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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Castle of Cagliostro, The (Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro No Shiro) (Blu-ray) (1979)

Castle of Cagliostro, The (Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro No Shiro) (Blu-ray) (1979)

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Released 10-Dec-2014
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Anime	Menu Audio Multiple Angles-Storyboard Art Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1979
Running Time	99:35
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Hayao Miyazaki
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Standard Blu-ray	Starring	None Given
RPI	$34.95	Music	Yuji Ohno

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Japanese DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese Linear PCM 48/24 2.0 mono English Linear PCM 48/24 2.0 mono
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080i
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	Yes	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

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Plot Synopsis

The Castle of Cagliostro (Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro) is one of the latest Hayao Miyazaki titles to get a Blu-ray upgrade from Madman Entertainment. This is his first film made before he started the Ghibli studio and despite being his first many of his stylistic approaches are here fully formed such as his love of interesting flying machines. Our review of the original DVD release from 2001 can be found here. This was followed by a Special Edition DVD in 2007 which we reviewed here. They will give you an overview of the plot although the first one seems closer to the mark in terms of plot to me.

Based on those reviews, this is clearly a huge step up in sound and vision terms, however fans might want to hang on to one of the previous releases as some of the extras have not made the transition to high definition. See below in the extras section for details.

This is a wonderful adventure films suitable for kids from about 8 and very enjoyable for adults. There is action and excitement, adventure, humour and marvellous hand drawn animation. The film is based on a manga and the character has been in a number of films. Many consider this to be the best film of Lupin (the main character) however, others say this takes the character too far from his usual persona of being a bit of a scoundrel. I can't really comment as I haven't seen any of the other films but I can say this is a wonderful and humourous adventure for those without knowledge of the manga or other experience with the character. It is rated M in this country which seems a little over the top to me as the violence here is generally quite tame. I suppose the rating may relate to couple of moments with knives.

Highly Recommended and a must for fans of Miyazaki's later work.

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Transfer Quality

Video

My overall impression of this video transfer is that the film looks excellent for an animated film of this age with bright and vivid colour and a sharp and detailed look. Technically it is in accordance with the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, however, has only been transferred to high definition at 1080i rather than 1080p. To my eye, this has not made a huge difference but it is hard to say without seeing it in 1080p.

There is some grain to be seen throughout, however, this looks like film grain to me which is to be expected for a film of this age. It is especially prevalent in the opening credits but can be seen in most scenes. There is also some minor aliasing to be seen here and there but generally this transfer is excellent and based on previous reviews a huge step up from the two DVD releases. So, on balance a great Blu-ray upgrade of what is now quite an old film.

There are subtitles available in English which follow the Japanese dialogue, which is quite different to the English dub (which I will discuss more below).

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The audio on this Blu-ray includes three options and your choice of which one to listen to with the film will probably depend on your personal preferences. There are original mono soundtracks available in both Japanese and English (technically mastered as LPCM 48/24 2.0 tracks). They are both clear and detailed, sounding fantastic despite the restrictions of the mono sound. The English dub included here is the one where Lupin is referred to as The Wolf throughout and the dialogue differs significantly from the Japanese. There is another dub which was done for a US DVD release but that is not incuded. I cannot compare the two as this is the only one I have heard. Leaving aside the differences in the dialogue and character naming (which may put some viewers off) this is a good quality English dub with some decent voice acting and engaging characterisations. In additon to the two mono tracks there is a new DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack in Japanese which takes the original mono and separates it to create some surround ambience. As you might expect this hardly makes it a home theatre demeonstration track but does open up the sound and provide more atmosphere and ambience.

In summary, this disc provides three good options for sound, including the original Japanese mono track, a good quality English dub and a new High Definition surround sound option. Great stuff.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

The extras here are not as fullsome as the previous DVD version which is a shame. Missing are photo galleries and an crew member interview about the film.

Storyboards

The full Hayao Miyazaki designed storyboard reel is available as a picture-in-picture extra as you watch the film. These appeared on the DVD version.

Original Japanese Theatrical Trailer (2:15)

A Japanese trailer which shows how much better the video is in the feature.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

This Blu-ray is available in the same format in the UK but has not been released in Region A yet. There is a non English-friendly Japanese Blu-ray but this does not even include English subtitles.

Summary

A funny and exciting adventure which was Hayao Miyazaki's first feature film.

The video quality is great for a film of this age.

The audio quality is very good.

The extras are reduced from the previous DVD releases.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
Display	Sharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio Decoder	Built into amplifier. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
Amplification	Marantz SR5005
Speakers	Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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