Following a limited theatrical release in the states, Gkids/Shout! Factory have produced a dual format release for the CGI Lupin the 3rd film. Containing both a Blu-ray and the film on DVD, this release is overall excellent. It excels in respect to video and audio quality while also boasting a rather large selection of extras.
As a side note, this review will focus on the Blu-ray rather than the DVD inside this release.
| Video: |
 |
First off, to note, the video track present here is the US version meaning there is a lot of on screen text that has been changed to English. This includes the opening titles but also text that appears during the film itself, like to note locations or time periods.
As for the video quality... it's great across the board. The picture here looks sharp with no inconsistencies from the source used, or overt artifacts from digitizing it for that matter. The colors are also great here, looking natural but with a rich depth and great vibrancy to them. The colors are most overt on aspects like Lupin's red suit, sunsets and a lot of other sequences that take advantage of the wide color array.
Lupin III: The First is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio.
| Audio: |
|
The Blu-ray features three lossless 5.1 surround audio tracks in total. One of these is the original Japanese. Another is the English dub while the final option is an English descriptive track, that describes what's happening on screen. Quality is fantastic across all three, although I'll be honest that I focused more on the Japanese and English dub tracks. Overall, the audio clarity was great with dialogue coming through very clear. The score by longtime series composer Yuji Ohno also benefits here, especially during the opening titles and highway sequences where it really kicks up the action scene a notch. Directionality is also great on this release, used well during sequences like the destruction scenes with the Eclipse.
The movie can be accompanied by removable English subtitles.
| Extras: |
 |
Gkids has done a pretty good job of cramming this release with a lot of bonus content. In fact, there is about 2 hours of bonus material, although 53 minutes of those are mostly audio only. Regardless, there is a nice selection to look through here.
First up, a fairly large collection of trailers. These range from a series of international ones, which are fairly close to the Japanese ones, to a large collection based on the US version. As can be expected, quality is high on all of them.
Next is a feature dubbed "Interviews with the Director and Japanese Cast". This is a 34 minute feature in Japanese with optional English subtitles. It kicks off with Kanichi Kurita, the voice of Lupin, and Daisuke Namikawa, the voice of Geomon, talking to each other about their experiences with the franchise. Right off the bat the two name drop Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) as if it was the first film based on the franchise, although given the pedigree of the title it being forced into the conversation probably isn't too surprising. They also talk about the creator of the franchise, Monkey Punch, who recently passed away and it's a nice moment with some personal reflection. After about 12 minutes actors Suzu Hirose, who voices Laetitia, and Tatsuya Fujiwara, who voices Gerard, are brought in to talk among themselves. About 20 minutes in director Takashi Yamazaki goes up to talk about the film by himself.
Following this we have the "English Cast Reunited" extra. This is a 53 minute extra that has the English cast talking amongst themselves, naturally in English. This is mostly an audio only extra, as the cast talk while their profile pictures basically vibrate to tie in which is speaking. Richard Epcar, who does the voice of Jigen, leads the conversations. For fans of the series, in particular the dubs, this should be a nice extra and they are clearly having fun which makes this more enjoyable to listen to.
Next up is the "Animation Breakdown" feature. This 18 minute extra basically follows a sequence from storyboards to layering in the effects to the final scene. It's fairly interesting for those who are curious about the CGI process.
After this is a 6 minute extra that focuses on the CG models in the movie. This is mostly based on props and locations, doing pans or rotating objects.
| Overview: |
 |
Bottom line, this is a great release. In fact, there is hardly any complaints to be had across the video or audio presentations. The extras are also a nice added value, overall making this a superb package in all. Fans of the franchise or anime in general are well advised to add this to their collection.
|
