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In a surprising move, ADV releases a Region 1 DVD of
Yamato Takeru, Japanese with English subtitles,
before Toho releases a Region 2 disc in Japan. Possibly
Toho has changed their stance on the importing of Region
1's conflicting with sales of their own releases, or
they just simply had no plans to release the box office
dud, Yamato Takeru, in Japan anytime soon. Either
way, the video presentation found here is pretty subpar,
while the audio presentation is overall very good, but
the disc lacks any noteworthy extras.
The video quality found on ADV's disc for Yamato
Takeru leaves some to be desired. The aspect ratio
is 1.85:1, which is the original presentation ratio
for the film. Furthermore, this DVD has the cut credit
sequence from the VHS tape, which in itself is rather
nice. However, the film does suffer from some noticeable
artificating. The picture appears slightly grainy and
blurry through out, which is very noticeable, but no
where near as bad as Simitars releases. The print used
is not perfect, as there are mild scratches found through
out. Fortunately, the number of scratches on the print
never detract from the viewing experience.
The audio is easily the disc's strongest point. The
Japanese audio track is presented, flawlessly, in its
original stereo format, and never sounded better. The
English, dubbed, audio track, however, isn't quite as
perfect. Beyond the overall performances by the dubbed
actors, what one could expect from Toho's International
dubs, the English track just sounds weaker, like it
was recorded at a much lower volume (and it obviously
was when comparing the two), and loses the flare of
the stereo format that the Japanese has.
The extras here are pretty bad, as the only extra to
speak of is six trailers for some of ADVs other live
action DVD releases.
Bottom line: its Yamato Takeru, and its in Japanese
with subtitles; that will likely be enough of a selling
point for anyone interested in the film. However, with
the lack of extras and noticeable artifacting, people
who don't already have a interest in the film would
probably be better off skipping it.
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