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Princess Mononoke
review by Zach B.
Rated PG-13
Studio: Disney
Running Time: 134 minutes
With the voices of (English dub): Gillian Anderson,
Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, John DiMaggio, Minnie Driver,
David Keith, Billy Bob Thornton
Written and Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
English Adaption by Neil Gaiman
English Direction by Jack Fletcher
Retail Price: $32.99
Features: Theatrical Trailer, Featurette
Specs: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital 5.1, Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby
Digitial 5.1, English Captions For Dub, Literal English
Subtitles, Chapter Search (25 Chapters)
If you have been following this site all the way from the
start, then you know how much I've been going on about this
DVD. This, for nearly the past year, has been my most
anticipated DVD. Way past all these special editions from
the studios, this for me has been the Holy Grail of DVD.
Finally, Japanese animation fans and film lovers can
rejoice... after several delays and countless rumors, the
animated masterpiece "Princess Mononoke" has hit DVD.
First and foremost, Hayao Miyazaki is one of my favorite
filmmakers of all time, and has definently had the most
influential impact on me. I've been a fan of his for many
years as well as all that has come out of Studio Ghibli, his
animation studio with Isao Takahata (the man behind the
wonderful film
Grave Of
The Fireflies). Miyazaki creates some wonderful and
beautiful imagery, with well developed and interesting
characters, all wrapped in breathtaking stories with deep
themes about life. What I love about his films is that while
some of them are aimed for children ("Mononoke" is more for
adult audiences), they are still so entertaining for adults
as well. Miyazaki knows the human spirit and is a master
storyteller.
Now, on to the (in)famous history of this DVD. Things
began to fly in February 2000, when a DVD release seemed to
be on the horizon. A lot of sites reported it was due out on
May 9th of that year, and then June 13th. Both of these
dates were never confirmed by Disney, but were pure
speculation. Of course, there was so much around the June
13th date, many sites and publications picked it up actually
confirming it, when of course, a few weeks before, it was
debunked with no date set. Quite a few people were a bit
upset, until the end of June 2000 Disney made an announcment
reguarding the DVD, and that it was due out on August 29,
2000. Fans became happy again, however, many were upset that
the original Japanese track would not be included, due to
piracy worries with other regions. This began an excellent
outcry, as an internet petition was launched via
nausicaa.net, and was
picked up by many DVD and anime websites. In a matter of
hours, a ton of e-signatures were recieved and sent to
Disney, and Disney agreed to add the language track. Of
course, this would mean another delay, where the date was
set in stone for December 19th, 2000. I think fans all over
should feel proud of the fact that they helped in someway to
get the Japanese on there, so my kudos to nausicaa.net, the
various sites supporting the petition and the fans (I signed
the petition myself).
Now that we have all that out of the way, I think I
should get to the film itself. This lengthy epic takes place
hundred of years ago in Japan, where animal Gods and humans
live side by side, struggling to survive. The film opens
with Ashitaka, a brave warrior from a near extinct clan
of... well, warriors as he fights off a boar demon. In this
process however, Ashitaka is cursed and finds a piece of
iron inside the boar. Ashitaka sets off to stop the curse
from consuming him. Along the way, he meets the cold Lady
Eboshi, a strong leader who runs the industrious Iron Town.
Eboshi is set on expanding and having the town move foward,
but in doing so, she has wiped out a lot of the forest,
which the animal Gods aren't so happy about. With this going
on, Ashitaka meets with San, the Princess Mononoke, and gets
caught in the middle of the battle of man versus nature. San
is with the wolf clan, where she was raised by wolves and
thinks of a wolf herself. Ashitaka must come to terms with
what he is experiencing, and find out if there is a way if
the two sides can co-exist.
Let me start off by saying this is not your average, run
of the mill animated film. This is a deep, wonderful story
which really gets you thinking, and I feel it can be
compared to present day. Also, this film is not for children
either (don't let the "Princess" part fool you). I'm not
sure if many six year olds will understand it to its fullest
point, but there are several bloody, violent parts which
rival big budget action films and is sure to gross a few
people out.
Of course, the man behind the film is Hayao Miyazaki.
Miyazaki has created an incredibly bold and wonderful film,
with a lot of heart and a lot of depth. I guess I'll start
off with the animation. Yes, it is Japanese animated, but
it's so gorgeous. A lot of the animation has blew me away,
and I feel some animated sequences can only be done in
animation and can't be created for a live action film by any
cost due to the scope and detail. The colors, the setting,
it looks so lovely and captures the true tone of the film.
The tone that there is so much beauty to behold, but with
the beauty, there is some darkness with it.
Miyazaki's script and Neil Gaiman's adaption of it are
each really solid. Miyazaki is responsible for the story,
where he creates some really deep characters that are three
dimensional and have things to wonder about. While I feel
the story does drag on a little bit at points, it never gets
boring because there is so much to capture and so much going
on, it keeps you really entertained and making you wonder
what will happen next. The story arc is nicely developed
too, but as I mentioned before, this movie gets you
thinking, way after you have finished watching. Yes, man
needs to proceed with civilization and sacrifices must be
made, but nature has its life to carry on as well. Present
day industrial struggles are a perfect comparison with this
film. What should be done? Also, Miyazaki's direction
creates a wonderful, magical but believable world. Miyazaki
is a genius.
I suppose I'll focus more on the English dub now. I
mentioned above that Neil Gaiman's adaption is really solid,
as he keeps true to Miyazaki's original script but touching
it up himself for American audiences. It is truly an
excellent adaption, and Gaiman, a well known comic writer
for such works as "Sandman" does not dumb it down. It's
intelligent and I feel a great adaption.
The dub itself is also very good. The voice actors are
splendid in their roles. Billy Crudup is perfect as
Ashitaka, while Minnie Driver brings elegance but a tough
edge to Lady Eboshi. Gillian Anderson fits well as Moro, the
Wolf God, while most of the supporting players are good.
However, if there are two voices that don't exactly fit well
it is Claire Danes and Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton is Jigo,
a priest. But while he does capture the suavness and
greediness to him, I just felt the southern accent didn't
fit. As for Danes, her performance is good, but I just felt
her voice didn't fit the character of San so well. It was
kind of annoying. It's hard to describe... it was what you
may think San sounds like but not quiet. As far as lips
matching the voices, the job is very well done, and no one
should be complaining about that.
Even if you are not into animé or any kind of
animation I higly encourage you to check this film out. Why?
Because this movie is so well done and is truly one of the
best films of the 1990s (this also ranks as one of my top
ten films of all time). I waited on line opening weekend to
see this film when the dub came out, and I think if you are
a little open minded, you are sure to love and marvel at
"Princess Mononoke". I was really disappointed when Disney
did no marketing on the film whatsoever and did not bother
to give it a push it highly deserved. This is truly a film
which can reach many audiences (though not for the young
kids due to the violence). Now, when will Disney be
releasing "Laputa: Castle In The Sky"? (I saw the English
dub at that one too at a special screening, it's a great dub
by the way).
It seemed once Disney made a commitment to anamorphic
transfers, their presentations got better and better. Still,
you never know with Disney, but thankfully, "Princess
Mononoke" is outstanding for the most part. I mentioned this
movie has some tremendous visual beauty, and it's presented
here in perfection, right down to the very last pixel. The
transfer, presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, is
incredibly sharp, where colors are presented with much
accuracy, and there's no oversaturation at all. On a more
impressive note, I didn't notice any edge enhancment
whatsoever. Still, there is something people may want to
take note of. Disney uses branching for this release, for
the appropriate opening titles and ending credits. Since the
branching is different between the languages, the English
and French versions look perfect at the start. However, with
the Japanese, there are some grain and blemishes. Speaking
of that, sadly, there is a good amount of grain during the
presentation, as well as some dirt and blemishes. I found it
to be pretty distracting, and I was a bit disappointed to
see it (those little annoyances always tend to bug me).
Still, it's a top notch presentation. This transfer is
simply dazzling, and will truly please everyone. I'm very
thankful that Disney didn't mess this one up.
This is the most talked about and most anticipated part
of this disc. Everyone ranted how much they wanted the
Japanese language track, and here it is, in pure 5.1 Dolby
Digital. Also included is a French 5.1 Dolby Digital track.
Each of these sound pretty similar (though the English dub
did sound as loud as the Japanese track), and are great
mixes. The sounds of nature here are presented in an
incredibly crisp fashion. The Kodamas (forest spirits)
rattling, gunshots going off and the sounds of the animals
use some great surrounds and make you feel like you're in
the middle of this epic saga and watching it unfold before
your eyes. The battle sequences (like during the first hour
when San and Lady Eboshi fight) are well mixed and recorded.
Dialogue is clear and easy to hear. Best of all, Joe
Hisaishi's catchy, wonderful and memorable score uses all
the channels efficently, it sounds perfect. The tracks
perfectly capture the heart and spirit of the movie. Also
included is English "dubtitles" and the exact translation of
the Japanese in English.
This part is a bit disappointing. While I would have
liked some storyboards or production notes concerning the
release of the film (a Miyazaki interview would have been
excellent), what's here is fine. First off, you got the
Dub Trailer in full frame and two channel sound. The
trailer has a few bits of grain and blemishes, but looks
solid. And for you die-hard Miyazaki fans such as myself,
you'll notice this is the "first" trailer. There were two
trailers released, both the same, except the announcer
mispronounced "Miyazaki" and "Mononoke". So, here they are
spoken incorrectly. I hope there isn't so much rallying on
that... there's also a short but pretty good
Featurette. I usually hate the featurettes Disney
puts out, because half of them are the trailer itself.
However, the featurette on Mononoke has more of an emphasis
on interviews than clips, in which some of the past
featurettes I've seen from Disney, there's more time devoted
to the cuts from the film. The interviewees are from the dub
version, as Claire Danes, Billy Bob Thornton, Jada Pinkett
Smith, English voice director Jack Fletcher and a snippet
from English adaptor Neil Gaiman are included. While it's
nothing incredibly insightful, it's still a nice short watch
and I found it interesting.
However, the heart of the disc is the Japanese track and
the literal translation of the English subtitles. I feel
Disney did a great thing with this disc, giving the fans
what they truly desired. I always feel when you see a film
it should be the way the filmmakers originally intended, and
a lot of people do like seeing it in the original language.
Not only do you get subtitles for the literal translation,
but for the dub as well. I watched some of the dub with the
translation titles on, and I found it really interesting how
Neil Gaiman adapted Miyazaki's original lines. Some are
exactly the same, others are a bit spruced up and fit for
American audiences. I know this really isn't a supplement,
but I feel after so much controversy with this disc and
Disney delivering what the fans wanted, I am making an
exception and counting it as a supplement (if you don't like
it, go ahead and sue me).
I feel that Disney went out of their way with this
release. True, more supplements would have been nice, but
the presentation is top notch, and that is saying a lot
about Disney. As I said earlier, even if you don't like
animation, I highly reccomend this film to you, because I
think after you're done watching it, you'll like it to a
good degree. And you want to know something? I feel that the
delays so many fans had to bear just makes this release more
special and a lot better. This is a DVD for your collection.
 (5/5, NOT included in
final score)
 (4/5)
 (4.5/5)
 (2/5)
 (3.5/5, NOT an average)
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