'Greatest war movie' has 95% Rotten Tomatoes score and you can stream now
This 1985 war movie which tells the story of one man's horrifying regret and his tragic end has been crowned as the 'best' of all time -and it's Amazon Prime.
While often we sit at home wanting to watch something light and fluffy, on other occasions you may fancy something more intense and thought-provoking - and a war film is always a hit.
Four decades after its debut, the epic war movie Ran continues to captivate cinephiles. Dubbed "the greatest war movie ever made" by Vulture in a recent list, Ran was released in 1985 after years of development.
The narrative of Ran intertwines Shakespeare's King Lear with the saga of Mori Motonari, a daimyo from the 16th century.
According to IMDb's description: "In Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him."
Ran tells a tale of profound regret and tragic downfall, where a surge of introspection leads even the mightiest to humility. The cast includes Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryû, under the direction of the legendary Akira Kurosawa.
Kurosawa invested years into crafting Ran, overcoming obstacles such as funding challenges to create what would become Japan's most costly film at the time. Additionally, Kurosawa contended with vision problems and the loss of his wife to cancer during production.
Ran, which means 'Chaos' in Japanese, aptly encapsulates the tumultuous nature of the film, showcasing vast armies, extravagant sets, and the fiery destruction of structures to portray its dramatic events.
It earned a spot on Esquire's list of the greatest war films ever, as well as ranking 19th on Rotten Tomatoes' 100 Best War Movies of All Time, boasting a 95% audience score.
The film took home the Academy Award for Best Costume Design in 1986 and received two BAFTA awards among several other honors, with one critic declaring it "no doubt the best film of 1985".
The war film "Ran" (1985) is available for streaming in the US. It is available on Amazon Prime Video and also on Kanopy. You can also find it on the BFI Player Amazon Channel.
People have also taken to social media to share their love for the movie, which has been described as "one of the best ever released". One Reddit, one commenter said: "It's definitely one of my favorites of all time and favorites from Kurosawa. The only film poster I have hung up in my apartment is a Japanese Ran poster."
Another gushed: "Ran is utterly amazing, it's epic in every sense of the word."
And a third added: "It is truly one of the best films I’ve ever seen, and I have stunned by how incredible this experience has been. I haven’t been wowed by any film like this in a long time."
