Rating: 
Summary: The Mastery of Kurosawa!!!
Review: I am, just like 50 others that have strenuously written customer reviews for this classic Kurosawa Akira masterpiece, from Nagoya International School. My class has worked on Shakespeare's MacBeth, and has watched four different versions of the play on video. It was my favorite. Of the four, this was the only version in which the setting was completely removed from the original (Scotland) setting and was in Japan. "Japan? MacBeth?" you might think. Even though a lot of the valuable Shakespearian English quotes have inevitably been replaced by those that are Japanese, the main themes of loyalties and ambitions are nevertheless shown very well. They are not necessarily shown in a similar fashion, but they are shown. You will probably know what I mean if you watch the movie. It is suprising; Japan is on the opposite side of the world if you are in Scotland. But the unique feudal system of Japan, with its own distinct classes of nobility, allow the main storyline of MacBeth to flow smoothly in a pre-Tokugawa era Japanese setting. And don't forget: Mr. Kurosawa created this classic film. He does not remain in filmmaking history for nothing. From interesting camera angles (looking up at the characters from the dirt?) to rapidly changing, exciting horse-riding scenes, Kurosawa makes the black and white characters come alive in times of tension. Just remember: if you have no good movies around and you have nothing to do, and you suddenly stumble upon The Throne of Blood, pick it up and watch it. Yes, its 42 years old. But does it really make a difference if its interesting?
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Summary: The Decree of a Known Future¿
Review: Shakespeare's 'MacBeth' is made into Japanese film history through Kurosawa's magical touch. The two warlords Washizu (Toshirô Mifune) and Miki are loyal to their ruler and on their way to display their loyalty they get lost in the Cobweb Forest. Bewildered and lost in the impenetrable forest they follow the laughter of an evil spirit that foretells the future of the two men. When the two men exit the woods they are promoted by their leader and once at home Washizu tells his wife about the encounter with the evil spirit. His gritty wife sways Washizu to take action and help the prophesy fulfill itself. Throne of Blood is a remarkable tragedy that keeps the audience gasping for air as greed, betrayal, guilt, and punishment are taking form on the screen.
Rating: 
Summary: Throne of Boredom
Review: I have currently done extensive studies of Shakespeare's Macbeth. I watched Kurosawa's movie Throne of Blood and was told to compare the two. I tried to note the differences and the similarities. I found very few similarities in the two. I think that Throne of Blood is an ok movie, don't get me wrong, but I felt that it was no comparison to Macbeth.
Throne of Blood has a story line that has many differences to the story line of Macbeth. I understand that many of the happenings in Scotland would never happen in Japan, but there could have been more similarities in the movie. A major part of chilling factors about Macbeth is that the three witches just pop up and are very creepy, but the one witch in Throne of Blood is kind of nice looking and didn't seem very eerie to me; I felt that Kurosawa could have done much more to give the witch a more of a scary feeling. Another difference that could have been added to the movie to make it more like Macbeth was my favorite scene when the door keeper is drunk and has to open the door, and it is a very comedic scene, yet there was no trace of it in Throne of Blood, at this difference I was very disappointed. Also, Kurosawa cut out a very important character in Macbeth! Throughout the whole movie I was wonder, "HEY! Where is Mac duff?" if you didn't notice or didn't find it a big difference throughout the movie, I don't think you watched the same movie! By cutting out Macbeth it took out much of the storyline, there was not a bit of the "Fear Mac duff" or "Not of Women Born." I felt that this was a critical part of Macbeth, and without that there was not much of a need for the witch.
There were a few similarities that I noticed throughout the movie, although they were hard to spot. The ending was similar in ways, actually I thought the ending in Throne of Blood was very creative and actually a little more entertaining then the ending in Macbeth. I have to admit if I had watched these two different movies without the help of a teacher, I would have never guessed that Throne of Blood and Macbeth had any similarities; I might have just thought the ending was a coincidence.
