The films of Akira Kurosawa (1 Viewer)

[Kirk Tsai]

I have recently began to start watching more of Kurosawa's films, but could not find many on our beloved DVD format. These are the films I know on DVD: (or at least, region one):
Seven Samuri CC
Yojimbo CC
Sanjuro CC
High & Low CC
The Hidden Fortress CC
Rashomon CC (upcoming)
Dersu Uzala
Ran
Madadayo
So I guess my question contains three parts. First, are there more on DVD, and if so, how is the quality? Second, for those unreleased in region one, who controls the rights and are there plans to release them? And finally, is it possible for films like Dersu Uzala or some of the Criterion DVDs to have new and improved editions? I am aware that there has been several threads on the potential (or lack of) re-release of Ran, but I have yet to read more about the other films of this great master. Any info is welcomed.

 

[Brook K]

That's it right now, there are two others that I know of on the way:
Do-Des-Ka-Den Criterion
New version of Dersu Uzala from Ruscico. Should be anamorphic, 5.1, and have extras in a 2 disc set. This is supposed to be out any day now.
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"It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen"
S&S Challenge: 72 ...24
DVD BEAVER

My DVD Collection

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Dersu Uzala getting a two disc set? Wow, that's extremely good news. I am unfamiliar with the company Ruscico, are they a good company for DVDs?
I just read in the "Criterion is doing George Washington" thread that Ikiru will also be a future release.

 

[RAF]

I am hoping that Dreams makes it to DVD. It is a beautiful LD!
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RAF
[Demented Video Dude since 1997]
[Computer Maven since 1956]
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[Jussi Tarvainen]

I am unfamiliar with the company Ruscico, are they a good company for DVDs?

RusCiCo stands for the Russian Cinema Council; here 's their official website. They've put out some pretty darn good DVDs lately.

 

[MikeM]

I remember hearing a rumor that there may be a Criterion version of Ikiru sometime in the future. I'd really like to get my hands on that one as it's one of my favorite Kurosawa films.
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[Kirk Tsai]

Thanks for the link Jussi.
Anyone else know who controls the rights to his unreleased films such as Throne of Blood?

 

[SteveGon]

Stop! You guys are making me drool! A two-disc version of Dersu Uzala? I didn't pick up the other version because I'd heard it was sub-par. Great to know a better version is coming! Can't wait for the CC Rashomon, either. Hopefully, CC will do Ikiru, too! I'd also like to see Dreams, Stray Dog, Throne of Blood, The Bad Sleep Well, Kagemusha, Rhapsody in August, and a new, better version of Ran. Whew!
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He thought on homeland, the big timber, the air thin and chill all the year long. Tulip poplars so big through the trunk they put you in mind of locomotives set on end. He thought of getting home and building him a cabin on Cold Mountain so high that not a soul but the nighthawks passing across the clouds in autumn could hear his sad cry. Of living a life so quiet he would not need ears. And if Ada would go with him, there might be the hope, so far off in the distance he did not even really see it, that in time his despair might be honed off to a point so fine and thin that it would be nearly the same as vanishing.
-- Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain

 

[soop.spoon]

Robert... do you know who produced the LD of Dreams? I've heard Warner owns it.

 

[Brook K]

Throne of Blood is in the Janus Films Collection so it should get an eventual Criterion release.
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"It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen"
S&S Challenge: 72 ...24
DVD BEAVER

My DVD Collection

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I have the Dreams letterboxed laserdisc, and it is most definitely from Warner.
I bought it half-priced at a comic book store that ordered it by accident!

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

Kirk,
There are numerous Region 0 Hong Kong releases of most of Kurosawa's films, distributed by (I think) Mei Ah. I bought many of these off of Ebay back in 1999. But BEWARE! The quality of these discs is trulypitiful (for DVD, that is). They look like mediocre VHS transfers. Furthermore, the English subtitles read like 2nd-generation Ebonics.
I bought the HK Rashomon in 1999 with no other release in site. Now that I know a Criterion release is in the pipeline, I realize I should have waited....
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If you have to get your DVDs on the street date, buy them in person at Best Buy or Costco. If you have to get your DVDs at the lowest bargain price available, order them online. Pick one and shut the fuck up.
- DVD Freaks at The Lard Biscuit

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Matthew, thanks for the info/warning. I suspected there were other region or region 0 releases of them, but I also have some not-so-good-looking Mei Ah discs, so I understand where you are coming from.

 

[Peter Yee]

I'm holding out for Kagemusha. The old P&S VHS tape I had is really showing its age.
-Peter

 

[Carl C]

I agree with Matthew that the Region-Free Akira Kurosawa discs from Mei Ah are very subpar in quality.
However, they're quite inexpensive and I've found that it's probably a good idea to pick up a few of the more "obscure" AK titles (like "Stray Dog", some his earlier work, etc) that won't be out on Region 1 DVD anytime soon, if ever. Besides, they can be had for under $20 each. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Kirk Tsai]

Bringing this back up since I just saw Kagemusha, which completely floored me, definitly one of my favorites now.

Who owns the rights to the movie, Toho or Fox?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Fox has Kagemusha. Fox! PLEASE SOON!

 

[Steve_Ch]

>>Fox has Kagemusha. Fox! PLEASE SOON!

 

[Graeme Clark]

From the recent Criterion Chat:

-Gacole- I have recently gotten into DVD's and have acquired some Criterion

and all of your Kurosawa, what is on the table for this year, Throne of Blood?

any chance of Ran? and what is the release date for Rashomon Thanks, looking

forward to exploring more of your titles!

-JonMulvaney- RAN currently belongs to another company. We have several

Kurosawa titles tentatively on the 2002 schedule, including RASHOMON.

No set release dates for them yet, though. Keep an eye on our website for

more announcements. We love Kurosawa here.

-PeterBecker- The new Rashomon master has taken more time than we'd hoped.

The rest of the release is more or less complete. As for more Kurosawa, there is a

great deal of chatter about Red Beard and Ikiru, in addition to Dodeskaden which

has been announced and pushed for too long...

and

-TimFleming- Greetings and salivations... I am wondering now that you have

completed Peter Weir's Last Wave, are there any plans for "The Cars That Ate Paris"

(a far superior film imho). Additionally, is there any chance that you might be able

to get your hands on John Huston's "Wise Blood" (currently in the possession

of New Line I believe) and Kurosawa's "Dreams"?

-JonMulvaney- DREAMS is one of our most-requested titles. We'd love

to release it, but we don't hold the rights.

 

[Robb Hudspeth]

Two years later, is there any new word on Throne of Blood? It's been #1 on my must have list since I saw it in film school in 1988.