…Ran means turmoil, and feudal dispute is at the heart of this stunning-looking film…Kurosawa’s swan song is a triumphant final curtain on one of cinema’s key figures for spectacle and story alike…

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 25, 2025

A level of spectacularity that continues to surprise to this day. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jun 9, 2025

Rereleased by StudioCanal to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary, his breathtaking adaptation of King Lear proves, so far at least, to be as immune to the effects of time as the original

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 4, 2024

“Ran” stands as a cross-cultural testament to timeless storytelling, where Kurosawa's indomitable spirit shapes a profound meditation on power, chaos, and the enduring resonance of Shakespearean influence.

Full Review | Original Score: 9 | Mar 3, 2024

Kurosawa is not merely true to Shakespeare’s story, he brings scenes alive with a cultural twist and a visual mastery...

Full Review | Aug 19, 2023

Ran makes miraculous use of color, and has a feel to it that only Kurosawa could accomplish.

Full Review | Jun 27, 2023

Over-long, dull in the middle, and unnecessarily tragic...

Full Review | Mar 29, 2021

Just in time for its 30th anniversary - and the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death - comes a beautiful 4K restoration...

Full Review | Dec 7, 2020

An arresting amalgamation of unforgettable imagery.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Sep 7, 2020

One can hardly watch Ran without feeling a sense of prophecy fulfilled. The tragic results displayed in this film suggest we all need to discern more deeply exactly who we can trust to lead us.

Full Review | Apr 10, 2020

Ran takes film spectacle to new heights. Kurosawa continues not only to extend his own powers but to exploit new technical advances.

Full Review | Jan 29, 2020

There is not a wasted second. [Here] is proof of what we seldom doubted: Kurosawa is a director who becomes godlike rather than gaga in old age.

Full Review | Jan 29, 2020

The great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, who has made a career of creating movie masterpieces, has at the age of 75 given the world a monumental work.

Full Review | Nov 6, 2019

This film is the visual epic of the year, and one of the few really great movies of the 80s.

Full Review | Jan 30, 2019

Kurosawa's greatness lies in his capacity to reveal historical similarity and variance; to find a Shakespearean sense of doom in the other, remote, and apparently alien historical place.

Full Review | Aug 12, 2018

Ran isn't the first film many think of when they consider Kurosawa's extensive filmography, but I would posit that it is among his best.

Full Review | May 1, 2018

Kurosawa may not be Shakespeare, but with images like these, he gets at something about the horror -- and hopelessness -- of being a man that is peculiarly his own.

Full Review | Jan 3, 2018

One can never be short of things to look at while Kurasawa's Ran is in the world.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 8, 2016

Ran is high classical tragedy several times over.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | May 20, 2016

It's the intimacy of even the most gargantuan conflict that hits home in Kurosawa's masterful hands.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 7, 2016