I was almost completely shocked and amazed to have found it listed. Finally some of Kurosawa's best movies are coming out of Limbo. I have read some recent reviews of this new DVD, and hope it isn't quite as bad as they say it is as far as the widescreen and picture quality go. But of course I am not going to get my hopes up. I have had this for many many years on VHS, and managed to track down a copy on Laserdisc, just before DVD's for anything ever hit the market. To just make it brief on the review of this movie in general, this is a brilliantly artistic series of short stories, by a super brilliant movie maker. Years ago I had fallen in love with many japanese movies, and Kurosawa has always been a favorite, and almost never disappointed (even my discriminating and picky taste). If you have never watched much foreign movies, try to remember to keep an open mind and follow along as best you can. And watch it again and again to try and catch more things. Some sequences you may not like a whole heck of a lot, but others will surely touch your heart. I only wish Kurosawa could have been encouraged to have made many more of these. The world has truly lost a great visionary of great japanese culture. To tell you a little of what has been going on with some Kurosawa movies, at least in what I have observed. As near as I can tell, their must have been some problems with Kurosawa's properties when he passed away a number of years ago. Soon after his passing this particular movie Dreams (among some others), disappeared from the market anywhere on VHS or Laserdisc. And for years after that nothing was heard or much known what was going on. Because of this instance, the VHS was off the market for quite a while, then sort of reappeared. But mostly as a Rental copy... Hopefully now that this has hit the market, it means more of his properties have been released for the general market, and if this DVD copy isn't the best thing around, we can maybe get together and encourage some places (such as Criterion) to look into getting a super great version put out some time in the near future. Oh, and one other thing. I would have easily given the rating a perfect 5 (which is what the movie itself deserves), but from the reviews of possibly being a bad copied DVD version, I felt I should knock it down to 4. Hopefully it isn't as bad, but like I said, if it is, hope springs eternal that someone else will get the rights to it and make a super great copy like this so deserves. TANOSHIMU!
Rating:
Summary: Visually stunning
Review: I saw this "movie", Yume, which is more like a collection of 8 shorter vignette type cinematic experiences based on the dreams of Kurosawa, some good some nightmarish, on the whim of a self-confessed 'intellectual' friend from Tokyo. The first time I went through the whole DVD with a very open mind but failed miserably to see the exalted direction or deep meaning that a Kurosawa movie is supposed to convey. Although I did notice the stunning visuals. However, I have seen this movie about 2-3 times since, and I truly believe this is one of the most beautiful films ever made. I guess Japanese "art" may be growing on me a bit because a lot of their writing and filmmaking would seem to a non-native as a little, er, pointless. This movie, too, is characterized by extraordinary photography, and long periods during which very little occurs. There is no plot as such - a series of eight situations (dreams) which are virtually tableaux. From time to time people do things like dance in a stylized Japanese manner for a very long time. A fare of this genre is perhaps not for everyone, definitely not for the masses because the masterly cinematography carries a lot of the story and Hollywood has brainwashed most of us into needing a lot of dialog or action. If that's what you're after, you won't find it here. But I am sure it will make you think about life. Among other things, it has commmentary on war, the environment and the fragility of the earth. Overall, a very effecting and in the end hopeful movie. My DVD was still in original Japanese (I had expected it to be a dubbed version) and what little dialog there is, is subtitled for the English speaking viewers. The imagery though is absolutely lyrical and transcends language or geopolitical borders! Needless to say, I am smitten with Kurosawa and have since seen IKIRU, RASHOMON and DERSU UZALA -- grand films by a master film artist. One parting word of advice -- this film needs to be seen in the letterbox format as it was intended.
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