dwk wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2026 6:44 pm
I fail to see how I'm "moving goalposts." Having a main feature (Red Beard) being upscaled to 4K from a 2K master is something completely different than Criterion having to use SD masters for alternate cuts (the existence of the native HD bfi masters doesn't mean that those masters were available for Criterion to use.)
If somebody has a circumstance where it makes best sense for film originated stuff, that I would like to hear about.
re 2k DI's, you would have to redo the whole edit and redo or recomposite any vfx, its just not commerically feasible for a lot of films for even major studios to do that
Also, there are literally 100s of UHDs that are uspcales of 2k DIs that are susbtantial inprovements over the blu rays, from a combination of resolution bump, WCG and HDR/DV.
There are no such examples to date for 2k restoration upscales.
ps The Kill Bills are minimal improvements because the original DIs unfortunately contains a lot of processing and noise reduction to begin with, but plenty of more recent 2k DIs do not have such limitations.
Restored in 2K by Toho Co., Ltd and presented in High Definition
Newly recorded audio commentary by Japanese-Australian filmmaker Kenta McGrath
Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create – Red Beard (2002, 22 mins)
Alex Cox on Red Beard (2003, 14 mins): archive piece recorded for the BFI’s original DVD release
Toshiro Mifune in Conversation (1986, 61 mins, audio only): the legendary Japanese actor discusses his life and career in this interview with critic and writer David Shipman
Treasures from the BFI National Archive (1947-1952): a selection of public information films exploring advances in healthcare in rural districts – Mother (1947, 16 mins), Doctor's Dilemma (1948, 1 min), and District Nurse (1952, 27mins)
Original trailer
**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Hayley Scanlon, on the music and the film’s composer by Charlie Brigden, an essay on actor Yûzô Kayama by James-Masaki Ryan and writing on the short films by Yuriko Hamaguchi
Michael Kerpan wrote: Wed Mar 11, 2026 7:43 pm
I wonder when this will likely get released? I further wonder if there isd any possibility that Criterion will do a release any time soon?
or wait to do a UHD (box set?). It's rather annoying that one of Kurosawa's best gets such little attention (because it's not a genre film?).
Michael Kerpan wrote: Wed Mar 11, 2026 7:43 pm
I wonder when this will likely get released? I further wonder if there isd any possibility that Criterion will do a release any time soon?
Released on BFI Blu-ray, Apple TV and Amazon Prime on 11 May 2026
Akira Kurosawa’s last black and white film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award after its original release; and lead actor Toshiro Mifune won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. On 11 May the BFI brings this poignant period drama to Blu-ray for the first time in the UK. Special features include an audio commentary by filmmaker Kenta McGrath.
Akira Kurosawa’s intimate, episodic epic follows a socially ambitious young doctor (Yuzo Kayama) as he arrives at a rural clinic in 19th-century Japan to study alongside the commanding yet caring Dr Kyojio Niide, known as Red Beard (Toshiro Mifune). Kurosawa’s film is a poignant tale of humanity and the meaning of responsibility featuring a powerhouse performance by Mifune in his final collaboration with the director after making 16 films together, marking the end of one of the most remarkable relationships in cinema.
