Wow, Snatch and Ran would make a great movie title, but they’re actually two different movies. The first, Snatch (2000), was made by the up and coming director known as “the guy who married Madonna,” and, let me tell you, the guy who married Madonna knows how to make a fun movie. Lot’s of firearms and lot’s of humor and a wacky cast of characters with cool nicknames (Brick Top, Boris the Blade, Bullet Tooth Tony) makes for a good time had by all. If you’re wondering about the plot, it’s something about a diamond and unlicensed boxing and what not, basically, it’s a bunch of plot lines that run in parallel and then collide. Its story really isn’t that important as this is one of those style over substance movies that I’m not smart enough to see through. Anyway, all the (really) bad people get killed in the end, so it’s a happy movie. 5 stars.
Ran (1985) is a much more serious film directed by a man who never married Madonna, the famed Akira Kurosawa. The plot is based on my favorite Shakespeare play I was forced to read in high school, King Lear, but instead makes all the main characters Samurai. If there was one thing I’ve always said about Shakespeare, it’s that it could be a bit better if there were just some Samurai in it… or some ninjas or a terminator from the future. And, for the most part, I was right. Added to the story of a king trying to retire with dignity and then seeing his kingdom torn apart by his children is some great war scenes with arrows and old style firearms. Two essential samurai things were missing, though: a katana fight and Toshiro Mifune. Also, if Kurosawa was going to change the plot by making it take place in feudal Japan and using sons instead of daughters, he might as well cheered up the ending while he was at it. Tragedies make me sad. 4 stars.