I just received Throne of Blood Criterion in the mail today and read the booklet on both translators and their approach on how they went about subtitling the film. I'm still undecided which one I want to view first. I'm leaning towards Linda Hoaglund because she states that Criterion had asked her to translate quite a few of Kurosawa's films. But again Donald Richie seems to have taken a lot of effort into transforming the words into an art form distinctly using common words to make it easier to understand.

I asked this once before. Here is the link:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hrone+of+blood

I went with Ritchie's and thought they were very good. But -- I have never tried Hoaglund's --- so check the link above for differing opinions.

Thank you very much.

I found Richie's translation more readable. Hoaglund uses a lot of modern slang that feels inappropriate to the material.

I watched both (Hoaglund the first time with the disc and Richie's while watching the commentary). It was certainly possible to notice differences watching them only a day or two apart, but I can't say I had a preference. The Hoaglund font was easier to read if that makes any difference.

I say watch 'em both or either; neither will drastically change your appreciation of the movie.