Kurosawa’s Ran on Blu-ray!

Originally, the wonderful Criterion Collection had announced that their initial wave of Blu-rays would have had Akira Kurosawa‘s masterpiece Ran in the mix, yet they lost the rights. Even the fantastic 2-disc set from them is out-of-print. Many found this odd and sad, as Criterion had all but released a few of his films in superior transfers and extras.

Many thought now Ran would be lost in limbo…

Until today, when Lionsgate announced they were releasing a few films from the StudioCanal library. What this means is that Ran will be headed to Blu-ray from Lionsgate Films on February 16th, under this “StudioCanal Collection” line. All titles will featuring a new 1080p transfer, a multitude of DTS-Master audio tracks, and a collectible 20 page booklet. Here’s the extras for Ran:

-”A.K.” a feature length documentary on the making of the epic film

-”Akira Kurosawa: The Epic and the Intimate”: a documentary on the director

-”The Samurai”: Look at the art of the samurai

-”Art of the Samurai”: Interview with a Japanese expert of samurai combat styles

- an essay and more!

Looking at my 2-disc Criterion of the film, the last two mentioned extras look to be new, as the first two were ported over. While Criterion isn’t releasing this masterful film, it looks on paper, to be a great release.  We shall see though.

Source: Blu-ray

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