Kagemusha DVD (1980)

Kagemusha details

Format:	PG DVD
Starring:	Daisuke Ryu, Kenichi Hagiwara, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Takashi Shimura, Tatsuya Nakadai
Director:	Akira Kurosawa
Genres:	Action/Adventure - Epic, World Cinema - Japanese
Studio:	20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT

DVD 1 disc

Name	Discs
Kagemusha	PG Feature

DVD Information

Run time:	2 hours 33 minutes
Rental release:	03 Jun 2002
Main languages:	Japanese
Subtitles:	Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Hearing impaired subtitles:	English

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Most helpful review Kagemusha

A real masterpiece

By Bobnessuk (169 reviews) from LONDON , 16 Mar 2005

[Highly rated reviewer]

The explosion in CGI technology has meant it is now possible to show battle scenes with ..ooh..trillions of people. Trouble is, with one notable exception, they?ve looked just like sophisticated video games.

This film, made in 1980, was filmed in the old fashioned way and it far surpasses any of the CGI brigade in terms of realism and beauty. Kurosawa was only working with a few hundred extras yet he conjures up cinematic images - the retreating army silhouetted against a blood-red sky springs to mind - that remind you film can be an art-form. My biggest regret is that I wish I?d seen this on the big screen, The DVD copy is a fine wide-screen transfer but it can?t match the real cinematic experience.

The film is not without its faults; narrative structure was never the directors? strong-point. Some of the action is confusing, the acting is very theatrical in comparison with western styles, some of the characters behave inconsistently and there?s no sense of time in the thing ? the grandson doesn?t grow up at all in the three year time period; but, then again, this is not what the film is about.

Kurosawa doesn?t move his camera very much. In contrast with the edit and zoom ridden western way, the viewer is able to appreciate the glorious vistas he puts in front of them.

Some of you may find the film slow and theatrical, while others will love it to the level of pretentiousness (I know), but you can?t ignore its magnificence or, indeed, its relevance.

Just watch ?Lord of the Rings? ? the notable CGI exception I mentioned at the beginning. There are at least a couple of sequences in ?Kagemusha? that appear in almost identical fashion in Peter Jackson?s work. Methinks Mr Jackson owes Kurosawa a lot.
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not a bad film

By cheesekake (1277 reviews) from uk , 03 May 2012

this film does have some very good bits, but I can't help but feel it is for die hard Japanese fans who would understand the concept of the film better.

there are tho defo some good things about it, the fact it doesn't used graphic enhanced images, that everything and everyone is real, also the storyline is not bad.

defo worth a watch
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This defines 'great movie'

By a2ed (30 reviews) from UK , 05 Apr 2011

Hollywood has rarely been able to replicate the atmospherism, depth of emotion, and profundity that is contained in this movie, amongst a host of other non-western movies. It's 2011 now, the Japs did it in 1980 and still do it today. Unlike American movies, this is a movie for adults, or those who want to aspire to adulthood.
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Kagemusha: THE MOVIE

By oli74 (44 reviews) from olisykes74@gmail.com , 22 Mar 2011

Beautiful. I have not seen enough Kurosawa films but after watching this I will make sure that I see them all. From the direction, cinematography, photography, set and costume design, I could not find a fault. It was as if a whole film crew followed me around in my formative years. Excellent.
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Slightly Disappointed

By habana999 (2 reviews) from Dunstable , 19 May 2009

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS Show review anywayHide

I had great hopes for this film, and never reading a synopsis before seeing a film, I tend go by ratings and other less distinct criteria. This was the first Akira film I had seen and was expecting great things. I was disappointed firstly by the story, which seemed weak, and the characters didn't raise any great emotion or empathy from myself. I found it hard to follow, which feudal lord was which. But I was most confused by the indication that there was infact two doubles, the thief (from the first scene, then one at the first meeting of the retainers, followed by another after Shingens death (who was introduced to those same retainers, who knew of the plot, as a 'new' double)) I suppose if I watched it again I would 'suss' it out. I never had the inclination to do that. The story of the sniper didn't 'fit in' and you didnt get the feeling that this 'flute player' had inspired this paranoid leader to risk his life to hear him. The links were poor. The scenes in the final battle were confusing, who was who? Most of it being shot in the dark meant you never really knew what was going on, and were futilely straining to try and work it out. It was just a bunch of men running about with banners. The only 'bright scenes' in the film were Shingen's heirs performance, the chief retainer's performance, and the double's nightmare, where I suppose it told you this man was hopeless. His passion came too late and only when he was allowed to show it. I just didnt see the point in any of it.
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Slow-e-musha

By a customer from Cardiff , 12 Nov 2008

As a visual spectacle you cannot help but marvel at this Japanese epic, and I would recommend it as a worthwhile 'change of pace' from the Western stylisation of films.

However i found myself bogged down by the pace of the film (particularly early on) and by the climax felt unfulfilled with the exploration of the characters whose surface you feel you've barely scratched.
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