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It was interesting to find this when I came back off my holiday because I was struck when looking at the Kagemusha disc that it not only had an expected commentary by Stephen Prince, but also the essay by Peter Grilli, who contributed the second commentary track on the Wellspring disc, so it had seemed to me that Criterion were at least trying to make a complementary release to the Wellspring one, perhaps trying to repay Wellspring's licensing to them with increasing their sales, but it is interesting to see that Criterion might be bringing out their own version sometime soon. I agree with previous posters - bring on A.K., my video copy is getting worn out!

This will be the 3rd time RAN is on dvd. I wished Criterion did this one
first, now i will have 3 versions of the movie!!

atcolomb wrote:This will be the 3rd time RAN is on dvd. I wished Criterion did this one, first, now i will have 3 versions of the movie!!

Might be my 4th! Was suckered into thinking Wellspring(aleak)'s 2nd version was actually acceptable (by certain critics who must like a constant shimmering mess of an image). They did make that job easier for some critics by having that first version around -- since it was one of the all-time hideous videos of the dvd era.

I'll probably hang on to the Australian release until the Criterion (with A.K. onboard?) is in my hands!

Correction.......I have 4 versions of the movie! I also have the widescreen
laserdisc version released by Fox. I wonder if the poor would want a
laserdisc? I think DVD Beaver did a comparison of the Ran dvd's whch
is very interesting!

atcolomb wrote: I think DVD Beaver did a comparison of the Ran dvd's whch is very interesting!

And proves that the fox version is the WORST.

The laserdisc version was not that bad. In fact it was a little better than the first dvd release made by Fox Lorber. The colors on the laserdisc were brighter and the sound was more alive than the dvd. The Wellspring dvd was a little bit better with the image and sound but there is room for improvement. Lets see what Criterion does with it!

Wasn't the LD fullscreen?? That automatically makes it the worst as far as I am concerned, but the REAL eye sore on LD was Kagemusha, a bleeding chroma mess!!

Fox released a full screen and a widescreen laserdisc version of Ran.
I bought the widescreen version from Big Emmas for $10 The picture
is a little soft but the colors are bright.

OK, guess I only remember the first one -- which brings down the total number of Ran videos I will end up owning to 5 instead of a possible 6!

Speaking of laserdiscs i have Kurosawa's "Dodes Ka Den" (1970) on
laserdisc from Criterion. I have not seen it yet but there are rumors
that Criterion will release it on dvd. I like comparing the laserdisc
and dvd's of Criterion to see how much better they improved on the
image and sound.

atcolomb wrote:Speaking of laserdiscs i have Kurosawa's "Dodes Ka Den" (1970) on laserdisc from Criterion. I have not seen it yet but there are rumors that Criterion will release it on dvd. I like comparing the laserdisc
and dvd's of Criterion to see how much better they improved on the image and sound.

There have been some people that they once bumped into an old catalog of Criterion (2001) and it was announced in the coming soon thread.

Supposedly Criterion will release it but who knows when.

There have been some people that they once bumped into an old catalog of Criterion (2001) and it was announced in the coming soon thread.

Supposedly Criterion will release it but who knows when.

I have that catalog in my desk. Has Cousin Cousine, Cocktail Molotav, Ivan's Childhood, Tales of Hoffman and Dodes Ka Den. This was a long while ago because if I remember correctly the spine numbers only go up to 103, The Lady Eve, in the book. I think the answer for all those films is that they were "postponed indefinitely"

cdnchris wrote:I have that catalog in my desk. Has Cousin Cousine, Cocktail Molotav, Ivan's Childhood, Tales of Hoffman and Dodes Ka Den. This was a long while ago because if I remember correctly the spine numbers only go up to 103, The Lady Eve, in the book. I think the answer for all those films is that they were "postponed indefinitely"

this also should be taken in to account with the recent catalog which had titles up to spine 300. Those titles are not definite yet, so i don't think threads should have been started yet...but i guess we will see.

Those that I mentioned, though, had yet to be assigned spine numbers. I'd assume that once a spine number is assigned it's definite (though I remember years ago when Criterion had Lady Eve on the site temporarily as 64, and Chihuly Over Venice as 52 or 54, but I'm sure things are different now and they'll only announce titles that are definite.)

Damn! No Stephen Prince commentary. I could have done away with my Masterworks DVD if they also grabbed that feature away from Wellspring.

Yes! They have included A.K. by Chris Marker. That makes two great documentaries on this one as well on Ugetsu. Can't wait to see the other extras.

I agree with Andre...If the commentary is not on the disc, it is a missed chance.....I have the UK 2-disc (beats the wellspring) with AK and a ripped version with Prince's commentary. I was hoping the Criterion would combine my two version into one definitive version

Ugetsu AND Ran. Boy my wallet's gonna be hurtin'.

I really hope that no mention of a commentary is just an omission. Would be great, for a definitive version, to include the two commentaries from the Wellspring edition. Is that even possible?

Release of the year. Period.

There's some tough competition, what with Ugetsu coming out as well. And who knows what December holds? Hopefully a restored Seven Samurai (and some Ozu)?

King of Kong wrote:Hopefully a restored Seven Samurai

Nah, if that was coming so soon, they probably would've put the current release out of print by now, as they did with Wages of Fear, Beauty and the Beast and M.

So it would be safe to assume it's the 'Masterworks' commentary wouldn't it?
I don't have the disc, so never heard it myself.

I've sent an inquiry to Mulvaney to confirm but I'd assume it's the same commentary. And if it is, I'm kind of glad they didn't include the second Wellspring commentary as it's pretty sparse and seems more like a bunch of "my brush with fame" stories which isn't something I much care for. Except for the time I met Batman which is an awesome story.

The second commentary of the wellspring disc is from the director of the documentary 'kurosawa' which is entertaining at best, nowhere near as poetic and thoughtful as AK nor as informative as "it's wonderful to create"...........I am thrilled to see the Prince's commentary and as of now it is a must buy for me (will look good at the shelf alongside my treasured Kagemusha!)