Just to let everyone know that I got the Silent Duel disc this morning and its pretty much exactly the same as the Ronin release minus the newsreel and interviews. Which is good news from a transfer perspective since the video has basically been stolen lock stock from the pretty decent R1 version. It also includes a trailer for Madadayo, which I’m assuming is going to be a similar shebang as far as copying the transfer from a US version.

Still waiting for a pay cheque to come in before I can afford Madadayo :-p

Got Madadayo today and (as expected) its pretty much exactly the same as the Winstar release only without the storyboards and with different menus. Shame there isn’t an anamorphic version of this film out anywhere to my knowledge. Criterion really should have it high on their priority list.

Watched the bfi Hidden Fortress the other day, and comparing that crystal clear transfer to the state of a film made in 1993 is slightly depressing. Still – there’s more hope for Madadayo than Dersu Uzala.

I’m still waiting for my copies (they seem to have disappeared into thin air), but thanks for letting us know about the quality!