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DVD Title |
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades |
International Title |
Lone
Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades |
DVD Length |
Original Length |
89 Minutes |
89 Minutes |
Company |
Year of Manufacture |
AnimEigo |
2003 |
Language |
Subtitles |
Japanese |
English |
Region |
Number of Discs |
1 |
1 |
Aspect Ratio |
Sound |
2.35:1 (Anamorphic) |
2.0 Mono |
Extras |
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Captures |
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Review |
By all standards, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby
Cart to Hades is a adequate release. It has
become fairly obvious at this point that AnimEigo
won't match the quality seen in some of their
early DVDs, such as Zatoichi
the Outlaw, but their discs still get
the job done. Baby Cart to Hades is no
exception here, as it has acceptable video and
audio presentations, while displaying the company's
trademark bare bones selection of extras.
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Video: |
 |
At one time I would have praised AnimEigo
for their attention to detail in this area, but
sadly this title is the start of a downward trend
in this regard. The video presentation on this
disc has numerous small inconsistencies, which
hardly distract from the viewing experience but
as a whole they are noticeable. The colors, for
example, could have been very vibrant on this
release if the entire print itself wasn't discolored.
The entire movie has a slightly noticeable brown
tint to it, which pretty much negates what the
DVD format has to offer in terms of color contrast.
The brightness level here presents another problem,
as it's set too low and drowns out the detail
in some of the night scenes. Some aspects of the
disc are done very well though, such as digital
inconsistencies, as there are no signs of artifacting
while edge enhancement is handled well with the
movie looking sharp. In regards to the print used
for the transfer, it appears to be in good shape. Scratches do appear on occasion, although
never to the degree where it hinders from watching
the film. As for noise, there
is a minimal amount of grain present, which is
made less noticeable by the low brightness level.
Baby Cart to Hades is presented in its
original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and is Anamorphic
for widescreen TVs.
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Audio: |
 |
AnimEigo's release is a faithful recreation
of the film's original audio track, although not
flawless. The audio present here is a 2.0 mono
presentation, so no speaker distinction as expected.
The track itself isn't perfect, the most noticeable
inconsistency is that it gets slightly scratchy
sounding when the volume reaches a certain level,
which is really only noticeable during the main
title theme. Otherwise, it gets the job done well.
The audio here is accompanied by, removable,
English subtitles. The subtitles are color coded,
like all of AnimEigo's releases, to show when
more than one character is talking. There is also
a second set of subtitles that can be turned on
to provide definitions for certain words associated
with the era in which the Lone Wolf and Cub films
take place.
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Extras: |
 |
Anyone familiar with AnimEigo's many DVDs
will likely be unsurprised to see that this disc
only features a couple of trailers and some linear
notes. I should state that I do enjoy watching
the trailers to these films immensely; however,
these trailers are so whored out across AnimEigo's
DVDs that it's hard to get excited if one owns
a previous disc from them. Particularly disappointing
here is that, of the trailers present (Zatoichi
At Large, Lone
Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance, Lone
Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril, Lone
Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell), the
film's own theatrical trailer is absent. The trailers
found here aren't particularly presented well
either, sporting noticeable print damage and often
with the brightness level adjusted too low. It's
far from bad enough to make them unenjoyable to
watch, but nothing praise worthy about them either.
As for the linear notes found, they are pretty
basic this time around. There is a brief explanation
on the manga that this series was based on, while
the other pages go over aspects of Japanese custom,
such as black-painted teeth. The linear notes
appear here both in print format and on the DVD
itself, although it should be noted that the "forward
arrow" to look at more pages doesn't work
when one attempts to access it with a mouse while
playing on a DVD-Rom drive. So one will be stuck
on the first page unless they want to get out
a traditional DVD player or just use the print
version.
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Overview: |
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Bottom line, if one enjoys the Lone Wolf and
Cub series they shouldn't hesitate to pick up
this DVD. Baby Cart to Hades isn't a
bad release by any means, certainly better than
the company's Zatoichi
At Large, but it doesn't have many positive
aspects to gush over either. The rather hefty
price tag, as with all AnimEigo releases, will
likely keep those who don't have a huge interest
in the series away, though.
This disc is also featured in the box set: Lone
Wolf and Cub: DVD Collector's Edition Box.
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- Anthony Romero |
Buy
this DVD |
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