Kurosawa's Ran (new 4K restoration)

I am indeed in Dallas. However I have a commitment on Sunday night, else I would be there! Thanks for the heads up.

 

Sam, this is aimed at you. Here is a link to Amazon Germany: Ran [Blu-ray] [Special Edition]: Amazon.de: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Akira Kurosawa: DVD & Blu-ray

This is the German issue (note front of cover), a two-blu-ray set featuring the 4K restoration. According to the listing, it does have English subtitles. Note, however, that it is region B/2 (I will either play it on my computer, but will probably upgrade to Oppo and add the "region free" blu-ray modification).

Lastly, the total cost of the item plus shipping to the U.S. was $12.61. Since we still don't have a Region 1 release, I am tired of waiting, and the price is a killer. Just for your consideration . . .
I have no idea how difficult it will be to navigate German menus. But I'm not worried (I used to read German, had to for graduate school many years ago).

 

So you ordered one?

I have a suspicion that we could see a real 4K UHD release of this. Which makes jumping on a non-Region-A version a bit tougher for me.

 

Yes, I ordered one. I'm not sure the movie is popular enough to justify a 4K UHD; though it might be more a licensing issue, they didn't even bother to release a 4K restoration blu-ray for the U.S. (Region A). In contrast, for the U.S. they did release both a new blu-ray and 4K UHD versions of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but at the same time. Who's knows?

 

I can report on Ran blu-ray, based on a new 4K restoration, which I ordered from Germany (Region B/2 according to Amazon.de web site). I tried to play it on the blu-ray player in my computer, which I left set to "Region B" intentionally (I refuse to pay to play Cyberlink for blu-ray capability). Well, it won't play it. This is a first, but Cyberlink is always upgrading their software, so I may be locked out. Their model is continuous slavery, paying ever time their is a software upgrade. No thanks.

So I inserted it in my North American blu-ray player, a Panny DMP-BD65. (It is not hackable, to the best of my knowledge, b/c I searched for codes many years ago, in a land far away). Guess what. The movies plays. I am able to select "menu", choose United Kingdom, select Japanese for the language (German Sprachen), and select English subtitles. (I'm not sure about the 2nd blu-ray disc, but I don't see why it would be different.)

I would say the blu-ray looked "very good". I would agree with DVDBeaver, and it ain't gonna look any better, and is well worth the upgrade: RAN Blu-ray - Tatsuya Nakadai

For about $12.51, I think it's a bargain and, in the words of The Who, perhaps ". . . the best I ever had."

 

It makes me feel old to read about restorations of films I saw first-run in the theater.

 

Wanted to throw my 2 cents in on the original Studio Canal Blu-ray. I don't think it's bad at all and gets way too much flack for not being perfect.

Switching back and forth simultaneously between this release and the Criterion DVD, I'd take the SC Blu-ray any day. For a movie that is (mostly) all about the colors, they are wonderful on the SC Blu-ray. They are very good on the Criterion DVD but seem a bit over-saturated to me...and slightly too warm. It's tough to know what Kurosawa's intent was when it comes to the color palette but I really like the SC Blu-ray. The added detail is very noticeable as well and the DVD pales in comparison. There is some edge enhancement occasionally but unless you're looking for it, I don't think it's overly noticeable.

I know many are sold on the new 4k SC Blu-ray but from the images I've seen, I think that teal color looks horrible is all wrong. I also think the original Blu-ray looks plenty film-like. I'm sure the new one looks even more so (based on what I've read) but I'm not interested if that teal sheen is all over the image.

Anyway, just wanted to state that every review I've read about the original Blu-ray seems way too harsh now that I've viewed said disc. Is it perfect? No, but it looks pretty decent and is an improvement over the Criterion DVD IMO. I won't get rid of that DVD (because of all the supplements anf the fact that it's OOP) but I doubt I'll watch the feature on it much.

 

Not his best IMO but still definitely worth seeing.
Here's a case too where I prefer the earlier B&W films.