His will is irrelevant, and they will divide his spoils like dogs tearing at a carcass." This marked a radical departure from Kurosawa's earlier films, many of which balanced pessimism with hopefulness. Only "Throne of Blood", an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, had as bleak an outlook. Even "Kagemusha", though it chronicled the fall of the Takeda clan and their disastrous defeat at the Battle of Nagashino, had ended on a note of regret rather than despair. By contrast, the world of "Ran" is a Hobbesian world, where life is an endless cycle of suffering and everybody is a villain or a victim, and in many cases both. Heroes like Saburo may do the right thing, but in the end they are doomed as well. Unlike other Kurosawa heroes, like Kikuchiyo in "Seven Samurai" or Watanabe from "Ikiru", who die performing great acts, Saburo dies pointlessly. Gentle characters like Lady Sué are doomed to fall victim to the evil and violence around them, and conniving characters like Jiro or Lady Kaede are never given a chance to atone and are predestined to a life of wickedness culminating in violent death. Released on June 1, 1985, it was modestly successful financially in Japan. It earned ($12 million) in Japan, just enough to break even. In France, where it released on 18 September 1985, the film sold 813,081 tickets, grossing an estimated F (). In the United States, where it released in December 1985, the film earned $2–3 million upon its initial release, and a 2000 re-release accumulated $337,112. Including later re-releases in 2010 and 2016, the film grossed $4,135,750 in the United States and Canada. In Germany, where it released in 1986, the film sold 222,862 tickets, grossing an estimated  ($714,912). The film also grossed $18,692 in the United Kingdom, and $16,215 in Portugual. This brings the film's total estimated gross to approximately worldwide. "Ran" was critically acclaimed upon its premiere. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96%, based on 78 reviews, and an average rating of 9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Akira Kurosawa's sprawling, epic take on King Lear should be required viewing for fans of westerns, war movies, or period films in general."