Special features • Restored in 2K and presented in High Definition
• Audio commentary by filmmaker Kenta McGrath
• Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create – Red Beard (2002, 22 mins): created as part of the Toho Masterworks series and featuring interviews with Kurosawa, actors Yoshio Tsuchiya and Kyoko Kagawa, art director Yoshiro Muraki and others
• Introduction by Alex Cox (2003, 14 mins)
• Toshiro Mifune in Conversation (1986, 61 mins, audio only): the actor discusses his life and career with critic and writer David Shipman, recorded at the NFT
• District Nurse (1952, 27 mins): a public information film by Sarah Erulkar made to promote Britain’s new National Health Service to overseas audiences – and to encourage applications to the nursing profession
• Doctor’s Dilemma (1948, 1 min): this public information trailer hammers home the urgency of citizens playing their part in time for the launch of the NHS
• Mother (1947, 16 mins): a social worker in India is the face of modern childbirth in this United Nations-sponsored educational film by Paul Zils
• Original theatrical trailer
• **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Hayley Scanlon, on the music and the film’s composer by Charlie Brigden, an essay on actor Yûzô Kayama by James-Masaki Ryan and writing on the short films by Yuriko Hamaguchi; plus, film credits and notes on the special features
Product details RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1564 / 15
Japan / 1965 / black and white / 186 minutes / Japanese language with English subtitles / original aspect ratio 2.55:1 BD50, 1080p, 23.98fps, DTS-HD MA 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)
MichaelB wrote: Wed Apr 15, 2026 10:33 am
• Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create – Red Beard (2002, 22 mins): created as part of the Toho Masterworks series and featuring interviews with Kurosawa, actors Yoshio Tsuchiya and Kyoko Kagawa, art director Yoshiro Muraki and others
IMDb doesn't include this as one of the 14 tv episodes & it's not on the Criterion barebones dvd (which is still in print). The bonus features handily beats the Criterion (& I'm sure the transfer will be an improvement too), however I can't say I'm nonetheless a bit disappointed that Kurosawa's best film doesn't get the 4K restoration treatment like all the others. Are there not sufficient suitable materials for one?
Just found an older post that lists more than the 14 episodes that IMDB identifies. Judging from the various time lengths, I'm guessing that there may have been 14 episodes for tv, but some episodes included more than one movie, but those episodes were broken up to be included as extras on individual dvd's, but not all got released.
Does anyone have a complete list of all the episodes of 'Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful To Create'?
There's a complete list with running times in Japanese here.
I noticed the 'Rashomon' reissue didn't have one. Does this mean there wasn't
an episode produced?
Rashomon does not have an episode because it was produced for Daiei rather then Toho.
The complete list is as follows:
Sugata Sanshiro
The Most Beautiful
Sugata Sanshiro Part II
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
No Regrets for Our Youth
One Wonderful Sunday
Drunken Angel
Stray Dog
Ikiru
Seven Samurai
I Live in Fear
Throne of Blood
The Lower Depths
The Hidden Fortress
The Bad Sleep Well
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
Red Beard
High and Low
Dodesukaden
Kagemusha
Unfortunately, they only seem to appear on the older DVD editions and haven't been ported over for the Japanese bluray releases.
Has the complete series ever been released? Hopefully with all the restoration releases we also get all episodes.
dwk wrote:Madman's site says Red Beard is an upscale of the 2K restoration.
An interesting development. Can't say we haven't warned them.
We have an important update regarding the planned 4K UHD release of RED BEARD within the collection.
Due to circumstances beyond our control, the RED BEARD 4K UHD version will no longer be going ahead and will instead be released as a Blu-ray in the collection.
The change is due to the origin and availability of the masters provided for the release and the elements required to produce a 4K UHD are no longer accessible. Moving to a Blu-ray ensures the film can still be presented at a high quality, using the best materials currently available.
We understand that format changes like this can be frustrating, particularly for collectors who plan their purchases around specific editions. These decisions are never made lightly and are guided by what is possible with the materials that are currently available to us.
There was absolutely no good reason to release it in UHD, given the substantial additional per-disc manufacturing costs, so that's a sensible decision.
I sympathise with them, though—sometimes at the time of the announcement you haven't yet got your hands on the actual materials and reproduce information in good faith, like the initial claim that Irreversible would be a 4K restoration. Indicator hadn't got into UHD back then, so that wasn't an issue, but during production it became clear, and was confirmed by Gaspar Noé, that the film was essentially a digital work finished in 2K, and there was no 4K master (and so any such thing would be an upscale).
The issue with Red Beard though was that no 4k master seem to have ever been created. I don't know what Madman thought they could sell, but from the outside, it looks like they thought they could upsell a 2k master upscaled to UHD, but had to drop it for whatever reason.
