Kurosawa on Blu-ray

So far, there are only a few high definition releases of Kurosawa works. There’s a 2007 French HD-DVD version of Ran and a Criterion Collection Blu-ray of Kagemusha. In February, this will all change with a slew of Kurosawa films being released, to hi-def Blu-ray, with more coming in March.

In honor of Akira Kurosawa Appreciation Month, I wanted to buy the movies I watch and would subsequently review, adding them to my collection. Since I own a Blu-ray player, and once you see Blu-ray there’s no going back, I figured I’d take a look for Kurosawa in this mesmerizing new format. I expected Rashomon to come up immediately. Sadly, I need to wait, but luckily not for long. On February 6th, two Blu-ray products will be available for us to get into our happy little hands.

The U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences completed the restoration/remastering for high definition of Kurosawa’s epic Rashoman, which will be part of the Blu-ray collection being released this month. The film is being screened in various places around the U.S. (check the listings for your local Landmark theater) regularly. This version of the Kurosawa masterpiece is what will be on the Blu-ray release, along with a brief piece on the restoration project.

Also entering the market this month, a Blu-ray box set of 4 Kurosawa films. The box includes Madadayo, The Quiet Duel, Ran, and Rashomon. The other three films have not been restored to a higher definition like Rashomon so the quality may be only slightly better than the DVD. If you have a Blu-ray player chances are you have a hi-def television that’s capable of handling the resolution of the picture so these will still look twice as good even without the restoration.

In March, a two-disc set of Yojimbo & Sanjuro will be released on Blu-ray as part of the Criterion Collection. Both titles will also be released separately to Blu-ray.

All of these are available for presale on Amazon.com, and for any fan, would be well worth the price.