Kurosawa: Crime Collection [DVD]

As an owner of BFI's Samurai/Classic and now Crime collection, I can honestly say that BFI does a fantastic job. I only discovered Kurosawa earlier this year and am now captivated by his deep and profound movies. Kurosawa plays with our minds and makes the viewer question themselves. I don't know what the original quality of the films were like, but BFI has restored it to an easily watch-able standard, you won't even mind that the films are black&white! The design of the box set is truly worthy of being part of anyone's film collection. Any fan of Kurosawa would love this, some of the greatest films ever made to be part of your film collection. Well as you know from the product description, the films provided are: Drunken Angel (1948); Stray Dog (1949); The Bad Sleep Well (1947); High and Low (1963); High and Low is probably my favourite, the film certainly drags your attention and you can't help but think about the value of human life. Kurosawa creates a style of suspense which rivals against Alfred Hitchcock in his own personal style, definitely a fantastic film, step by step the mystery unfolds. I would write a brief description of the rest, but thats for you to find out yourself (

As a loving owner of BFI's Kurosawa's Samurai Collection, I was keen to get my hands on his Crime Collection. Compared to the Samurai set, which is a good bit cheaper and in which you get more films, this one's value for money is less. Amazon (at time of purchase) had it cheapest that I could find and the way I compared it was to cost the four films as individual DVDs. Also, I had only seen Drunken Angel (1948) on VHS a few years ago and wanted to see it again properly. The other three I hadn't. Therefore I was going to get full value from it. The others included are Stray Dog (1949), The Bad Sleep Well (1960) and High & Low (1963). At least 3 of the 4 are very well acclaimed, both publicly and critically. As we can expect from a BFI box-set, it is impeccably presented in its signature black and white and comes with a card outer sleeve. It opens up with two discs on each side. The back has a neat summation on each film with plot, film lengths and ratios etc. Included is a rather nice booklet that includes quite comprehensive background info for each movie and still photos from the production company. Nowhere in the literature can I find it saying that BFI have restored any of these films. Both late '40s films looked a bit greyer and flatter than those in the Samurai Collection, but those were made later. There was an occasional scratch line and flicker and the sound had a few minor crackles. With volume turned up quite loud hiss was well controlled. Generally, the transfers are good, bearing in mind their age, but not outstanding. The two later ones look better, whilst not perfect they had no noticeable blemishes. I've reviewed all four films here separately, on Amazon, so for more details on each, please look under their individual titles. If, like me, you've enjoyed Kurosawa's more well known classics and wish to explore him further, then getting this set is a natural progression and really worthwhile addition to any collector's DVD library.

It is a collection of films that are not so readily available and yet are a very significant contribution to world cinema.

Dvd box set came fast in good condition and discs played superbly

Film Noir.. it's just an American thing, right? Well, show how wrong that assumption is with this stunning set of 4 decidedly Noir ish films. High and Low tells the story of a kidnapping and the responses to it. The first half shows the effect on people concerned when a company executive's son is snatched for ransom.. only they got the wrong kid.. they got his playmate - the chauffeurs son. How will everyone react? The second half is a gripping police procedural.

The film's are of course fantastic, but BFI has done the bare minimum with awful special features and not great restorations. That being said, in the UK this is really the only way to watch some of these films so in that sense it is essential for kurosawa fans unless you have a region free player.

I prefer the more famous samurai films. This is a whole different type of world. Ok if you are a completist .

High and Low or Stray Dog are extraordinary dramas brilliantly acted, beautifully shot with some stunning visual sequences with only music or incidental sounds. High and Low is one of the best films I have ever seen. I watched it twice and each viewing was a new revelation. Drunken Angel and The Bad sleep well were not quite as gripping but still worth watching.

Have always loved most of his works and wants dto own this one for awhile

Two masterpieces and two great films! These are four excellent films, and well worth the cost of admission. Drunken Angel and The Bad Sleep Well are solid Kurosawa -- unpredictable, beautifully shot and acted. Stray Dog and High and Low are two of the finest procedural dramas ever made -- masterpieces of urban drama. There are two short-coming with this set: 1 -- no accompanying commentaries or features aside from some text biographies. 2 -- these are PAL region 2. So they won't play on a North American DVD/Blu-ray player. However, if you have a multi-system player, this is good value for money.

En fait, ces œuvres de jeunesse sont loin de présenter l'intérêt des films de la maturité du maître. Décevant, les récits sont statiques, la mise en scène pauvrette et les acteurs décevants.

Good transfers from films that are not in that good of condition and that were shot will smaller budgets than Kurasawa would latter enjoy. A lack of any real bonus features is a strong negative. Criterion gets a strong nod for extras.