- Release Date: 1985
- Runtime: 160 min
- Genre: Action, Drama, War
- Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu ... see all
- Director: Akira Kurosawa
- Plot: A story of Greed, a lust for power, and ultimate revenge. The Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) has decided to step aside to make room for the younger blood... Read more
User Reviews
Clear your schedule and enjoy this masterpiece
May 26, 2008
emailmikejr - yahoo.com
May 26, 2008emailmikejr - yahoo.com
After a friend suggested I watch Seven Samurai (also by Kurosawa) I was left amazed by it. I had to watch Ran to see what else Kurosawa has created. This movie brings you in so many different directions, all of which... Full review
Kurosawa tries Shakespeare and it works!
Jan 22, 2008
samuraifa451 - yahoo.com
Jan 22, 2008samuraifa451 - yahoo.com
Ran is a retelling of Shakespeare's classic tragedy King Lear and setting it up with Samurai. Obviously, there are some liberties to the time period and culture but Akira Kurosawa stays faithful to the classic tale and gives it a nice... Full review
Very true
Mar 10, 2007
stevemcdaniel314 - yahoo.com
Mar 10, 2007stevemcdaniel314 - yahoo.com
When a man teaches his own kids treachery, murder and bloodshed the weka ones will embrace his lessons, and the defiant ones will rebel seeking the truth. Not everyone is a conformist, and those who tend to go against the grain... Full review
Movie that changed my life...
Dec 16, 2006
soulless25 - yahoo.com
Dec 16, 2006soulless25 - yahoo.com
Ran is stunning peice of cinema, perfect from the opening sequences to the tragic ending. I was fortunate to see this movie at a young age and practically all other movies that came after were compared to this film. Most other... Full review
Impressive...
Jun 19, 2006
lakevictoria222 - yahoo.com
Jun 19, 2006lakevictoria222 - yahoo.com
...and interesting...a pleasure to see. I can remember I saw a film called the 'Seven Samurai' while taking a film class in College, and I was impressed with it also. This one is like a bigger and more streamlined version of... Full review
Jester and Warlord
Nov 03, 2005
zolaaar - imdb.com
Nov 03, 2005zolaaar - imdb.com
'Ran' is the Japanese word for chaos, riot, dissension. Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece is indeed a feast of destruction and perdition, charged with symbols and powerful in pictures like it is found very rarely in today's cinema. The dusky story is based... Full review
Another interesting kurosawa movie
Jul 25, 2005
omegagenesis - yahoo.com
Jul 25, 2005omegagenesis - yahoo.com
The setting about feudal japan, where the lord hidetora has 3 sons that are waging wars to be in power, at the end the 2 sons pretty much killed each other and the last son who loved his father so much... Full review
Single. Greatest. Shakespeare. Adaptation. Ever.
Jul 09, 2005
- imdb.com
Jul 09, 2005- imdb.com
Thankee kindly. Kurosawa, while a great director, isn't somebody whose films I blindly endorse. However, Ran takes the cake. It easily makes my personal top five films any time I think about it. The imagery is absolutely stunning, and the dialogue... Full review
it was better than king lear....
Mar 19, 2005
chimp_cock - yahoo.com
Mar 19, 2005chimp_cock - yahoo.com
its a very well made film. the film was a little rusty on the masterworks edition i saw, but it didnt take anything from the film. the acting was some of the best ive seen too; its tuff to pick out... Full review
One of Kurusawa's best
Feb 25, 2005
cpt_dad - yahoo.com
Feb 25, 2005cpt_dad - yahoo.com
While I still think the Seven Samauri is better, Ran is a very close second. The action and costumes are fantastic. Taking a great Shakespeare play and turning it into a samauri film is genius. This is definately one to watch.... Full review
Critics Reviews
| Jun 20, 2008The New York Sun
Mr. Nakadai's potential for portraying a startled remove also serves comedy well, as in Kon Ichikawa's "I Am a Cat" (1975), about a frustrated intellectual.
From samurai showdowns to yearning melodramas, Akira Kurosawa to Masaki Kobayashi, the Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai has been, at his best, a chameleon of genre, mood, and directorial style.
... Full Review
| Dec 29, 2000The Cincinnati Enquirer
More than an adaptation, Ran re-invents Lear and wrings a terrible beauty from its bleak heart.
Just sit in the dark and surrender - to its delicate rhythms, its silences and its music, its terrifying fury, its breathtaking battles.
... Full Review
| Sep 27, 1985RopeofSilicon
Although the film is slow to establish its story, it's clear....It's a film for the ages--one of the few genuine screen masterpieces--and arguably serves as an artistic summation of the great director's career..... ... Full Review
Variety
it's a tribute to this relatively young actor....The two major battle sequences, the first about an hour into the film, the second providing the climax, are superbly staged.....Changing the sexes of the king's heirs provides not only fine roles for three excellent actors, but also gives Mieko Harada.... ... Full Review
Exclaim! Canada
the images of Ran are among the most powerful ever filmed -....By James Keast In 1985, legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa completed what he saw as the culmination of his life's work:....Shakespeare's King Lear transposed to the director's favourite period -.... ... Full Review
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Akira Kurosawa's directing "RAN" with Tatsuya Nakadai as Hidetora
Ran (1985) Trailer

