Criterion Collection: Throne of Blood [Blu-ray] [1957] [US Import]

In 16th century Japan, a warlord struggles to hold onto power. Another classic from Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, this is of course a reworking of Shakespeare's Macbeth now set in 16th century Japan. Excellent performances from the whole cast lead by Kurosawa regular Toshiro Mifune. There's a lot you can read into this but sit back and enjoy this beautifully shot beautifully made film by one of cinema's all time great directors.

Another Kurosawa film that I watch regularly. Very stylised, like a stage drama. May feel slow if you're not used to this kind of film. But worth relaxing into.The basic story of Macbeth, ambition leading to tragedy, one step into corruption leading to another. Always a good storyline.Kurosawa is always worth watching.

The version being sold by Amazon UK, which is published by the British Film Institute, doesn't seem to be the one reviewed in every case. For example, there is no choice of English subtitles, which one reviewer mentions. The actual BFI one, although acceptable, looks as if it's taken from a 'dupe' print. The black and white photography is extremely important to this film, but some of the detail is lost. A blu-ray version taken from the original negative would reveal an enormous amount, I believe.That said, I agree with the majority of the reviewers that the film is a masterpiece; and to a Western viewer, the alien world which it shows adds to the fascination. The buildings, clothes, decor, mode of speech, even the way people sit and move, seem extraordinary to me - but that makes the film a more interesting experience than otherwise.

I have always wanted to see this film. When it shown on the TV it is always put late at night.This is a great film and it will be added to other samurai film collection.

I've been a Kurosawa fan for some time, but had never seen Throne OF Blood before. I bought this expecting great things having read the previous reviews - however - I was surprised that no-one had mentioned how poor the sound quality was; there is a continual sound of eggs and bacon frying loudly in the background. I know enough about film restoration to know that cleaning up an old soundtrack is fairly straightforward with current technology, but I don't know if this poor sound is peculiar to the bfi edition which I bought. Many of the previous reviewers seem to have reviewied the US Criterion version which I assume must have better sound quality otherwise it would have been mentioned in the reviews. As for the movie - well it's great, slow, but then so is the Shakespeare play on which it is based, but none the worse for that. Four stars only though due to the shamefully noisy soundtrack.

A lot is written about Akira Kurosawa's movies on his influences on other famous films etc ... I will not impose upon anyone those ideas .. only to say ... I have seen repeatedly all of Kurosawa's Samurai films and have never had less than being greatly entertained and enthralled .. so forget the subtitles, forget the black & white .. sit back .. concentrate, and enjoy this cinematic classic, as all of his films are to some degree, and then wonder why you haven't seen them before.

Kurosawa is great but this is not his best.

The English subtitiles don't work. Need to return product