Kagemusha (Criterion Collection)

When a petty thief (Tatsuya Nakadai) in feudal Japan is spared from execution and recruited to act as the double for a dying warlord, the decoy--or "kagemusha"--finds himself assuming the fiery drive of the man he is impersonating. Flush with confidence (or perhaps overconfidence), he takes charge of the army and leads it into a decisive battle. Akira Kurosawa's sprawling epic, rescued in part by admirers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, also stars Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara. 180 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: Japanese Dolby Digital stereo; Subtitles: English; audio commentary; documentary; interviews; theatrical trailers; featurettes; storyboards. In Japanese with English subtitles.