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Article: `Samurai' provides a different perspective on Japanese films
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- January 30, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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This week's release of "The Karate Kid, Part II" (RCA-Columbia
Home Video, $79.95) and the recent release of Akira Kurosawa's "Ran"
(CBS/Fox; $79.98) are providing many video stores with a lucrative
trip to the Orient.
"Karate Kid II," of course, is the hugely successful sequel to a
hugely successful original movie. In the sequel, karate master
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita takes his student, Ralph Macchio, on a trip to
Okinawa, where rivalries, romance and fisticuffs ensue.
"Ran," director Kurosawa's restatement of Shakespeare's "King
Lear," is a classic, with marvelous photography (which loses some of
its sweep on the small screen) and well-realized performances. The
film is set in feudal ...