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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2004
There is probably no anime character as revered or as celebrated as Lupin the 3rd (well maybe Captain Herlock). Lupin's adventures are truely some of the most entertaining in the entire medium. And The Castle of Cagliostro continues that tradition in spectacular fashion.
Directed by the legendary Hiyato Miyazaki who directed Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, The Castle of Cagliostro follows Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko, and Goemon to the European country side. There they find that the Duke of Cagliostro is about to wed a young lady, who has ties to Lupin's past.
This is, without a doubt, an absolute joy to watch. At a time when so many anime series are overly tedious, brooding and melodratic, it's refreshing to see a film that has a grand sense of adventure and being humours at the same time. Lupin the 3rd may be the world's greatest thief, but in this film he gets to play the hero. Which is a great change of pace for Lupin. One of the great things is that even if you're unfamiliar with Lupin the 3rd, you'll have no problem following this film. This is almost a "stand alone" movie.
The transfer is excellent. The color is very clean even for an older film. The original audio track is presented in 2 Channel Dolby stereo as is the English track. One of the things I couldn't get used to was that the English voice actors are different than that of the current voice talent on the Lupin the 3rd series currently airing on Adult Swim and released by Pioneer. But if you listen to the original Japanse dialog that's not a problem.
The DVD has a very good menu layout. There are animated scene selection menus, which I found very nice considering that most older DVD's don't feature them. One of the things is that the "Extras" are a little sparse. There's some background on Miyazaki, trailers and really that's about it.
This movie is wall to wall fun. With so much anime being so deadly serious, it's great to sit back and have a good laugh. If you like anime, or even just good films in general, then this is a can't miss for your library that director Steven Spielberg once called one of the greatest adventure movies of all time.
Directed by the legendary Hiyato Miyazaki who directed Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, The Castle of Cagliostro follows Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko, and Goemon to the European country side. There they find that the Duke of Cagliostro is about to wed a young lady, who has ties to Lupin's past.
This is, without a doubt, an absolute joy to watch. At a time when so many anime series are overly tedious, brooding and melodratic, it's refreshing to see a film that has a grand sense of adventure and being humours at the same time. Lupin the 3rd may be the world's greatest thief, but in this film he gets to play the hero. Which is a great change of pace for Lupin. One of the great things is that even if you're unfamiliar with Lupin the 3rd, you'll have no problem following this film. This is almost a "stand alone" movie.
The transfer is excellent. The color is very clean even for an older film. The original audio track is presented in 2 Channel Dolby stereo as is the English track. One of the things I couldn't get used to was that the English voice actors are different than that of the current voice talent on the Lupin the 3rd series currently airing on Adult Swim and released by Pioneer. But if you listen to the original Japanse dialog that's not a problem.
The DVD has a very good menu layout. There are animated scene selection menus, which I found very nice considering that most older DVD's don't feature them. One of the things is that the "Extras" are a little sparse. There's some background on Miyazaki, trailers and really that's about it.
This movie is wall to wall fun. With so much anime being so deadly serious, it's great to sit back and have a good laugh. If you like anime, or even just good films in general, then this is a can't miss for your library that director Steven Spielberg once called one of the greatest adventure movies of all time.
