I’m so excited/upset about this announcement. I haven’t even had a chance to crack into my Criterion DVD edition of Kurosawa‘s brilliant take on King Lear, Ran and this morning we find out that it’s already making it’s way to Blu-ray! Awesome/Shitty!
Special features and details seem to mimic those of the DVD. I suspect the Blu-ray will be a single disc BD-50 edition (just as The Last Emperor was) despite the “double-disc” notice on Criterion’s web site but we’ll have to wait and see to be sure…
RAN (May 12, MSRP $39.95)
DISC FEATURES
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE–DISC SET:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary by Kurosawa 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, part of 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
- New video interview with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
- Theatrical trailers
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Plus: a 28-page booklet featuring film critic Michael Wilmington and interviews with Kurosawa and composer Toru Takemitsu
