Gantz (2010) (Blu-ray)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Featurette-Making Of Interviews-Cast & Crew Teaser Trailer-x 3 Theatrical Trailer-x 2 TV Spots-x 3
Rating
Year Of Production	2010
Running Time	130:41
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Shinsuke Sato
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Kazunari Ninomiya Ken'ichi Matsuyama Yuriko Yoshitaka Kanata Hongô Natsuna Tomorowo Taguchi Takayuki Yamada
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	$34.95	Music	Kenji Kawai

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Japanese DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese Linear PCM 48/16 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, preparation for part 2

     Gantz is a live action version of the manga written by Hiroya Oku that commenced in 2000 and is still going strong after 300 plus issues. Gantz has also appeared as an anime series from 2004. Fans of the manga or anime would need no introduction to the plot or characters.

     Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) and Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama) are killed by a train while trying to save a drunk. They awake in an apartment, bare except for a large black sphere. Also in the room are a number of strangers, all of whom seem to have been killed recently, as well as Kishimoto (Natsuna) who has committed suicide. The sphere, it seems, is called Gantz, and Kurono and the others are there to be sent by Gantz upon timed missions to kill aliens, earning points for their achievements. If anyone can amass 100 points they can choose to either leave the “game” or bring someone back from the dead. Outfitted in tight-fitting black leather that gives the wearer extra strength and powers, and armed with some flashy otherworldly weaponry, each participant has a reason for wanting to succeed and return to their old existence. That is if they can avoid being killed – permanently.

     Gantz has an intriguing premise, developed in interesting ways. The participants are not trapped in the Gantz world as such, but between missions inhabit their previous “real” world and the interaction between worlds allows this to be more than a “shoot up aliens” film. The action when it does occur is flashy, energetic, loud and very bloody, and the aliens are a nice mixture of challengers, from the mostly benign one who eats onions to the deadly many armed statue. But there are enough quiet moments to give the film balance and some depth; especially in the developing relationship between Kenichi Matsuyama and Natsuna who are both very good. In contrast, the relationship between Kazunari Ninomiya and Yuriko Yoshitaka (who plays Kojima) is rather wooden. The sound design of the film is also a highlight. In many sequences there is no music, resulting in a very silent audio experience; that is until something happens! Then the suddenness and sharpness of the bangs is awesome and effects reverberate all around the room.

     Gantz is not a complete film but only the first half. The second half is Gantz 2: Perfect Answer. Gantz has an intriguing premise, developed in interesting ways, with good action sequences, a surprising depth to some of the characters and a killer sound design. Gantz certainly leaves one wanting more.

Video

     Gantz is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the original aspect ratio, in 1080p.

     While there are no issues with the print, it is not really one to show off the superiority of HD and Blu-ray. Sharpness is on the soft side and detail, and shadow detail, does suffer in comparison to other Blu-rays I have recently watched. However, you can always see what is happening in the many night-time sequences. Colours are natural and mostly deliberately dull. Blacks are fine and contrast and brightness consistent. I did not see any artefacts of any kind.

     English subtitles are available in a white font that is easy to read. They are in English English and did not contain any spelling or grammatical errors.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     Audio is a choice of Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD MA or Japanese LPCM 2.0, non-surround encoded.

     As noted in the review, the sound design of the DTS-HD MA is a ripper. There are many deliberate silences, but when the audio bursts into life it was crisp, sharp and beautifully balanced. Dialogue is clear and centred and the surrounds were full of life, especially during the action sequences which results in a great enveloping feel. The subwoofer gave effective bass to explosions, crashes and other effects.

     The original score by Kenji Kawai is not overused, and nicely adds to the feel of the film.

     Lip synchronisation was fine.

     The LPCM 2.0 is sharp and loud; I cannot say I sampled much of it.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

The Making of Gantz (18:00)

     This is basically an on-set video diary with no structure or linking narration. There are some interesting behind the scenes sections showing how things were done and I learned that they were very polite on set and that it was very cold during the shooting of some scenes!

Interviews (28:08)

     An EPK. Questions appear on the screen which are then answered by the interviewee. Nothing meaningful – “how did you feel when you got the part?” or “how was working with …?” are typical. Interviews range from about 9 minutes for the director, 6 minutes for the main actors, others less. Involved are director Shinsuke Sato and cast Kazunari Ninomiya, Kenichi Matsuyama, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Kanata Hongo and Natsuna.

Teasers and Trailers

     Teaser trailers x 3 (0:32, 0:33, 0:33) and trailers x 2 (1:32, 1:40). There is no play all options so each must be selected individually.

TV Spots

     Three TV spots (0:16, 0:18, 0:19)

     The Region A US release has the same technical specifications, a Director’s Profile and interview (28:50), a promo reel (2:11) and the trailers. It also includes an English language dub. It misses out on our extras, including the “making of” and cast interviews. The Japanese Region A Blu-ray looks to be the same as the US version, but without the dub or subtitles. With the “making of” this seems to be a victory to Region B Australia for a change.

     Fans of the manga or anime would need no introduction to the plot or characters of Gantz. For others, think an alien hunt by participants outfitted in tight-fitting black leather and armed with some flashy weaponry. Gantz > has an intriguing premise, developed in interesting ways, with good action sequences, a surprising depth to some of the characters and a killer sound design.

     Gantz is not a complete film but only the first half. The second half is Gantz 2: Perfect Answer. The end of Gantz certainly leaves one wanting more.

     The video is fine and the sound design awesome. Extras are not extensive but we do seem to have more than Region A for a change.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall