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DVD Title |
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril |
International Title |
Lone
Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril |
DVD Length |
Original Length |
81 Minutes |
81 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 |
. |
Menus (English) |
. |
Chapters (9) |
. |
Trailers: Lone
Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril, Lone Wolf
and Cub: Baby Cart in Land of Demons, Zatoichi At
Large, Zatoichi in Desperation |
. |
Program Notes (English) |
. |
Complete film and DVD Credits (English) |
 |
|
Captures |
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Review |
I'll lament, it took a lot of self control
not to tear into this release after seeing the
opening sequence to the DVD, in which AnimEigo
displays the Daiei
logo (on a movie that they had nothing to
do with) subtitled as Toho. Someone was asleep
at the wheel. This aspect aside, though, I have
to admit that Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart
in Peril is a adequate release, about on
par with their previous disc for the series: Lone
Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades. The
audio and video presentations here are handled
reasonably well, while the collection of extras
here, as expected from AnimEigo, is pretty bare
bones.
|
Video: |
 |
The video presentation on Baby Cart in
Peril is handled fairly well, although still
a far cry from the superb work AnimEigo was known
for at the start of this series. The most noticeable
inconsistency here is the coloring, as the entire
film has a slight brown tint to it, washing out
what could have been some vibrant colors and replacing
them with more monotone shades. The brightness
level is set a little too low here as well, although
not enough to make any scenes difficult to watch.
Digital inconsistencies present a slight problem
too, as some signs of artifacting are noticeable,
in particular with the manner in which some of
the reds here bleed (a obvious indication of compression).
On the other hand, edge enhancement is handled
very well here, as the film looks sharp in most
scenes. The condition of the print, or the level
of restoration as might be the case, is a highlight
here, as the movie has almost no noticeable print
damage during the course of the film.
Baby Cart in Peril is presented in
its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and is Anamorphic
for widescreen TVs.
|
Audio: |
 |
The audio aspect of this disc is a slight
notch above the company's other Lone Wolf and
Cub discs, surprisingly. Granted, the audio track
present here is a 2.0 mono presentation of the
Japanese audio track, but that was the original
audio format of the film. Unlike the other Lone
Wolf and Cub discs, though, there aren't many
inconsistances to be found here, with no pops
in the audio track and far less crackling sounds
to be heard during the course of the film, the
lone exception is the higher pitched main title
theme.
The audio here is accompanied by, removable,
English subtitles that are also color coded to
show when more than one character is talking in
a scene. 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.
|
Extras: |
 |
AnimEigo as usual here. If one has never purchased
a AnimEigo release before, they might find this
aspect of the disc interesting. However, if one
does own one of their discs, skimming over this
section altogether probably wouldn't be out of
the question. I'll digress a little here, having
reviewed so many of AnimEigo's releases, it's
getting damn hard to give a slightly new spin
to saying basically the same thing for each of
these discs. Anyway, to sum up this aspect quickly:
the disc features a collection of, rather heavily
damaged, trailers (Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby
Cart in Land of Demons, Zatoichi At Large, Zatoichi
in Desperation and the film's own trailer,
in this case) and some linear notes (both on the
disc and in print format inside the cover) that
pertain to Japanese customs and are often fairly
irrelevant to the film itself. In this disc's
defense though, the linear notes here are more
interesting to read than others, as they at least
cover some of the origins of the warring clans
in the film.
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Overview: |
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Bottom line, far from a bad release, although
not a great deal here that demands praise for
this disc either. Fans of the Lone Wolf and Cub
series shouldn't hesitate to pick up this DVD,
although the rather hefty price tag that AnimEigo
discs come with might cause new comers to the
series to think twice before purchasing.
This disc is also featured in the box set: Lone
Wolf and Cub: DVD Collector's Edition Box.
|
- Anthony Romero |
Buy
this DVD |
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