Guest dirkd1976 Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 Thats right, Akira Kurosawa'a RAN is being re-released in theaters all around the county!! Check out this link to the official site: www.ran2000.com/ If you havent seen this movie, rent a copy, buy a copy or steal a copy if you have to!!! This has to be one of my all time favorites, along with Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Rashoman. If you have any intrest in the Samurai era of Japan, check out this movie, you will not be dissapointed!! Happy gaming (and movie watching!!) ------------------ Never mistake motion for action - Ernest Hemingway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howardb Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 Great movie, saw it in my early teens maybe I should see it again. While we're on the subject who has read James Clavells Shogun, has to be one of the best books I've read ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuse Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 Wow, that is the first movie I remember seeing. My dad took me to the local theater when I was two or something like that. I didn't really understand the plot (go figure), but I was very impressed with the fighting. ------------------ Upon the fields of friendly strife, are sown the seeds of Victory. ---Douglas McArthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeadams Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 The plot is King Lear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarmo Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 Brilliant film, brilliant director. Yojimbo is my favourite Kurosawa movie. As for a good book, read Musashi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disaster@work Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mikeadams: The plot is King Lear<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> It is mostly King Lear but there is an important Macbeth plot in there as well. Lady Kaede is most similar to Lady Macbeth in her plotting. Despite her positioned as a villain, I find her character quite sympathetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 Just rented this movie (RAN}. Was very disappointed. I recently finished Taiko by Yoshikawa (also wrote Musashi). Taiko was very good. Am reading Shogun now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyamoto Musashi Posted July 20, 2000 Share Posted July 20, 2000 Hey now... who started a Kurosawa party and didn't invite me? Actually, though Ran is good, I would have rather seen a re-release of Yojimbo, Sanjuro, or the Samurai trilogy (yes, I know, the Samurai trilogy wasn't Kurosawa... they were done by Inagaki Hiroshi, and are very good as well... especially the second and third installments ). I've seen virtually every Kurosawa/Mifune film, and those stand out as my all-time favorites, along with The Hidden Fortess. But if Ran makes it here to the boondocks, I'll spend the money to see it on a big screen. And as far as books go, Musashi is a classic... Yoshikawa is a true master. ------------------ In fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit. -- M.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorak Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 I have owned RAN for years (actualy own a lot of his stuff). It is a great movie. Well worth watching. Lorak ------------------ "someone you trust is one of us"..........the illuminati * http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/combatmissionclub Lorak's FTX for CM <--Proud member of the Combat Mission Webring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disaster@work Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 I've seen the first and the last of the Samurai trilogy and I have to admit that I'm not a big fan. Why? Well most of it seemed to be a lot of attitude leading up to, oh, one or two scenes where the fighting was over in one minute. The one I remember was Duel in Ganryu Island where the whole movie sets up the showdown with Mushashi's main rival. They posture. Run a bit. Whack. One man dies. Hrmph. I'm a patient viewer but it didn't really do a lot for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggamemnon Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by howardb: Great movie, saw it in my early teens maybe I should see it again. While we're on the subject who has read James Clavells Shogun, has to be one of the best books I've read ever.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I've read Shogun about 10 times. It and all Clavell's books are great. Have you read Tai-pan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyamoto Musashi Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Disaster@work: I've seen the first and the last of the Samurai trilogy and I have to admit that I'm not a big fan. Why? Well most of it seemed to be a lot of attitude leading up to, oh, one or two scenes where the fighting was over in one minute. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, to be fair, it's not an action film... if you want a lot of blood, killing and fighting, rent American Ninja or a Bruce Lee flick. The point of the trilogy (as is the point of the book) is to define Musashi, not to show a bunch of action sequences. Samurai combat was usually over very quickly, whether both samurai were skilled or not... much as American western gunfights were. The build-up and mental/spiritual preparation was where the battle was won or lost. It's not like they slash and hack off limbs and fight until one combatant is merely a torso or a head (a la MP & the HG). The second film does have several more action sequences, but action was not the point of these films... the portrayal of one man's inner struggle and spiritual growth and maturity was. And it's the way Mifune portrays this growth and maturation that make the trilogy a classic group of films. Miyamoto Musashi (or Samurai I here in the States) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1955... As an "action" film, it doesn't compare to Kurosawa's samurai works, but that doesn't mean it's not an exceptional group of films. Anyway, just my two cents... ------------------ In fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit. -- M.