DVD Title
 Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons
International Title
 Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons
Movie Length: 89 minutes Original Length: 89 minutes
Company: AnimEigo Release: 2004
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Anamorphic: Yes
Region: 1 Discs: 1
  
Language/Sound: Order
Japanese (2.0 Mono)
Subtitles:
English
Extras
· Menus (English)
· Chapters (12)
· Trailers: Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons, Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell, Lady Snowblood, Zatoichi's Conspiracy
· Program Notes
Captures
Review
Anthony Romero

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons, the fifth title in the Lone Wolf and Cub series, follows in the footsteps of other AnimEigo titles of the time. This disc, which incorrectly starts off with the Daiei logo subtitled as Toho (something left over from their Zatoichi movies, but particularly embarrassing here as Daiei had nothing to do with this series), features: good video quality, a good audio offering, that is all topped off by another ho-hum selection of extras.


 Video:

The video track included for the film is decent, although borders very close to being quite good. The problems are that the movie is slightly too dark, and that there is a slight brown tint to the colors. The print used for the transfer, while generally in good shape, does have a notable scratch on occasion. In terms of noise levels, there is also a good layer of grain present through out. On the plus side, the colors are generally vibrant and distinct on this release. The level of detail present is also impressive, with a number of the close ups on the characters being very vivid although a few of the wide angle shots suffer from over compression. Sadly, the window boxing is a little off in this release, with sometimes the image appearing across the whole screen and other times being slightly cropped. It's a very small complaint, though.

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and is Anamorphic for widescreen TVs.


 Audio:

The disc contains one audio track, which is the movie in its original mono presentation. The track is in good quality, without any notable hiss or cracks. Hideaki Sakurai's musical score does sound a little scratchy at points, but otherwise is good for most of the movie's duration. In the end, the only thing holding back the audio here is a lack of other options, although "purists" likely won't be bothered by it.

The audio is complimented by removable English subtitles, with additional subtitles available for Japanese terms/expressions.


 Extras: Star Rating

AnimEigo is at it again. If you have reviewed as many titles from the company as I have at this stage, the first thing you always think of is: Program/Production Notes, and sure enough here they are. This being an earlier title from the firm, they are also present on a little insert in the box as well. Anyway, like other Program Notes from the company, these have almost nothing to do with the production itself and are more focused on giving background information on Japan and relevant side topics seen in the movie. It's a nice gesture, but in the age of Wikipedia, and other internet sources, not all that impressive today.

Outside of this, the disc contains four trailers, many of which feature some notable print damage, in the form of: Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell, Lady Snowblood, Zatoichi's Conspiracy, and one for the movie on the DVD.


 Overview:

Bottom line, this disc, while far from amazing, is serviceable for those wishing to just watch the movie and don't care much for supplemental content.