Rashomon [Criterion Collection]

"No other film did as much to awaken the world to the excellence of Japanese cinema as Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, and after releasing a superb collector's edition of the film in 2002, the Criterion Collection has made a more affordable DVD of the picture available for budget-minded film fans as part of their ""Essential Art House"" series. (This same disc has also appeared in their Essential Art House Vol. 1 and Essential Art House: Fifty Years of Janus Films sets.) Rashomon has been transferred to disc in its original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and the image quality is excellent, revealing a striking range of grey tones, especially for a film more than a half-century old. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono and the fidelity is as good as anyone could hope for given the age of the materials. The dialogue is in Japanese, with optional English subtitles but no multiple language options. A short essay in the accompanying booklet is the only bonus included with this disc, but the film itself has been treated with tender loving care, and aficionados of classic Japanese cinema who can live without extra features can get an excellent transfer of an enduring classic at a reasonable price with this release."