Rating: 
Summary: Don't underestimate Madadayo
Review: Outstanding! I new a remastered version of Ran was a must have, but I did not expect to enjoy Madadayo as much as I did. While I agree the packaging does not protect the disks well, I got lucky and had no damage. I wonder how they will handle this issue if they truly only made 5,000?
Rating: 
Summary: Still a long way from satisfactory
Review: This just to voice my opinion on the new RAN transfer. While I agree it is an improvement over the atrocious Fox Lorber edition (which is not that great an achievement considering the Fox Lorber DVD was one of the worst products in the history of home entertainment), this tranfer is still a long way from doing this masterpiece justice. Yes, the colors are vivid but the sharpness and definition are exceptionally poor and the heavy edge enhancement (straight from hell!) doesn't make it any better. I have seen transfers of movies that are some 30 or 40 years older than RAN but look far better. The problem becomes very obvious when one watches this DVD via progressive component output on a large screen - a video tape was used as a master (and a poor one at that). The only way to restore such an important movie properly and thereby finally showing Mr. Kurosawa the respect he deserves would have been to make a direct digital transfer off an original film negative, before applying filters or any enhancements. Why this opportunity was (again) wasted here escapes me totally and angers me very much. Another problem seems to be the excessive use of noise reduction on the video, which is in part responsible for the poor definition of the transfer. For my part, I would much sooner live with a bit of visible film grain and the odd dust speckle than to have a such a "saucy" soft picture without much "bite" and detail. There is no excuse for posting such an objectively false statement. And yes, the packaging is a liability - my DVDs must have been bobbing about in there all the way across the Atlantic and looked accordingly. Shocking. I would have gladly payed twice the price if they had kept all the cards and posters and instead got the most important thing right: the image quality of RAN. Like this, I'm very disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Kurosawa done right!
Review: This set is fantastic. Sadly, mine came defective (Madadayo slipped off it's holder and bruised itself). But that's another matter...Sure, the transfers for Kurosawa (the documentary) and Madadayo are the same as the individual releases, but there wasn't too much to fix there. Excellent. Watched them both yesterday. Though the latter certainly does not compare to Kurosawa's prior films it is a touching story with plenty of pearls of wisdom. THe documentary is essential for any Kurosawa fan. And I agree with a prior reviewer of the doc (sad to see Hidden Fortress omitted). Great to see Clint Eastwood watching Yojimbo on a mini DVD player somewhere down in Monterey and reflecting on Kurosawa's influence. The documentary does a great job juxtaposing Seven Samurai and Yojimbo with the western classics that reworked them. Onto Ran: check out the Restoration demo. Nice. Though this new master is not perfect either the detail comes through beautifully. The colors as well, though there's a strange luminosity to it that may or may not have been intended. But this is definitely a must-have. Epic film; up there with Seven Samurai. I haven't had a chance to check out more than a few minutes of the two included commentaries but they will most likely enhance this fine update. Also includes lengthy production notes and a nice 5.1 soundtrack. Very pleased with this. The box itself is nice, though the soji is a little cheesy. Great poster fit for framing. Beautiful box with the edition number stamped into the forward label. I would like to see more great autures addressed this way? Fellini next? A must-have. You won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted this set - but not if the DVDs are floating around
Review: What a shame that like the recent E.T. debacle, bad packaging is ruining customer enjoyment of what should have been a great title. Many of us would not have minded paying the extra to get an early copy of the new remastering of "Ran." (That disc is set to be released on its own next year). But hearing the sad stories of how discs were broken out of their spindles and damaged in shipping from so many folks, changed my mind. It is the same problem I've seen on many CD's, DVDs and DVD Audio discs.
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