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2003: The year of Kurosawa (1 Viewer)

Matt_P

Second Unit
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Sep 19, 2000
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Greetings, all.
Some great news for my fellow Akira Kurosawa fans from http://www.thedigitalbits.com
"Additionally, we have it on good authority that a several classic Akira Kurosawa films will arrive on DVD in 2003. Kagemusha from Fox, Dreams from Warner Bros (watch for an announcement soon) and MGM's Rhapsody in August. The good folks at Criterion are also working on a number of new Kurosawa DVDs as well, including Dodes'ka-den, for next year. Expect Wellspring's new restoration of Ran to finally hit DVD (apart from the Amazon-only collection) in 2003."
Aside from Ran, I haven't heard anything solid about the rest of these releases. All this, along with Ikiru from Criterion in 2003!!!!!!!
I can't wait!
 

SteveGon

Senior HTF Member
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Dec 11, 2000
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Steve Gonzales
This is already being discussed in a thread on the Criterion Ikiru release, but such great news is worth repeating! :) :emoji_thumbsup:
I'm not overly fond of Dodes'ka-den, but I'll snap up those other titles in a friggin' heartbeat. Of course, we still need to see releases of the classics Stray Dog and Throne of Blood.
 

Jeff Wilson

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 17, 2001
Messages
153
Considering the Kurosawa/Mifune retrospective making way through the country, I would expect all of those films to eventually come out from company or another. Also, virtually all of Kurosawa's films are coming out in Japan on DVD, so that hopefully bodes well for good versions to be released here also.
 

Jeff Kleist

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Dec 4, 1999
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Just FYI: Dreams comes out on 12/21 in Japan with super snazzy packaging and english subtitles at about $25 US

Kagemusha can be had now from R3 with English subs as well Japan is getting the full 179min cut next spring, but I'm sure the US will be the 159min version

Both are anamorphic
 

Scott Leopold

Supporting Actor
Joined
Nov 21, 2001
Messages
711
I was thrilled when I read this yesterday. I'll be getting all of these. I'd love to see Criterion release Stray Dog eventually. It's one of my favorites, but there's a great deal of room for improvement over the Mei-Ah disc.
 

Rodon

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 4, 2002
Messages
290
I just bought the Criterion Akira Kurosawa Four Samurai set today. Bought it at Borders and had them match the $74.99 Borders online price. Not sure how good a deal this was but four criterions for $81 with tax seemed pretty good.

I have not watched them and do not know much about them or the other sets. Any good links to info?
 

Steve Kramzer

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 2, 2001
Messages
114
Dvdplanet has Akira Kurosawa's Dreams up for preorder at 3/18/03 !!! Here is hoping this is for real and we get confirmation from some dvd news sites soon.
 

RexW

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Apr 10, 2002
Messages
80
Can't wait to pick up my copy of Dreams in about a month here in Japan.

Didn't know about Kagemusha being released here next year. That's one I'm definately looking forward to.
 

SteveGon

Senior HTF Member
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Steve Gonzales
Dvdplanet has Akira Kurosawa's Dreams up for preorder at 3/18/03 !!! Here is hoping this is for real and we get confirmation from some dvd news sites soon.
I hope the specs DVDPlanet has listed are incorrect: they have the AR of Dreams as being 1.85:1 which is incorrect. My VHS copy is letterboxed at 2.35:1. The IMDB lists the latter as being the proper AR as well.
 

Jeff Kleist

Senior HTF Member
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Dec 4, 1999
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The Japanese disc is listed as 1.85:1, I'm guessing it's a typo. It should be noted that Dreams was shot Super35, and that Kurosawa's prefered video ratio is closer to 2:1
 

SteveGon

Senior HTF Member
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Steve Gonzales
It should be noted that Dreams was shot Super35, and that Kurosawa's prefered video ratio is closer to 2:1
Well, since Kurosawa doesn't any say in this matter, I wish they would just present Dreams in its theatrical AR on the upcoming release. I first saw (and fell in love with) the film in 2.35:1 and that's how I'd prefer to see it on DVD.
 

Jeff Kleist

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 4, 1999
Messages
11,266
Why don't we all wait and see if the J disc is mismarked or not before we start bitching? The US DVD will be identical except that it's in a snapper and not the snazzy keepcase and slipcover Japanese packaging
 

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