8.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A girl named Sheeta falls out of the sky and lands in Pazu's arms. Soon after a gang of air pirates led by Dola, as well as a mysterious man named Muska, are on their tails. The chase leads them to a floating castle that once belonged to an ancient race of people.
Starring: Keiko Yokozawa, Mayumi Tanaka, Kotoe Hatsui, Minori Terada, Fujio TokitaForeign | 100% |
Anime | 89% |
Fantasy | 52% |
Family | 46% |
Adventure | 38% |
Romance | 18% |
Imaginary | 8% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
BDInfo verified. The French track is (192 kbps)
English, English SDH, French
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Castle in the Sky was released theatrically in 1986 following the conclusion of a period in which Hayao Miyazaki alternated between feature films and TV series productions. Shout! Factory recently acquired this GKIDS title and has released an upgraded edition compared to the Disney/Buena Vista dual-format set five years ago. Shout! has fixed some of the dubbing/subtitles, included an alternate English sound/music track, and added a few minor extras.
This Blu-ray & DVD Combo Pack comes with a slipcover and an Elite case for the discs. Cover art on the slip and keep case covers is the same (see #s 1 and 10). For thoughts on this third full-length movie by Miyazaki, please see my colleague Kenneth Brown's review of Disney's 2012 BD/DVD twin pack here.
Front of slip cover and back of BD case.
Shout! presents Castle in the Sky in its originally projected aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on a BD-50. The Buena Vista Blu-ray only carries an average video bitrate of 24.00 Mbps but Shout! easily exceeds that with a mean bitrate of 33000 kbps for the MPEG-4 AVC-encoded transfer. There is a healthy standard bitrate of 42.29 Mbps for the entire disc. There's some telecine wobbling throughout which evidently was also present on the Disney disc but maybe not as frequently as here. It's still a very good transfer. See and click on Screenshot #s 5-9 for frame enlargements.
Shout! supplies viewers with a generous twenty-four scene selections.
There are four audio options to choose from on the BD: the original Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (2011 kbps, 24-bit), an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (4221 kbps, 24-bit), an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround mix (448 kbps, 48 kHz), and a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo dubbed in French. The Japanese sound track contains Joe Hisaishi's original score while the uncompressed English remix features a more recent recording of the symphonic music. Not included on the Disney release is the original synthesizer score, presented here as a lossy 5.1 track. Also new are correctly timed "dubtitles" for both English mixes and a literal English translation of the Japanese stereo track.
Shout Factory! has amended some faults and technicalities on the prior DVD and BD editions of Castle in the Sky. Purists will be pleased that both English sound track versions have been included encompassing the different scores. Subtitling work is also an improvement. This upgraded edition is presently $10 cheaper than factory-sealed copies of the OOP Disney combo so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you pick up this more complete package.
天空の城ラピュタ / Tenkû no Shiro Rapyuta
1986
天空の城ラピュタ / Tenkû no Shiro Rapyuta
1986
崖の上のポニョ / Gake no ue no Ponyo
2008
となりのトトロ / Tonari no Totoro
1988
紅の豚 / Kurenai no Buta
1992
ハウルの動く城 / Hauru no Ugoku Shiro
2004
ゲド戦記 / Gedo Senki
2006
魔女の宅急便 / Majo no Takkyûbin
1989
借りぐらしのアリエッティ / Kari-gurashi no Arietti
2010
千と千尋の神隠し / Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi
2001
猫の恩返し / Neko no Ongaeshi
2002
天気の子
2019
メアリと魔女の花 / Meari to majo no hana
2017
平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ / Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko
1994
風の谷のナウシカ / Kaze no tani no Naushika
1984
耳をすませば / Mimi wo Sumaseba
1995
思い出のマーニー / Omoide no Mânî
2014
Classics
1996
Hoshi o Ou Kodomo / 星を追う子ども
2011
Suchîmubôi
2004
もののけ姫 / Mononoke-hime
1997
かぐや姫の物語 / Kaguya-hime no Monogatari
2013