Pokémon: The Movies 1-3 Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Pokémon: The Movies 1-3 Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 28, 2016

For anyone who either grew up in the late 1990s or early 2000s, or who had kids growing up in that era, there’s a certain nostalgia inherent in the very name Pokémon. This oddly sweet franchise began life in the mid-1990s as a Game Boy outing (remember those?), and quickly became a multimedia sensation, one of Nintendo’s all time sales champions across a variety of different formats. For those not acquainted with the franchise, the name Pokémon is an Anglicized portmanteau of sorts which refers to so-called “pocket monsters”, a gaggle of beasts which assorted Pokémon trainers use in various battles. While the video games may have been the first introduction to Pokémon for at least some folks, many will probably best remember the franchise due to the long running Pokèmon anime series, a series which actually was a quintet of series, though some who saw the show in its international iterations may not have been aware of the different soubriquets assigned to various seasons. Beginning in 1998, Pokémon feature films started appearing virtually annually every summer, and this new collection assembles the first three films, Pokémon: The First Movie, Pokémon: The Movie 2000, and Pokémon 3: The Movie. While few would probably accuse any individual Pokémon entry as being High Art, there’s an undeniable goofiness to each of these three films that will at least remind some folks of their own childhoods, and others of watching their own kids grow up entranced by the adventures of Ash, Misty, Brock and (to name just one of the more adorable Pokémon) Pikachu.

Each of the three films is offered on its own disc included in this new Steelbook. Reviews for the three films can be found here:

Pokémon: The First Movie Blu-ray review

Pokémon: The Movie 2000 Blu-ray review

Pokémon 3: The Movie Blu-ray review

Pokémon: The Movies 1-3 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality for each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Pokémon: The Movies 1-3 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality for each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Pokémon: The Movies 1-3 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there is no supplementary material on any of the discs. That means that all of the shorts that originally accompanied various releases, some of which provided at least somewhat salient plot points for the actual feature films which followed them, are absent from this release. This, along with some qualms about no surround tracks, may be the biggest qualm some potential consumers may have with this release.

Pokémon: The Movies 1-3 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A salient example of how strongly these films imprinted themselves on Millennials comes courtesy of my younger son, who is now 17 and about to embark on his college career. When the steelbook arrived and he saw the images of the three films adorning the cover, he gave me quick (and completely accurate) recountings of all three films without missing a beat. Kids who grew up watching the various Pokémon entries will probably have a field day revisiting these films, even if "outsiders" may fail to feel the same nostalgic warmth for these goofy and at times fairly slight offerings. The absence of the original shorts which accompanied the films is a letdown, as is the lack of surround audio, so fans will have to weigh the benefits of having the three films in generally solid presentations against a "wish list" of what might have been.