I definitely didn't find Throne of Blood anything comparable to Macbeth. I feel that Kurosawa butchered Macbeth in so many ways that it wasn't the same story at all. I strongly suggest that people just skip wasting there time watching Throne of Blood and just watch Macbeth.
Rating:
Summary: A review of the film
Review: "Throne of Blood" was my first introduction to Kurosawa. To sum things up in a couple words, I'd say: Give me more! I've never been into old movies, but one cannot like this movie, and being a Shakespeare fan helps even more, as it does the play justice. Not completely accurate, but close to perfection on the silver screen.Like most of Kurosawas films, this stars Toshiro Mifune. Some say that he is the equivilant of harrison Ford in America. I dissagree. He's better than Ford. He can fit any roll, and his role as a Samurai given his destinee by a witch is very touching, and there are many moments in the movie that you soon won't forget. I strongly recommend any film by Kurosawa, especially Ikiru. Kurosawa is a film-God and can change the way you look at life in just a couple hours.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is a fascinating film. This is not really, as commonly assumed, a Japanese version of MacBeth. Kurosawa and his co-workers used the plot of MacBeth as a point of departure to make a superb film about ambition and betrayal. Set in Medieval Japan during a period of constant turmoil, Throne of Blood uses much of the plot of MacBeth. There is no effort to use the great language of Shakespeare, rather Kurosawa and his team reimagined MacBeth in a very specific Japanese context. To substitute for the power and poetry of Shakespeare's writing, Kurosawa uses his distinctive and striking visual style and acting techniques borrowed from Noh theatre. Use of the latter is particularly appropriate as Noh first became popular and matured as an art form during this period of Japanese history. Kurosawa also gives this film a undercurrent of Buddhist disdain for superficial aspects of life. This film is visually striking, gripping in plot, and features wonderful performances, particularly those of Toshiro Mifune and Izusu Yamada as the MacBeth and Lady MacBeth equivalents. One of Kurosawa's best films.
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Summary: Somethings are missing.
Review: No comment. All I can say it........ it could have been better.
Rating:
Summary: Somethings are missing.
Review: I will rather watch the original version of Macbeth than this film. Washizu is such a bad actor and I could do better than him. Only if I could speak Japanese.
Rating: 
Summary: Throne of Blood, a Japanese Allusion of Macbeth?
Review: I am a junior at Nagoya International School who has just recently finished a term studying Macbeth in English class. After an intense submersion in the study of Macbeth, my fellow classmates and I were able to watch Kurosawa's altered version of Macbeth--Throne of Blood. Having carefully gone word-for-word through Shakespeare's script of Macbeth, and having watched a variety of different films of "Macbeth"--(RSC, BBC, and Polanski's versions) with the original Shakespearean dialect, I was a bit skeptical about Kurosawa's version before viewing it. I assumed that the very different Japanese language would be a barrier to understanding and fully appreciating the complexity of Macbeth, as Shakespeare's play is wholly built on the richness of the Shakespearean language. However, by reading along the subtitles, one realizes that the Japanese language on its own, is a very figurative language--almost poetic, and it serves as a complement to this particular production. Also, I enjoyed the way Kurosawa substitutes the Japanese feudal hierarchy (samurai, lords, etc.) for the Scottish feudal hierarchy used by Shakespeare in Macbeth. The portrayal of traditional Japanese props such as the "bukeyashiki" (large wooden houses) in this production's cinematography is excellent and perhaps its only close comparison would be Polanski's version of "Macbeth" as it is filmed as if in "Macbeth's" original time and place of Northern Europe. The RSC's "on-stage-in-a-theater" version lacks spectacular technical effects (as in the BBC's motion picture) as well as color as the all the actors and actresses perform against a bleak, black fading stage dressed in black clothing. The absense color serves to tune people's senses into the exquisiteness of the language. In this sense, Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood" is similar to RSC's production. It's use of black and white cinematography effectively conveys a sense of the traditional and impels people to look beyond the elegant simplicity of the Japanese interpretation. I was very impressed with the artistic elements in "Throne of Blood." The traditional Japanese setting, costumes and language merge to produce a beautiful classic masterpiece.
