Kurosawa Samurai Collection (BFI)

[Akijama]

Kurosawa Samurai Collection Blu-ray



Release date: September 22

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kurosawa-Sam...3&keywords=bfi

Five classic samurai films by the legendary Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa. 'Seven Samurai' (1954) tells the story of a group of 17th-century warriors recently detached from the powerful masters who once paid them. Veteran samurai Kambei (Takashi Shimura) is the leader of the group hired by the residents of a village suffering at the hands of a marauding band of thieves. Five of his cohorts are trained warriors, but the sixth, Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), is actually the son of a farmer, desperate to earn his spurs on the battlefield. The basics of the story served as the blueprint for the western classic 'The Magnificent Seven'. 'Throne of Blood' (1957), Akira Kurosawa's film version of 'Macbeth', transfers the action to medieval Japan. A samurai warrior (Toshiro Mifune) is urged to murder his lord (Takashi Shimura) and his best friend (Minoru Chiaki) by a forest spirit and an ambitious wife (Isuzu Yamada). Kurosawa renders 'the Scottish play' through the conventions of traditional Japanese Noh theatre, creating what was reputedly TS Eliot's favourite film. The famous ending sees Toshiro Mifune caught under hails of arrows. Winner of the Best Director Award at the 1959 Berlin Film Festival, 'The Hidden Fortress' (1958) is regarded by many to be one of Kurosawa's finest, and has been acknowledged by George Lucas as the principle inspiration for 'Star Wars'. Set in 16th-century Japan, the story centres on rival clans, hidden gold and a princess in distress. Tahei (Minoru Chaiki) and Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) are two cowardly soldiers on the run from an advancing enemy army. As they search the country for a cache of secret gold, they join forces with Rokurota Makabe (Toshiro Mifune), a samurai warrior who is escorting a fiesty princess (Misa Uehara) through enemy territory. The mismatched travellers then have to fight a number of battles before they finally come within sight of their goal. Kurosawa combines elements of the western and the film noir in the classic adventure 'Yojimbo' (1961). Yojimbo (Toshiro Mifune), a freelance Samurai warrior, sells his services to rival factions in a small Japanese village. When he is betrayed, he turns his skills against his former employers, determined that the two warring sides should destroy each other. 'Yojimbo' was later remade by Sergio Leone as the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western 'A Fistful of Dollars'. In the samurai spoof 'Sanjuro' (1962), a sequel of sorts to 'Yojimbo', shabby samurai Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) teams up with eight young warriors who seek out corruption among the elders of their clan. They also embark on a mission to rescue a kidnapped chancellor from a corrupt war lord.

[Vakulinchuk]

Didn't see this coming. Will be interesting to see how the box fares, especially after the much debated Seven Samurai disc.

Criterion has released all of these, iirc, so let's hope BFI can access some of their material.

[Chad Plainview]

Nice.

[ijustblumyself]

Awesome news!

Had been planning on picking up the Criterions individually, but this makes things a whole lot easier. I'm assuming BFI will have access to the same masters as Criterion; maybe even better.

Let's just hope it isn't in September.

[The Apocalypse]

Well, Seven Samurai is already out, and from what I've read, the Criterion version is apparently superior, but the BFI version ain't bad, at least in my opinion. Good release this will be, though.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by ijustblumyself;9368507 [B

I'm assuming BFI will have access to the same masters as Criterion; maybe even better.[/B]

Let's just hope it isn't in September.

they didnt have that at so many movies. rilogie of life by pasolini , salo , and even for seven samurai they used a different master and know the whole thing looks like a DVD upscale compared to the criterion release

[Yami]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

they didnt have that at so many movies. rilogie of life by pasolini , salo , and even for seven samurai they used a different master and know the whole thing looks like a DVD upscale compared to the criterion release

Seven Samurai is the only one of those that you can actually compare, as the BFI released Salo and Trilogy of Life years before Criterion.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by Yami

Seven Samurai is the only one of those that you can actually compare, as the BFI released Salo and Trilogy of Life years before Criterion.

criterion released seven samurai oct 2010 and the bfi april 2014

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

criterion released seven samurai oct 2010 and the bfi april 2014

Not that it matters, but it was released last October, as a Zavvi exclusive at the time. The April date is general release. The point is the same though, it only came out at the back end of last year, way after the Criterion release.

