Extras |
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Menus (English) |
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Chapters (20, 10 Selectable) |
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Trailers: Portrait of Hell (Teaser,
Theatrical) |
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Program Notes (English) |
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Cast and Crew Bios (English) |
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Captures |
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Review |
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Anthony Romero |
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One has to hand it to AnimEigo for their continued
efforts in releasing Toho's titles, as five years
later after their introduction to the DVD format
they have arisen to have released more Toho's
films to region 1 then any other firm. Unfortunately,
the quality of their titles has not vastly improved,
ignoring their first few discs. They have certainly
had their ups and downs in recent years, and while
this disc is pretty good in terms of the movie's
presentation, with good video quality and at least
passable audio quality, it tends to skimp on extras
like most of their titles do. Something that might
be easier to overlook if the company didn't charge
a premium for its releases. |
Video: |
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This disc features a pretty good video presentation,
with the most noticeable aspect being the richness
of the film's colors. The print used for the transfer
also looks to be in good shape, with no scratches
to be seen. Noise levels are also good, with grain being minimal for most of
the duration. Like some other transfers of Showa
era films, though, the movie does suffer a little
during scenes of super imposition. For these scenes noise levels get out of hand, some discoloring is present and even light flickering rears up.
Sadly, these types of scenes are all too common
in Portrait of Hell, making these discrepancies
even more noticeable then usual. Thankfully, the
disc is at least devoid of overt signs digital
inconsistencies, although the movie does look
a little soft during some scenes and could have
stood to be sharper.
Portrait of Hell is presented in its original
aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and is Anamorphic for
widescreen TVs. |
Audio: |
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Sadly, this disc is another one where AnimEigo
has not handled the audio presentation as well
as they should have. This disc comes with only
one track, which is a mono presentation of the
film. Unfortunately, the track sounds harsh and
scratchy at the higher audio levels, which is
particularly noticeable during sequences of the
movie's soundtrack. It should be assuring to know,
though, that at least the dialogue is mostly unaffected,
due to being much more subdued in terms of volume
level when in contrast to the musical score.
The audio can be accompanied by, removable, English
subtitles that are available in two options: the
first is for all audio and text, and the second
is for text in the film only. Like other discs
from the firm, the subtitles are color coded so
it's easy to tell when multiple characters are
speaking during the same scene. |
Extras: |
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If one has purchased one of AnimEigo's releases
before, then there should be no surprise in the
supplemental selection here. In total, there are
the company's trademark Program Notes, which provide
background information on the historical era that
the film took place in, Cast and Crew Bios, which
are more informative then usual, and finally two
trailers of the film with the first being a very
early teaser that shows director Shiro Toyoda
with the cast. Also worth addressing is the fact
that, for whatever reason, only half of the disc's
chapters are actually selectable from a menu,
with each being given a name like "1-2"
or "19-20".
On a side note, I found AnimEigo's disclaimer
on the back cover rather humorous. They do warn
against violence in the film, which is expected,
but also "philosophy", which is just
bizarre.
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Overview: |
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Bottom
line, if one is just looking to see the film,
then this is a fairly good release despite some
minor problems, as like most of AnimEigo's catalogue
it tends to suffer the most from its lack of supplemental
material. |
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