This DVD release of Hana & Alice by Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) is yet another solid offering from the company. While there isn't a standout feature that particularly shines, the disc performs well in all key areas, including video, audio, and supplementary content.
| Video: |
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HVE has a pretty good track record for
the video quality on their Japanese titles,
and Hana & Alice is no
exception. The video is a bit harder to critique,
though, due to the source material. Shunji
Iwai, who edited the movie as well as directed
it, tends to love a multitude of editing techniques
such as blur, color tints, and over saturation.
This makes the material a bit harder to "grade"
for the transfer process, but despite this
one can still conclude that the release has
excellent colors, with very vibrant shades
when the movie permits. There is some slight
noise to the video track, but nothing too bad and comes off more like natural film grain. Having not seen the movie prior, it's very possible the grain look was digitally added by the filmmakers, though. Anyway, the print
used also features no scratches or other overt
signs of film damage. The movie could have
stood to look a little sharper, but still
contains a good amount of detail.
Hana & Alice is presented
in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and
is Anamorphic for widescreen TVs.
| Audio: |
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The DVD has one audio track, which is
the movie in two channel surround. The directionality
isn't all that impressive, but then the movie
isn't really the variety to utilize it that
much. What can be said is that the audio track
included is in perfect condition, without
any snaps or crackles that one would associate
with older productions, and features no notable
inconsistencies.
The audio is complimented by removable English
subtitles. The subtitle job is adequate, but
sometimes leaves out a word or two and could
have probably done with a final proof reading.
| Extras: |
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The disc contains two extras. The first
is a very short TV spot for the production,
roughly 16 seconds. The second is a very lengthy
and well done featurette looking at the making
of the film. This covers nearly every angle
of the production, doing a behind-the-scenes
look at a huge number of scenes from Hana
& Alice. Aspects such as ballet practice
and interviews with the staff and cast are
also sprinkled in, making this a very interesting
supplement for fans of the film to busy themselves
with.
On a tech side note, the featurette includes
removable English subtitles and is presented
in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, or full screen.
| Overview: |
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Bottom
line, HVE has done a pretty stellar job with
this release. It has no real weaknesses, and
has a pretty strong showing across the board.
It does sell for a slight premium price, but
this is nothing new for Japanese cinema DVDs
and the actual contents of the disc are produced
with a good level of care here from the company.
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