3/5 A mixed bag from the master
  by One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:

Ran's gorgeous photography and impressive first hour may be just enough to recommend it despite the fact that its King Lear-meets-Japanese-folk-legend plot doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, the closing battle scenes aren't staged very well (men on horses ride toward the enemy, men get shot, men fall off horses, horses are all fine) and the 160-minute running length often feels interminable; know what you're getting into before you watch this dubious classic.

3/4

5/5 Great documentary disk, great movie
  by TBo (Chicago)
The Criterion collection is terrific for Kurasawa fans. The interviews with him are illuminating and the watercolor narrative derived from his paintings is very interesting. If you don't yet have a copy of Ran, this collection is the one to get.

5/5 Great film now out of print
  by Shaun Sizemore
Great film. Unfortunately, Criterion just announced this title as 'out of print' due to rights issues. Grab one while you can!

4/5 Great film-but some reservations
  by Ted Byrd
I believe Kurosawa's Ran is a great film-maybe even a masterpiece; but I also think it makes a lot of demands on those of us who aren't intimately familiar with Japanese culture. Personally, when I started watching Japanese films, it took me a long time to adjust to the manner of speaking. The actors would seem to be shouting or almost screaming at one another at times when the subtitles would seem to be conveying a totally different tone altogether. Ran is no exception, and this is just one of the factors that makes it difficult to form a true estimate of the merits of a film about an alien culture. However, in my opinion, there is no doubt that visually this film is an amazing, artistic spectacle. The version I own is not the Criterion nor the Masterworks, but is probably the first DVD version produced. The tv I watch it on is a ten-year-old 50-inch Toshiba. But I have to tell you that I find the battle scenes breathtaking. The colors are bright and emotion-inducing. I thought the soundtrack was awesome; especially during the battle scenes-the slow, somber, orchestration is like a simultaneous requiem being played for the dying soldiers cut down by arrows and gunfire. The final battle sequence has an intense visual and sonic presentation of apocalypse-the assembled hosts, the waving banners,thunderous pounding of galloping horses, smoke and flames pouring forth from the large castle tower under a dark and menacing sky. All of this may sound like a conventional battle scene, but it seemed to me that Kurosawa succeeded in capturing the nightmarish quality of such a conflict as well as its dramatic spectacle. On a sensual level of sight and sound, I think this film is magnificent. As for the story, it is of course, King Lear, adapted to Japanese culture, and a powerful story it is. The elements of the situation that unfolds and the temperaments of the characters involved produce an extreme range of human emotions: greed, revenge, hate, ambition, loyalty, treachery, pride ,lust. These swirling, roiling urges propel the story along toward an inevitable culmination that seems almost Armageddon-like in its destruction. The final image, far away and isolated, of a lone blinded figure standing on the edge of a cliff under a baleful sky is both symbol and solid evidence of man's folly. In general I thought the acting was very good, but I must raise another point about a possible issue of cultural misunderstanding. At times it seemed to me the actor who portrayed Lord Hidetora, the King Lear counterpart, indulged in overacting bordering on parody. Whenever he was agitated by emotion, he would flail his arms, grimace hideously and scuttle backwards against a wall, boulder , or whatever was at hand. Based on American standards of behavior, these antics seemed grotesquely melodramatic. But perhaps from the Japanese perspective this sort of self-expression is considered natural and expected of someone living the nightmare that befell poor Hidetora. Or, perhaps Kurosawa was injecting some of the stylized traditions of the No plays into his character. All this is only conjecture on my part. I have to assume there was a reason behind it, but I must admit I found it to be jarring at times on what was otherwise a very enjoyable cinema experience.

4/5 Ran
  by Andy Meneses (PA)
I enjoyed watching ran. it was quite different than most American films in a lot of ways. it had an unique combination of humor and drama. I particularly liked the large battle scenes. i think a lot of the epic battle scenes in movies that i like now were heavily influenced by this film. this film has an interesting mix of both American and foreign film styles. The influence of Japanese Noh theater is clearly strong. While some American audiences might be put off by some aspects of the film, i still think it reaches a wide, diverse audience nonetheless.