Review of Ran (1985) by Richard V — 14 Jun 2009

Akira Kurosawa was known for his incredible samurai epics like The Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Rashomon. Ran turned out to be his final samurai film, final epic, and the finest film of his career.

Based on Shakespeare's "King Lear", the film centers around Lord Hidetora Ichimonji, an aging warlord who's vast land is to be split between his 3 sons Taro, Jiro, & Saburo. Hidetora wants to retire and live quietly in his twilight years while his sons run his kingdom. However greed and betrayal seem to be the central themes among the brothers as one is banished for voicing his opinion while the other two are left with plans to rid the kingdom of their aging father.

The interesting part of this film is that we see very few glimpses of the brutal warrior that Hidetora was for him to gain his power. Instead we see an old man with a bloody past who is forced to confront it piece by piece when he loses everything.

When you think of films like "Saving Private Ryan", "Braveheart" & "Gladiator", you can't help but think that Kurosawa did all that first with the incredible action scenes in this film.

The battle scene during the storming of Hidetora's castle is incredibly filmed. The haunting music and lack of sound from the gunfire makes this scene one of the most powerful scenes ever filmed. It leaves me speechless everytime.

What is truly amazing is that this film with no CGI and only one computer generated shot in the whole film, still looks better than the most advanced technology-created battle scene of any movie today.

Ran is one of my favorite films of all time and a must see for everyone.