Naussica of the Valley of the Winds BD

[j_garcia]

This is an older one from Miyazaki and it is one of my favorites from Studio Ghibli. This is a story that takes place 1000 years after the last great war. Nature rose up and destroyed most of mankind, but there are still small pockets of people in some areas that have survived. This one also features animation by the artist who then went on to do what is easily one of the best known Japanese Animes ever - Akira.

Hand animated films, especially older ones, can be less than stellar on a blu-ray transfer and this one is no exception because some of the graininess is still there, but the color is more vibrant and it does look improved over the DVD which was a bit dark. The Studio Ghibli films are now presented by Disney, so care has been taken here.

The sound didn't blow me away, but it does sound cleaned up. The real draw here is the amazing way Miyazaki tells his stories and the interesting characters that he creates to populate his worlds. Fans will want to check this one out for sure; it is worth a rent for everyone else for sure.

 

[Vracer111]

I picked this up yesterday from Best Buy. I thought the transfer and visuals were stellar on the Blu-Ray; really liked the full detail captured - including the grain. Was my first time seeing Nausicaa and I really enjoyed the story (and I don't like Mononoke Hime or Spirited Away much at all...) So I found the first Miyazaki film I like...

 

[j_garcia]

I like all of them, though a few are more odd than the rest Pom Poko is really weird. Mononoke was very good, but got stranger as it progressed. I wasn't too crazy about Ponyo, but it still has his signature feel to it. I own maybe 8 or 9 of his films on DVD. My favorite is still My Neighbor Totoro for some reason.

The grain is there in all of the early films; only in the recent ones is it not there. Kind of like old Disney prints, but the remasters of those are getting scrubbed clean unfortunately. I don't mind the grain, but there were a few times where it seemed almost excessive on this one. I'll have to pull out the DVD and compare. Having seen this many times, the PQ isn't what they improved most to me, it is the color, or rather what feels like a faithful capturing of the color palette he tends to use. Frequently, and moreso in this film, he uses earthtones spotted with bright colors here and there. What you can also see better now though is the actual hand crafted art itself.

This one has one of the more linear and consistent stories overall IMO, and though there is a fairly common theme to most of his movies (mankind's lack of respect for or exploitation of nature, nature fights back). While his stories are typically straight forward, it is how he tells them that makes them so interesting.

I didn't say it in the first thread, but I give this one a Highly Recommended for animation fans. It is one of Miyazaki's best.

 

[mpompey]

I like this film as well. However, I liked the original English dub when it was released as Valley of the Wind years ago. Does the Blu-ray contain both versions of the audio?

 

[j_garcia]

The dub is the same as the previous dvd, with Uma Thurman and Patrick Stewart. I don't think there is another version.

 

[its phillip]

Uma Thurman and Patrick Stewart? I might actually enjoy the english dub then

I've not ordered this yet, but I intend to. For some reason I never really bought many Miyazaki films, even though I've enjoyed them a great deal.

 

[mpompey]

I guess I'm weird.

I actually enjoyed the original English dub of Akira, as well as the theatrical release of Blade Runner with Harrison Ford's monotone narration.