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Castle in the Sky

As a visual marvel of Japanese animation, "Castle in the Sky" is wondrous and grand, even if its story can't hold a candle to this highly imaginative spectacle. The plot centers around the discovery of a mystical stone in the possession of Sheeta, a young girl who finds herself crossing paths with greedy pirates and government officials as they both seek the gem for themselves. When she by chance meets up with Pazu, the young apprentice of a mining engineer, they link the origin of the stone to the legend of Laputa, a floating castle that hovers above the ground, waiting for someone to return and resume the rule of its lost civilization. Sheeta has a special connection to this castle, as does one of their pursuers, who has darker plans in store. ***

To be honest, I wasn't as taken with the plot of Hayao Miyazaki's visionary adventure as I thought I would be. In truth, the visuals outlast the storytelling, their extreme quality and detail quickly becoming the dominant, driving force of the film. This is truly a feast for the eyes at every turn: be it the incredibly well-designed destruction of an army base, the first striking reveal of the collosal Laputa, or any one of a number of flyovers and battles in the sky, there is a not a moment where we're left without something to marvel over. Miyazaki truly has some imaginative energy to burn, and he does so here with the utmost attention to even the smallest of details, which is what animation of this kind is all about. In the end, it is the visual integrity of "Castle in the Sky's" eye candy that elevates it from the status of mere adventure to something much more eye-poppingly fascinating.

Considering the movie's age, this is a very good transfer from Disney that preserves the visual beauty of the film quite well. Presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the overall print looks clean, free of blemishes like surface scratches or dirt speckles. Color saturation is exquisite, with resilient hues and warm, vibrant tones throughout. Contrast looks terrific, and shadow detail shines. Edges are crystal clear with no sign of enhancement artifacts, and while some of the image looks grainy, it's nothing to worry about. Stupendous! ***

Only in the sound department, however, did I find myself experiencing some disappointment. As someone who prefers to view movies as they were originally created, I chose to watch "Castle in the Sky" with its Japanese language track, rather than the new English dub version, which features voice acting from James Van Der Beek and Anna Paquin. What got to me was the fact that the English track gets the full 5.1 glory, while the Japanese track is only refitted in Dolby 2.0 Surround. Suffice it to say, range and expansion are somewhat limited by the 2.0 track, but it makes an honest effort in the area of score and sound effects to reach out into the surrounds and the lower channels. Some of the track sounds monaural in places, and the dialogue isn't as natural as it could be, but I guess this will have to do. ***

In regards to the 5.1 English track, it's not that impressive, either. It does have more depth than the 2.0 track, but the volume level is much less than what I had hoped for, and the sound effects, although clean, are not very aggressive. Dialogue sounds much better, though, and the overall inventiveness of the track is noticeable as well, save for the sloppy insertion of some additional musical cues. Good, but uneven.

Disc One houses the movie, along with an introduction by Pixar Studios associate John Lasseter, who primes us for the movie by stating that it is one of his personal favorites. Needless. Why not have an intro by one of the actual filmmakers, like Hayao Miyazaki himself? Then we move on to the featurette "Behind the Microphone," which is a brief series of interviews with James Van Der Beek, Mark Hamill, Cloris Leachman, and others about acting out the voices of the American dubbed version. This is basically a puff piece that doesn't really do much to enhance the movie, and where was Anna Paquin, by the way? Following this are three of the original Japanese trailers, with no subtitles. ***

Disc Two is home to the storyboards, which are presented in order, and play along with a choice of the English 5.1 or Japanese 2.0 audio tracks. Watching these boards play out in progression is nice for the first few minutes (thank God for chapter selection!), but it gets old after a while, and only hardcore enthusiasts of the film will stick with it for its entire. A nice try on the part of Disney, but this DVD could have been so much more than it is.