A good movie badly in need of editing

Rating: Null/10 (25 December 2003)

I can understand the influence that Kurosawa had on modern-day directors, and in that sense, I respect him. However, while this movie shone in several places, it was too much of a slow burner for me to enjoy.
The movie itself is visually stunning, and the costumes are well done. The wide camera shots have a feeling of pomp and grandiloquence and are very beautiful. Kurosawa truly had an eye for this. The acting was, for the most part, superb, if not a little overdramatic. It fits the story well, though.
However, I found myself squirming unsteadily in my seat for 160 minutes. Many parts of the movie were slow, even for me; it's comparable to a story line of Dragonball Z, where a story that should only take about a week to finish is stretched over many episodes. It's painful, and I almost reached for my remote to fast forward through the movie (something I have never done). It was enough to ruin my experience.
I would recommend it, if you have the patience to sit through the static moments.