Perhaps getting confused with the DVD, which BFI did release back in 2008.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

You could slam any label's reputation (very much including Criterion's!) with similarly selective and elderly "evidence", but it wouldn't tell us anything remotely useful.

i didnt try to that at all. why should i ? i only said that cuz people seem to think that a BFI release will most likely look the same or even better than the criterion releases.

and its kinda unlikely that they will get the same master or a better one if they couldnt do that for seven samurai? i would at least think so.
same for the bonus features that are missing. :P

[Opdef]

Coincidentally I watched my BFI DVD of Yojimbo last night, and couldn't help but think how much it would benefit from a Blu-ray upgrade. I was going to work through the rest of the Kurosawa Samurai DVD box next week, but I may well have to restrain myself given this welcome news. Hopefully good sales of this set will encourage BFI to release their other Kurosawa box-sets on Blu-ray (the Early, Classic and Crime collections).

[Yami]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

criterion released seven samurai oct 2010 and the bfi april 2014

Which is precisely why I said that's the only stick you can beat the BFI with.

[Dan8700]

Originally Posted by ijustblumyself

I'm assuming BFI will have access to the same masters as Criterion;

I wouldn't count on that (it's a remote possibility), but maybe BFI splurged on CC masters and who knows, maybe the Seven Samurai disc in the set will be featuring the CC master, this time...

[MifuneFan]

Wow, great collection. I'm a huge Kurosawa fan, and even though I have the Criterion versions, I'm still tempted to get this

Amazon says it's 4 discs, if correct, I assume Yojimbo and Sanjuro will be on one disc?

[rapta]

Will be getting this, but kinda miffed as I bought Seven Samurai separately last year...why couldn't they just announce this at the same time so I didn't buy the separate release?

[aewb]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

they didnt have that at so many movies. rilogie of life by pasolini , salo , and even for seven samurai they used a different master and know the whole thing looks like a DVD upscale compared to the criterion release

Lol, knew you wouldn't be able to resist. Conveniently ignoring Tess, Chronicle of a Summer and the Cassavetes.

If the BFI are using the same source as the Japanese blus does that mean that Throne of Blood and Hidden Fortress will look worse but Yojimbo and Sanjuro will look better than the Criterion's?

[Mansinthe]

got a review of the japanese releases? i could not find one.

and for tess , no idea what should be wrong with that release?

DVDBeaver says:

The Criterion is darker, skin tones negligibly warmer, and contrast appears tighter producing richer visuals. Most may not notice the differences in-motion - they are slight, but do exist. Despite being less technically robust the Criterion gains a small edge here, surprisingly - IMO.

Bluray.com

All in all, this is an excellent presentation of Pathe's restoration of Tess, which is guaranteed to make fans of the film in North America very happy.

not to mention the loseless audio track missing of the otherwise good UK release. if Tess is really a example for a bad release for any label i would love to get more of these.


Chronicle of a summer ( do not own the movie)

Bluray.com

As the quoted text above confirms, this release uses as a foundation the exact same restoration of Chronicle of a Summer Criterion's release does. Unsurprisingly, I could not see any major discrepancies between the two releases.

[Skog]

tl;dr?

Seven Samurai
Throne of Blood
The Hidden Fortress
Yojimbo
Sanjuro

[Helikaon]

Great set, but 'unfortunately' I already have them all. Wonder what improvements they can make.

[Vakulinchuk]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

Seven Samurai is very much the exception rather than the rule, which is why - as you're demonstrating - you really have to reach way back into the past to find equivalent examples.

It's a relevant exception, to this thread at least, since it's a given that the Seven Samurai disc in the collection will be the same. I sure hope BFI won't spare efforts on these Kurosawa movies; although, to be honest, it's hard when these have all issued by Criterion recently, individually and at their usual premium price...

Originally Posted by aewb

If the BFI are using the same source as the Japanese blus does that mean that Throne of Blood and Hidden Fortress will look worse but Yojimbo and Sanjuro will look better than the Criterion's?

Now, this intrigues me...