*Let me preface this by stating that I am not necessarily a Kurosawa fan (please be nice!)*. I am intrigued by the man's work, but live in South-Africa. It is a lengthy and expensive process ordering DVD's from the United States. "Throne of Blood" and "Ran" are Kurosawa's attempts ay Shakespeare. I cannot afford to buy both. Which one d'y'all recommend?
shareI recommend both. But as you can only get one, maybe you should try a lucky dip and just go for one of them. I own both on DVD, but purchased Throne Of Blood first because I wanted to look at his first adaptation of Shakespeare. Although I really enjoy both, I slightly prefer Throne Of Blood to Ran. Therefore you can't go wrong with either.
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I'd say definetly Throne Of Blood.
It's a far superior film, and easily one of Toshiro Mifune's absolute best preformances.
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Personally I found Ran a little ordinary. Throne of Blood is fantastic. Go for throne of blood
I personally like Ran more. Most likely you could go either way and be happy. It's obvious people are split, so I don't think it makes a big difference, in general.
shareI would say 'Ran'. To me, 'Throne of Blood' is impressive. 'Ran' is stunning.
shareRan is one of the greatest films of all time.
its ranked number 80 on they shoot pictures dont they, which ranks all the movies based on rankings from critics.
seven samurai is ranked 6th, and rashomon 12.
Show me Potato Salad!
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You've probably already made your choice, but I would choose Throne of Blood as well.
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Do you have IFC? If you do, then you should check it out Saturday mornings at 7 am. They do Samurai Saturdays. I have gotten Rashomon, Throne of Blood and the Samurai Trilogy there. they have also shown Ran, but I already have it on DVD. They are very different, there were 28 years between films.Ran has no Mifune, and he is the reason to watch many Kurosawa films. Ran is excellent, but the two films are extremely difficult to compare. You know Orson Wellesis probably one of the USA's greatest contributions to cinema, but it would be hard to compare Citizen Kane with Transformers: The Movie. I know it is a bad comparison, but you get the idea.I love them both, but they are so different. Also, check out Stray Dog if you ever get a chance. It's a police drama from Kurosawa.
shareI prefer RAN
shareAs stated before both are pieces of art, but even Kurosawa considered Ran the culmination of his work, and a lot of people, myself included, consider it his second best film. If for no other reason than its expansive scope, powerful drama, and extensive battle scenes.
Then I would definately hook up with Throne of Blood, considered the best Shakesphere to screen adaptation ever, and starring Toshiro Mifune; definately a major work of art.
But if you are just starting out on Kurosawa and can only get one..I suggest Ran
As mentioned above Throne Of Blood is much older AND Mifune is in it
so its very difficult to compare the two. I Loved throne of Blood and it is a more accurate adaptation of shakespeares work. throne of blood!
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"When the f_ck is someone going to tell IFC to stop running these damn Zatoichi films over and over again and play something different?"
I couldn't agree more. I know he's popular in Japan. But seeing the blind swordsman once is seeing him a million times.
Throne of Blood--the choice is VERY easy for me. It's perhaps one of his greatest films period--much better than Ran.
TTFN
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I haven't seen Ran yet, don't ask me why, but I strongly recommend Throne of Blood, it is without a doubt one of my favorite movies of all time.
"One Shot"