Extras |
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Menus (English) |
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Chapters (21) |
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Trailers: Case Closed (English),
Fullmetal Alchemist (English), Yu Yu
Hakusho (English), Dragonball Z (English) |
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Monkey Punch Interview (15 Minutes) |
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Character Profiles |
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Captures |
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Review |
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Anthony Romero |
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This is my second Lupin title from Funimation,
the first being their Lupin
the 3rd: Farewell to Nostradamus disc.
Sadly, as before, I was left strictly unimpressed
by the firm's offering. This release is fairly
lackluster across the board, although really suffers
in regards to its video quality, while the audio
and extra presentations do little to elevate the
DVD's overall worth. |
Video: |
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Another Funimation title, another lackluster
video presentation. The biggest problem is simply
that the video track has been horribly compressed.
This has caused for the video to look blurred,
instead of sharp, while color,s such as deep reds,
look smudged. The video also contains ample signs
of artifacting in the form of pixilation, something
that is incredibly overt, even to the untrained
eye, in shots such
as these. Part of the reason for all this
compression is the fact that the company included
two different video tracks for the same movie,
one being their own US version of the film (with
the altered title and credits) and the other being
the Japanese one with the original titles, as
seen here. In reality, the differences between
the two versions are so minor that it's really
a disservice to the viewer, more than anything
else, to include both of them considering the
needless compression it brings to the table. As
for comparing the two tracks head-to-head, one
can see a scene from the US
"version" and the same scene in
the Japanese
"version". Suffice to say, they
are pretty much the same, although the Japanese
one has been compressed more and it's generally
recommended to watch it with the English titles,
changing the audio options through the remote
so one can still watch it in Japanese.
As for the print used in the transfer, there
are some signs of damage, although they are fairly
isolated cases and, overall, the print appears
to be in pretty good shape.
Dead or Alive is presented in its original
aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Unfortunately, the video
track is not anamorphic, as it has been encoded
at full screen with black bars to maintain the
widescreen aspect. |
Audio: |
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Like the firm's DVD release of Lupin
the 3rd: Farewell to Nostradamus, this
disc contains three audio tracks in total. Also
like the Farewell to Nostradamus disc,
most of the care here seems to have been placed
in the English tracks rather than the lone Japanese
one. To be fair, all three tracks are devoid of
inconsistencies, although, sadly, only the two
English ones have any speaker range to boast,
which in this case is a 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo
presentations respectively. In terms of the dubbing,
it's fairly dreadful, with a lot of "artistic
license" being used on the characters' lines.
However, it's certainly better than nothing for
those who dislike the alternative.
The audio can be accompanied by, removable, English
subtitles that correspond to the Japanese track
or the English dub. |
Extras: |
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This disc includes an interview conducted
with Lupin the 3rd creator Monkey Punch
at an anime convention in Texas. The interview
covers general information on the franchise, before
diving into details specifically related to Lupin
the 3rd: Dead or Alive. The segment is informative
overall, although sadly is a little slow in places.
This extra aside, though, the disc is fairly barebones.
There are some trailers included, although all
of them are in English and work more like commercials
than something most will busy themselves with.
The last supplement is also a throwaway feature
in the form of some "Character Profiles"
for the movie's cast of characters.
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Overview: |
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Bottom
line, this is a fairly unimpressive release. The
real insult here is the fact that Funimation charges
a premium price for the title, something that
had kept me away for some time. Luckily, by the
time I purchased this, I ended up locating a discounted
copy selling for $8. In the end, I would extend
that line of thinking to anyone interested in
picking up the title: search out the bargain bins,
as really this is a budget effort at best. |
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