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howardb Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 Aggamemnon: Havent read any other Clavell books but I'll probably take your advice and buy Tai-pan. What made Shogun interesting for me was how well he explained the mentality of the samurais, I sometimes wonder if it really was like that? Some books do that to you, tell you a lie so good that you're wondering if it's true I love historical novels in just about any genre I read a book about the Aztecs just a month ago. Very interesting reading. Got any good suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 I liked all the Clavell work I've read. Check out Noble House too. Was King Rat from Clavell also? Ran was my least favorite of the kurosawa films, loved Yojimbo though. The musashi novels were great. Movie's were alright but I had the books first... How about the Seven Samurai that was pretty cool movie too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 Anyone ever read the Genji mono gattari or tale of genji? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggamemnon Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Darwin: Was King Rat from Clavell also? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes, Clavell wrote King Rat. It was his first book. Incidentally, he was actually in Changi (the Japanese POW camp in the book) during the war. Howardb, have you read Herman Wouk's "The Hope" and "The Glory"? They're about Israel's history from 1947-1985 or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarmo Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mikeadams: The plot is King Lear<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Kind of fun, that half of Kurosawas samurai stuff is Shakespeare in samurai settings. The other half has been remade in the west, only in non-samurai settings. 7 samurais have been remade a jillion times, (anyone with a list?) and Last man Standing was Yojimbo, almost scene for scene. Any more that I've forgot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geier Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jarmo: Kind of fun, that half of Kurosawas samurai stuff is Shakespeare in samurai settings. The other half has been remade in the west, only in non-samurai settings. 7 samurais have been remade a jillion times, (anyone with a list?) and Last man Standing was Yojimbo, almost scene for scene. Any more that I've forgot?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> "A fistful of dollars"(Clint doing what Clint does better than anyone else) is Yojimbo straight off, so is "Flight of the Raven" (my guess at the US title), Yojimbo in a viking setting, made in Iceland. Kurosawas "Throne of blood" is Macbeth, "Kagemusha" is brilliant too. I'm glad they decided to re-release Ran as I can not get hold of it here. Seven Samurai might be the most influential movie ever made esp when looking at use of the camera. I've shown it to several of my friends and they all say they get the feeling they have seen it before, even if they haven't. Every scene/shot in that film has probably been reproduced a million times. Btw, did you know that Hollywood producers often use a Kurosawa quote to defend themselves when questioned on their sometimes dubious editing choices (trial audiences, I forget the term)? "You should only make films that people want to see", or something along those lines. James Clavell's King Rat and Shogun are imo brilliant, Tai-Pan is good and Noble House is bad. With Noble House he tries to connect all his previous novels and does a rather poor job (imo of course) of incorporating espionage and big business in the story. For a great historical novel that has some elements of WW2 in it I cannot recommend Len Deighton's "Winter" enough. A German family history from 1899-1945. I must confess to being a huge Len deighton fan, "Bomber" is the best WW2 airwar novel I've ever read. If you are able to get hold of "Declarations of War", a collection of short stories, you definately should. Sorry for the rant. ------------------ Geier "The succesful execution of a well devised plan often looks like luck to saps." Dashiell Hammett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Lucke Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 Personally, I've always prefered "Kagamusha --- The Shadow Warrior" as the more accessable of Kurosawa's sweeping Samurai epics. Tho, "The Seven Samurai" will always hold an honored place in the dojo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul T. Gardner Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 So how many of us own Shogun total War? ------------------ PTG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dirkd1976 Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 Me!!! *raises hand* ------------------ Never mistake motion for action - Ernest Hemingway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyamoto Musashi Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 ME! --begins raising hand-- oh, that's right, I've got a Mac ------------------ In fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit. -- M.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwin Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 CM fills my gaming needs at this level, was interested in Shogun as it was being developed but... Not that I don't play other games but at this level CM monopolizes all the time avaliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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