Prancetron2000

Does anyone know which Kurosawa movie is going to get the Criterion DVD treatment? They seem to be cranking out a new disc roughly every six months or so, but I haven't heard anything since Red Beard's release.

Fielding Mellish

I wish it would be a re-do of High & Low. I really want to pick this one up, but the current transfer is terrible. Especially when you consider that it's a Criterion.

Prancetron2000

Really? Is it better or worse than Yojimbo's transfer, because I thought that was decent and not terrible like so many said it was.

dyerjp

i thought that the transfer on HIGH AND LOW was pretty good, it's not as great as the HIDDEN FORTRESS transfer but i think that it is pretty good. a re-do would be nice so that i could get it in 16x9. they need to release KAGEMUSHA or STRAY DOG, they'd kick ass if criterion did them.

hardtack

I too have no problem with the transfer quality of High and Low. As far as other titles go, I would love to see a Criterion release of Throne of Blood, Kurosawa's take on MacBeth.

Dreams would be nice as well, but unfortunately Criterion do not have access to the rights.

regards, Tim...

niiyama

I emailed criterion a few months ago. Throne of Blood and Ikiru will be releaseed in 2003 or 2004.
I assume they will be next.


Criterion does not own the rights to Kagemusha.

Ashirg

Dodes'ka-den is the next one in Criterion...

Also, Ruscico finaly released their Dersu Uzala discs... Kino might release it in the US...

http://www.ruscico.com/detail_eng.php?link=36

Extras include:
Interview with actor Yuri Solomin
Behind the scenesof shooting of the film
Biography of author Arsenyev
Filmographies, photographs and Coming Soon trailers

ScreachingWeasel

Hey Ashirg, Have you seen any reviews for this dvd yet. I sold my Kino when I heard this was coming, but then it kept getting delayed. Hopefully it's better than the Kino. The Kino was kind of mixed somtimes it looked great and others it was pretty subpar. Thank's in advance for any info.

Ashirg

No reviews yet, although Russian disc was available for a few months now(with the same transfer and extras). The first Russian Ruscico disc with the same content as International release...

Prancetron2000

Wow, I would love to have a good version of that movie on DVD. Is it region-free?

Prancetron2000

Are you 100% positive about that?

Ashirg

Unfortunately, with Criterion there's nothing 100%. For all we know, they may pull Stray Dog out of nowhere and surprise us. But Dodes'ka-Den has been on their "to be released" list for some time, longer than Ikiru or Throne of Blood (or Red Beard for that matter).

Dersu Uzala, like all Ruscico releases, is region 0. They use PAL masters, so NTSC discs are usually sped-up...

garmonbozia

**cries silently and rocks back and forth in the dark**

Prancetron2000

I'd rather they restore some of the other titles like Stray Dog or Throne of Blood before they get to the newer stuff like Ran, Kagemusha, or Dreams.

TehBigFire

I want Ikiru very very badly.

Prancetron2000

I got a response from a rep from criterionco.com:


Here was my e-mail:

And their response:

Hmm, I wonder what will happen now? Will be have to wait until 2003 before we get a new Kurosawa CC DVD, or do they have something else planned? Unfortunately he did not answer my second question.

Pants

Dodes'kaden has been delayed indefinately, this may be because they are trying to restore the original Japanese version which was nearly twice as long as all other previously available versions, or it may just be because the elements of the shortened version are bad.

The next DVD from criterion will be Ikiru. This title was expected to be their next Akira release after Rashoman (I recall some e-mail correspondence with criterion that confirmed this), but BAMM! they give us Red Beard. So Ikiru will almost certainly be next. If it was delayed because of problems with elements, and if those problems persist, then we will get Throne of Blood instead. Either way the next 2 will be Ikiru or Throne of Blood.

Pants

Dodes'kaden has been delayed indefinately, this may be because they are trying to restore the original Japanese version which was nearly twice as long as all other previously available versions, or it may just be because the elements of the shortened version are bad.

The next DVD from criterion will be Ikiru. This title was expected to be their next Akira release after Rashoman (I recall some e-mail correspondence with criterion that confirmed this), but BAMM! they give us Red Beard. So Ikiru will almost certainly be next. If it was delayed because of problems with elements, and if those problems persist, then we will get Throne of Blood instead. Either way the next 2 will be Ikiru and Throne of Blood.

Yug

Film Forum over in New York is the 1st to screen 12 NEWLY REMASTERED prints all done by Cowboy Films in association w/ JANUS. I'm on Cowboy's mailing list and they mentioned that they were indeed teamed together with CRITERION. This means that any of the 12 titles being shown could end up as a CC including ones previously released although personally I think the better business move would be to add new titles to the collection. Only electronic nerds like us care about the 16:9 improvement to older CC when the average Kurasawa fan would be happy enough to have High and Low in OAR on DVD.FILM FORUM LINK THAT ACTUALLY WORKS

Prancetron2000

Oh wow, that would be fantastic. I really want to get as many CC Kurosawa DVDs as possible. I can't get enough of them!

Prancetron2000

Well I got another response from the Criterion people. Here's my question, followed by the response:


So I guess that means no new Kurosawa titles until next year.

Prancetron2000

Yup, I just got another response from him and he confirmed that we will not see any new Kurosawa CC DVDs this year.

Fielding Mellish

Motor City residents, take note: Once these prints end their run in NYC, they're set to play at the Detroit Film Theater. Throughout September, IIRC.

Njål

Received the RUSCICO release of Dersu Uzala last Friday. Haven't had the time to relly check it out, but from what I've seen/heard, the video was a bit better than I'm used to, and it sounds as though they've used the original 6 channel discreet soundtrack.

dleedlee

Also currently playing in Washington DC at the AFI through Sept 17.