Miramax was quick to release Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys to TV and then DVD, both occurring separately and within a year after the movie's Japanese theatrical debut. Unfortunately, this release adheres to the complaints leveled against the previous Pokémon film DVDs: a cropped 1.33:1 presentation of the American version only. That, coupled with some other video complaints and lacking extras lead to a so-so DVD that is at least a cheap way to get the movie on home video.
| Video: |
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Miramax stuck with the American version of the movie for its release. This includes some burnt on-screen text, a new title sequence and some minor edits, such as shortening the destruction sequences around the Rayquaza vs. Deoxys battles. It's not the sever edit that was found on the TV version, though, which allows it hold the "never before seen footage" claim. As for the quality, sadly, the video track here is too bright. This washes out details on a few occasions, but also leaves the film without a true black. It also impacts the colors which, while distinct, are never vibrant. In terms of the condition of the movie, there are no signs of scratches or other damage. There is a faint layer of grain, though, but the high brightness level does wash this out some. Signs of compression are masked somewhat by the high brightness, although are apparent in details such as Jessie's red hair or also moments with a lot of movement on screen such as when Rayquaza faces the city's security.
Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys is presented in an
aspect ratio of 1.33:1. It's cropped from its original aspect, which is a large negative and the film's frame feels cramped as a result. It also leads to some awkward moments, like when the characters note Plusle and Minun and begin talking to them... but they are off screen due to the cropped aspect.
| Audio: |
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This DVD features two different audio tracks, one dubbed in English and the other dubbed in French with stereo support. The English track is interesting as it's a 5.1 surround presentation, versus the stereo version present on the Echo Bridge Blu-ray releases of the movie. The track uses the original English voice cast, before they were replaced in 2006. While the overall performances are up and down, there are a few who make the dubbing more tolerable, notably Eric Stuart's performance for James and Brock. As for the quality of the audio track, it's okay. The directionality isn't great, although things like the explosions and rays do benefit a little. For the French version, the performances are actually good, which is a bit of a tragic note as this would be the last time the films were dubbed by this French team. Also, Miramax did a good job with matching the audio levels between the two track as well, as there is no awkward jump in volume level between them. As a side note, the French dub does not address the English song "This Side of Paradise" by Bree Sharp, which is kept in English.
The movie can be accompanied by removable English subtitles.
| Extras: |
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This DVD has a variety of supplemental content, but nothing too stellar among its features. The best of them is a short "On Location with the Director" feature, which is a bit over two and a half minutes long. It shows the director, Kunihiko Yuyama, as he visits Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. The city served as the inspiration for LaRousse City in the movie, as they spent four days in Canada scouting the area. Although the director speaks in Japanese, the feature has a voice over that translates what he is saying in English.
Next up is a poster gallery. While it's cool that they show the Japanese posters here, there are only three of them and it's a pretty short feature. Following this is a menu based game called "Poké-Quiz" which basically asks questions related to events in the movie. Another menu based feature is the "Who's That Pokémon?" that covers "new" Pokémon like Munchlax and Deoxys. Finally, the disc also has a lot of adverts that include for Chicken Little, The Incredibles, Bionicle 2: Legends of the Metau Nui, Spider-Man: The Venom Saga, Power Rangers: Dino Thunder, Sacred Planet and Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go!. Many of these are for home media releases, such as the Spider-Man: The Venom Saga which is a DVD release for some episodes from the 1990's Spider-man cartoon.
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Bottom
line, this isn't a particularly great release and a real step down from their previous Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker DVD, although is a cheap way to get access to the film on DVD. For those with a Blu-ray player, though, I would advise getting one of the many cheap releases that bundle this movie with other Pokémon entries. These are not only high definition, but aren't burdened by the full frame, high brightness issues of this release.
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