FWIW, Amazon now has it up for pre-order at $27.99.


http://www.amazon.com/Ran-Blu-ray-Ak...5352202&sr=1-4

I won't be any time soon... Got this a couple of years ago, but haven't had the time to even watch it yet (the wife isn't really into Japanese film)! Can't justify the upgrade right now if I already have it... Luckily I only have this, Ikiru and Seven Samurai on DVD, so any other Kurosawa and I think I could justify a Blu-Ray purchase (Please let the next release be Rashomon!)!

Oh man. I'm going to wait on reviews for this, but I may have to pay a full $27.99. I hate spending more than $15 for a Bluray.

it's kind of annoying practice of Criterion to NOT port all the extras found on the standard DVD edition.

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Audio commentary featuring film scholar Stephen Prince
- An appreciation of the film by director Sidney Lumet
- A.K., a 74-minute film by director Chris Marker
- A 30-minute documentary on the making of Ran, from the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
- A 35-minute video piece reconstructing Ran through Kurosawa’s paintings and sketches, created as part of the series Image: Kurosawa’s Continuity (NOTE: not included in the Blu-ray edition)
- Video interview with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
- Theatrical trailers
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Plus: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Wilmington and interviews with Kurosawa and composer Toru Takemitsu (NOTE: Takemitsu interview not included in the Blu-ray edition)

Criterion might just be to cheap to put the additional features on a BD25 if space is an issue. But hey, at least we get the awesome packaging.

here's where I disagree with you, if Criterion can't port all the extras onto a bluray disc, what's the point, I couldn't care less over the packaging, now I have to keep the standard DVD and the bluray of this and THE LAST EMPEROR - to have all the extras.

I was being sarcastic. I hate Criterions pick for packaging.

Yeah, the packaging for Criterion's blu-ray's has been consistently disappointing. You can bet that the nice fat booklet in the SD edition of Ran will be a mere shadow of itself when it shows up in the new BD.

I havn't purchased any of their titles yet because I'm waiting to see how the prices look after a few months. The DVDs usually held their price pretty well though. Anyone think DVDplanet will include the Blu-Rays in a near future sale?

[whoosh] (my hand going over my head)

What's most disappointing about this is that it seems like the perfect content for a Bonus View feature playing over the movie. I had really hoped Criterion would take the lead in fully utilizing the unique extra feature capabilities that Blu-ray offers.

Aren't all of their Blu-rays booklet-free?

... Chungking Express has one as well.

The inside of the El Norte packaging looks like a 10 year old girl's Trapper Keeper.

I thought I wouldn't hate it . . . but yeah I hate it.

Jon Mulvaney responded to a member of criterionforum.org and confirmed Criterion will be switching to a custom clear plastic Blu-ray case for some of its releases later this year.

^ "thank you Jon"

Wonderful. So now only a handful of there titles will look odd on the shelf while the new ones won't match the old. Yeah, yeah, bitching about a change for the better

Here is the post:

^ you'd think they could have worked out a better design/packaging to include the full booklet for 'Ran' though.

Of course not! Why, that would represent consistency, predictability, standardization and ease.

Some? Does this mean they will be switching to it, but the stuff already in the pipeline with earlier packaging design won't be changed or that, going forward, multiple packaging designs will be used?

If they re-issue the cardboard titles in these plastic cases in the future, I'll be ready for a letter campaign asking Criterion to make the new packaging available ($5 each?) for customers who've already popped for the cardboard.

Do we know for sure, yet, that they haven't included it?

Because it's ugly.

So's a format with industry-wide packaging consistency defeated by the products of a single distributor, IMO.

I like how Criterion has been working on a design to fit the book in a new, redesigned case for a while now yet didn't they already do that when they launched the Blu-rays since they use a brand new method no other Studio has done before? They spent money to design something to hold them over until something else was done which they wanted in the first place?