?Kagemusha

[Swoosh So]

After buying and enjoying (a lot) the movie ran, i went out and bought the dvd of kagemusha at the weekend, I have to say the film is pretty poor and boring in my opinion, What happened to all the battle scenes peeps were talking about? I never saw 1 http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif , Are any of akira kurowsawas movies on a par with ran? or are most of the others like kagemusha?

[BlackWatch McKenna]

Kagemusha is an interesting one, that is for sure.

You might want, of course, to go back to the Black & White goodness of Kurasawa. Namely:

(1) The Seven Samurai
(2) Yojimbo
(3) Sanjuro

If you don't enjoy those three... then I can not help you. If you do like them, well, then we shall have many Movie Discussions in the future (including what that Kagemusha is all about).

~BW

[evilc]

thumbs up for seven samurai

[Swoosh So]

Ive seen seven samurai and liked it, yojimbo looks interesting http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Ii Naomasa]

Just remember that Yojimbo and Sanjuro are very person oriented, not battle oriented. There's swordfights, but no battle sequences. They are great movies, however.

People always talk about 'Kurosawa like battles' when describing the big CGI battle sequences in recent releases. Maybe I've somehow missed one or two crucial Kurosawa movies (I think I've seen all his samurai related ones...including small ones like 'They Who Tread on Tigers' Tails', which almost looks like a filmed version the play it's roughly based on and a good sampling of his non-samurai work), but I'm beginning to think these are the words of ignorant folk attempting to sound cultured. I haven't seen a grand, on-screen Kurosawa battle. Ran comes close, but for the most part Kurosawa is the master of shooting large armies moving about and giving the impression of battle, rather than shooting the actual battles.

To me Kurosawa has always been more about individual characters, no matter what scale of a movie they're in. Most of his works that he was able to dedicate the correct amount of time and money to have prominent characters to relate to or watch develope. That, and his masterful eye for camerawork, are was make him one of my favorite directors. Oh, he utilized beauty shots and went into extreme efforts on things like armor details, but he never let the props and effects get in the way of his story and characters.

[Rosacrux]

Kagemusha pretty boring????

Swoosh, are you well? Seen any doctor lately? Darn, why isnt't there a flames emoticon... I'd flame you till dawn for that remark... Kagemusha boring?

It's the bloody best film of Kurosawa by a long run and the man is one of the greatest filmmakers of all times.

GAAAAHHH

Good to let some steam out http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[BlackWatch McKenna]

Maybe he should see Red Beard, then (it's about a doctor).

[Swoosh So]

Ive seen 3 of kurasawas movies and loved 2 of them http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif but kagemusha seemed abit lost with a shallow story.


Swoosh ducks* http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Red Peasant]

...but Kurosawa's genius was that he could make the impression of an epic and atmospheric sweeping battle without using thousands of extras.

[Basileus]

I suggested Kagemusha to a friend and he didnt like it heh so i asked why and he said he was expecting a movie like braveheart but with samurais hehe..Kurosawa is tha man http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[The Marcher Lord]

Must admit I was a bit disappointed with Kagemusha after having seen Ran too. Ran had the benefit of some more recent filming techniques and special effects plus it was altogether a much darker storyline (King Lear). I got fedup of seeing Ashi spearmen just running around the screen aimlessly trying to deploy all of the time in Kagemusha and the final battle at Nagashino was very minimally done with lots of horsemen falling to invisible muskets and a largely invisible battlefield vista - all very tragic, but quite repetitive and dull too.

I did like Seven Samurai and Yojimbo plus Hidden Fortress. Samurai Banners was the same old Kagemusha deal with lots of crazy Ashi spearmen running around all the time.

[Swoosh So]

Quote[/b] (The Marcher Lord @ Jan. 30 2003,17:53)]Must admit I was a bit disappointed with Kagemusha after having seen Ran too. Ran had the benefit of some more recent filming techniques and special effects plus it was altogether a much darker storyline (King Lear). I got fedup of seeing Ashi spearmen just running around the screen aimlessly trying to deploy all of the time in Kagemusha and the final battle at Nagashino was very minimally done with lots of horsemen falling to invisible muskets and a largely invisible battlefield vista - all very tragic, but quite repetitive and dull too.

I did like Seven Samurai and Yojimbo plus Hidden Fortress. Samurai Banners was the same old Kagemusha deal with lots of crazy Ashi spearmen running around all the time.
i couldent have put it better http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Tachikaze]

If you watch Kurosawa for battle scenes, I would suggest you stick to Hollywood. Kurosawa is for people who like story, characterization, depth, beautiful photography, and insight into the Japanese mind (or humanity's for that matter).

Redbeard (Aka Hige) is one of the best.

If you really want to watch people running about in laquer suits waving knives and sticks, I suggest Heaven and Earth. It has the most battle-for-your-buck of any Japanese period movie.

[Swoosh So]

Tachizake i dont just like the movies for the battles but was told kagemusha had great battle scenes in it http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif I love the strong characters in kurasawas storys< WHO couldent love tango kurogane etc, what wonderfully illustrated characters


Swooooosh

[Yoritomo]

I wonder now, with Kurosawa faded into cinema history, who will carry the mantle going forward?

I can only wait for when some Japanese director will touch the Sengoku Jidai period and make a trilogy out of it.

We can only dream...