MovieChat Forums > Kagemusha (1980) Discussion > An epic of boredom

An epic of boredom

posted 18 years ago by Ridley_Scott
16 replies | jump to latest

I thought the movie's plot and beautiful cinematography would be enough to hold my interest.
I was wrong.

The movie suffers from the "not enough action syndrome."
The movie's very few battle scenes are short and quite pathetic considering the amount of extras, horses, etc that were used in the film.

Why spend all the money to have these extras on set and not even put them to use?

I don't wana look at a *beep* army move around in formation.
I wana see them chop some *beep* heads off and slaughter their enemies like a good samurai should.

The movie is worth seeing at least once for the excellent cinematography and the cool costume designs.

But I'd never want to see it again.
(According to one reviewer on Amazon.com, the last battle scene was almost entirely cut out from the DVD version of the film. So maybe I shouldn't judge until I've seen the entire version of the film, but I doubt my opinion would change.)

I would recommend Ran, Throne of Blood, or even The Last Samurai over this.

[–] Kawada_Kira 10 years ago

You, my friend, are a douche.

"The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history."
Mao

[–] kjeao 10 years ago

OP's most recent thread is titled "The Holocaust Never Happened...Get Over..." He's a douche of epic proportion.

As for this movie, it's a masterpiece. It's probably too slow-paced for the Transformers-watching generation, though.

[–] Blueghost 8 years ago

A lack of battle scenes are my chief complaint about this film. Part of the reason you go to an epic is to see men slugging it out on the field of battle, and we didn't get that in this film.

I think it was largely because Kurosawa was experimenting with other shooting styles, and wanted to see how those would turn out. I think he already had battle sequences in mind, and already knew how to shoot those. It was the stuff between the battle scenes that concerned him, so that's what he focused on.

Still, I think he could have been a bit more considerate to his fans.

[–] Ore-Sama 8 years ago

Part of the reason you go to an epic is to see men slugging it out on the field of battle, and we didn't get that in this film.

Where did you get THAT idea? Not all epics are action oriented.

"It's just you and me now, sport"-Manhunter

[–] Blueghost 8 years ago

That's always been the case. You go to see these films to see the grand sweeping vistas and thousands or men or animals or whatever, clashing with one another or with nature. That's kind of what an epic is.

Kurosawa himself said that this film was a "Dress rehersal" for his opus "RAN". And in "RAN" we get those huge battles and sweeping vistas. Who can forget Nakadai descending the steps of the burning castle? Or Tango's revenge on the open plains. Or old Hidetora rummaging through the dusty burnt remains of a castle he put to the torch?

It's magnificent stuff. That's why you go. The artistry, and scale of it, the impact it has on you. The sordid tale of an evil man thinking that he can live the good life after just wreaking havoc and subjugating everyone, and we see the storm he's created for himself and his family.

I could go on.