The important themes in Shakespeare's original Macbeth are not lost in this production. To the contrary, the cultural adaptations serve to strengthen this production as it provides a completely different atmosphere and depiction of characters, but at the same time, naturally enables the main themes of honor, gaining power, loyalty and ambition to be transmitted successfully. The cultural interpretation of Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's relationship is particularly interesting to note, as compared to the other Macbeth productions done in English. In "Throne of Blood", Lady Macbeth (named Asaji) is characterized as a demanding, bossy, behind-the-walls authoritative woman. Macbeth (Washizu) and Lady Macbeth's (Asaji) relationship is very reserved and is portrayed as if almost "obligatory." You cannot sense any passion between the two, but a strong sense of loyalty. This contrasts the 'hot and steamy,' affectionate relationship displayed between the two in the English versions of the Macbeth films. Most of the twists and unexpected additions of this production are interesting supplements; however, the significant deletion of the character Macduff and the Weird Sister's warnings to Macbeth are a shame! It is hard to imagine a Macbeth production without Macduff! At any rate, Kurosawa manages to produce a wonderfully Japanese take on Shakespeare's Macbeth and succeeds in showing that themes dealing with human nature are universal. These are themes we can all understand. Kurosawa's is a very good production indeed!
Rating: 
Summary: Shakespearean SAMURAIS
Review: I am a student at Nagoya International School and recently in my english literature class, we studied the great play of Macbeth, written by Shakespeare. After watching all the english versions of this play, our class watched the Japanese version produced by Kurosawa. I suppose Kurosawa has picked up the basic ideas and points thoroughly and has modified the play to suit the time period of ancietn Japan. Although Japanese is a completely different language and viewers may think that the same message would not be passed on, however Kurosawa resolves this problem through various visual techniques and minimizes the language in the play. In order to boost up the dark and evil atmosphere, Kurosawa continuously applies 'effects' such as fog, haze, lightning, rain, spooky music, etc. The most significant scene in the play was how the witches were presented as a 'mononoke'(monster) spinning a wheal that indicates evil fate (same affect with witches), instead of three wicked women. As we can see Kurosawa did not leave out any details that needed modifications. The only major bit that Kurosawa left out was Macduff's existence; he never appeared in this version, thus there was only one prophecy for washizu (Macbeth) to be aware of. And finally, I'd like to point out the relationship between Washizu (Macbeth) and Asaji(L. Macbeth). In the original Shakespearean version, we see passion and love between them, but as the Japanese culture do not show much passion nor love through action, in this movie there are no physical attraction observed. However, the ambition of Asaji to achieve the 'goal' probably is the most distinctive than any other versions of "Macbeth".
Rating:
Summary: From King to Tono
Review: The black and white movie, "Throne of Blood" is a successful remake of Shakespeare$B!G(Bs Macbeth. Instead of showing literal bloodiness as Polanski did, Kurosawa is able to express blood without using color. Washizu (Macbeth), with his violent character, is not afraid of murder. The bloodiness within Kurosawa$B!G(Bs movie is not visually seen but the cruelness of the couple, Washizu and Asaji (Lady Macbeth) reflects bloodiness. The audience is able to imagine the blood instead of seeing it. Many of the characters experience tragic deaths, including Washizu. However, Kurosawa also adopts Shakespeare$B!G(Bs technique to lighten up the scenes. Similar to Polanski$B!G(Bs version, torches deliver light to scenes. Polanski eliminates light in scenes with the three witches to emphasize darkness, but Kurosawa includes light in the scenes where Mononoke (the witch) takes part. Mononoke sits in unusual light in a deep dark forest. Mononoke still remains a mystery after viewing the film, yet the significance of the witches in Macbeth is reemphasized. Both Shakespeare and Kurosawa$B!G(Bs techniques interact to build the scenes of $B!H(BThrone of Blood.$B!I(B Though a personal view, I believe that Kurosawa$B!G(Bs version of the famous play is somewhat more successful in achieving Shakespeare$B!G(Bs intentions than Polanski$B!G(Bs.
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