CASTLE IN THE SKY
(1986, Blu-ray released May 22, 2012 – MSRP $39.99)
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THE FILM:
- “From acclaimed Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki (2002, best animated feature, Spirited Away). Pazu, an engineer’s apprentice, finds a young girl, Sheeta, floating down from the sky, and discovers they are both searching for a legendary floating island, Laputa. Together, they embark on a daring quest and encounter greedy air pirates, secret agents, and astounding obstacles that keep them from the truth – and each other.“
WHO SHOULD BUY:
I have a tough time calling this film “Castle in the Sky” as I grew up referring to it as Laputa, part of the translation of its original Japanese title. I came to learn in recent years, however, that the original title carries an unsavoury meaning in certain languages and totally understand why Disney, when it began distributing the film, decided to alter the it. It’s all right. No matter what name you come to know the film by, it’s absolutely brilliant and one of the cornerstones of the Studio Ghibli library.
Castle in the Sky is not a new film by any stretch of the imagination. It is, in fact, the very first film fully funded and released by Studio Ghibli back in the ’80s (the first film put together by the team at the Studio, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, was produced and released by publisher Tokuma Shoten and Toei Company), preceding the Studio’s critically acclaimed Totoro, so you’ll note that the famous blue logo is absent from the opening of the film. Castle is the only out-and-out adventure film that Miyazaki has produced, more in line with popcorn flicks like Star Wars than his many enviro-cautionary tales or films for children. But his traditionally well-crafted characters are in place and full of life and everything on screen, as you can imagine, has been immaculately well thought out and designed. It’s just a marvel to watch. To top it all off, the score by regular Miyazaki collaborator Joe Hisaishi is one of his more memorable works.
THE BLU-RAY DISC:
You might find this tough to believe but I just saw a brand new 35mm print of Castle in the theatre a month ago and, without a word of a lie, this new Blu-ray transfer looks a hundred times better. It’s stunning. Keep in mind, however, that this is an honest representation of the way this film was released, with film grain and anomalies intact, as they were back in 1986. The original Japanese audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 while the gussied up, more modern English dub is DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Opening and closing titles will change depending on which language you choose to listen to.
Bonus features are more extensive on this Blu-ray than other Ghibli releases but stricly mimic the DVD release of a couple of years back. The interview snippets with Miyazaki are pure gold but only serve to tease. They don’t run very long and any true fan will find themselves longing for more. “Scoring Miyazaki” affords a precious few moments with Hisaishi and “Producer’s Perspective”, a short chat with Toshio Suzuki, the man who makes everything Ghibli happen. Good stuff here, just not enough of it.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- The World of Laputa
- Creating “Castle in the Sky”
- Character Sketches
- Producer’s Perspective: Meeting Miyazaki
- Scoring Miyazaki
- Original Japanese Trailers
- Behind the Microphone – with voice talent from the film
[...] Castle in the Sky Blu-ray Disc Review from The Blu-ray Blog on May 23, 2012 at 02:30PM [...]