Stunning Photography

Rating: 7/10 (7 September 2005)

This is a long, leisurely movie, albeit one with some furious and exciting battle scenes, that suffers from the difficulty an American audience has in trying to keep straight who all the characters are and who is doing what to whom. BUT . . . you don't need to follow it all that closely to appreciate the stunning photography and color Kurosawa brings to this movie. Long tracking shots that are crisp from near foreground to deep background are populated with brilliantly colored soldiers, banners, skies. This is as good as it gets in an epic. Even when you have no idea of what's happening you can't take your eyes off the screen. You'll probably need to watch it twice to get the story straight and when you do you'll probably find it a bit obvious and predictable. Doesn't matter. Watch it so you can say you've seen one of the most visually beautiful movies ever.