DVD
REVIEW: CASTLE IN THE SKY
02/28/10
OVERVIEW: CASTLE IN THE
SKY: SPECIAL EDITION: Introduce your entire family to Castle
In The Sky: Special Edition, featuring a timeless story of
courage and friendship with stunning animation from
acclaimed Academy-Award®-winning* director Hayao Miyazaki.
Plus, this 2-Disc Special Edition DVD included
never-before-seen bonus features that transport you deeper
into the film’s amazing world! This high-flying adventure
begins when Pazu, an engineer’s apprentice, finds a young
girl, Sheeta, floating down from the sky, wearing a glowing
pendant. Together, they discover both are searching for a
legendary floating castle, Laputa, and vow to unravel the
mystery of the luminous crystal around Sheeta’s neck. Their
quest won’t be easy, however. There are greedy air pirates,
secret government agents and astounding obstacles to keep
them from the truth—and from each other. Add Castle In The
Sky: Special Edition to your DVD library, and this magical
and uplifting classic will thrill and amaze your family for
years to come!
REVIEW: It is official, March 2nd is Ghibli day, or at least that is what I understand from Disney. With the upcoming release of the tenth Miyazaki production, Ponyo, it seems that those guys from marketing decided to target the Japanese director new fan’s as well as the already admirers a chance to add to their collection three of Miyazaki’s earlier masterpieces digitally remastered: Kiki Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, and Castle in the Sky, This last one being one of my favorites along with Howl’s Moving Castle.
It is characteristic of Miyazaki’s production to take place in incredible and beautiful worlds full of creative places, ingenious nature oriented machines, and colorful characters; it seems that for the Japanese director not even the sky is the limit. In Castle in the sky we get to see imagination at is best, presenting gorgeous settings, designs, and a mesmerizing story. Unlike Kiki Delivery Service, Ponyo, and My Neighbor Totoro, the movie has a faster pace, it has it all: romance, adventure, action, magic, some humor, pirates, huge aircrafts, heroes, and villains. This movie definitely seems to be targeted to an older audience; nonetheless, younger audiences would enjoy as well.
Like all Ghibli movies being released in March 2nd, Castle in the Sky excels in special features. It has everything the old releases had (which was not much) plus additional interviews with Hayao Miyazaki about how the movie came to be. Also the new re- mastered surround sound is excellent. The voices are the same as the previous Disney release, but what really is entertaining is The Enter the Lands
featurette, where you can explore the different movies and discover which character you are more alike.
Castle in the Sky is without a doubt a timeless classic, it has been 20 years since its release, and like many Walt Disney Classics this one still has not lost its magic. Its animation is superb, the characters are memorable and like all Ghibli productions it just looks extraordinary. It is also the perfect blend between little kid’s innocence with teenager adventurous material, in my opinion it is more complete than Ponyo and as Exciting as Howl’s moving Castle and Princess Monanoke. It is without a must have for fans of animation, either you prefer the magical world of Disney, or the excitement of Asian anime this DVD would definitely satisfy you.
Review By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) Enhance for 16x9 TVs
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround - English French Japanese
Subtitles - English French
BONUS FEATURES: Special features wise this release beats its predecessor, it has actual interesting features about this movie and other Miyuzaki’s movies. It even has interactive games, the interviews are also interesting where he explains his connection with nature and how it inspires him to create this wonderful worlds.
Original Japanese Story boards:
watch the whole story in storyboards. It is a good way to see how the director imagine it but I prefer the animation (1:26:00)
The World of Ghibli: This is the best feature of the whole DVD it is divided in two Sections:
Explaining the process of how the movie became what it
is. This is not your average Making of feature, Hayau Miyazaki explains himself his concept. There is also three other submenus were Miyazaki explains his
other 3 movies (Ponyo, Castle in the Ski, and kiki’s Delivery Service.)(approximately 1 hour)
Enter The Lands: this is a more friendly and entertaining feature where the user gets to explore the different lands of Miyazaki’s films in
Kikis Delivery Service Land : See a brief summary of the movie’s plot and a character explanation to hear its story.
Ponyo Land: See a brief summary of the movie’s plot and a character explanation to hear its story.
My Neighbor Totoro Land: you get to see an explanation of the different characters and some clips from the movies.
In Castle in the Sky Land: section there is a kind of test to see which character you are the most compatible.
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