Akira Kurosawa: Every Movie Ranked Worst To Best
3. Ran (1985)
Like Throne of Blood before it, Ran is an adaptation of Shakespeare, this time bringing King Lear to feudal Japan with one of the most extraordinary movie epics ever made.
Kurosawa's last true masterpiece, the war drama is surely the director's most visually sublime film, produced in full colour and bursting with battle sequences, natural backdrops and expansive set pieces none of his films come close to matching.
It's not just about scale, though. Ran is also a simple tale of power and arrogance, as an aging warlord is destroyed by his selfish and unworthy sons. It's a cruel story, a powerful tale of greed, and at close to three hours in length never fails to live up to its awe-inspiring majesty.