Cheap Patlabor 2 [Region 2] (DVD) (Mamoru Oshii) Price

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Customer Reviews of Patlabor 2 [Region 2]

Disapointing "Sound Renewal" Edition
I was very excited to get this remastered version of Patlabor 2 from the Bandai Visual label. I've been a huge fan of the movie, and cherish my older Manga version DVD which is now out of print. <
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>The Bandai release visuals lives up to everything it's advertised as: The picture quality has indeed been remastered and looks remarkable. If you plopped down the extra cash for the delux version, you're sure to get all kinds of extra goodies and bonuses. I bought the single disc "standard" version and there is almost no bonus material to speak of. But I knew that when I was buying it. <
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>My problem with this edition of Patlabor 2 is in the sound mix. Yes, it's 5.1 as advertised, but here's the difference: The sound mix is the "Sound Renewal" mix which producer Kenji Kawaii and director Mamoru Oshii commissioned and oversaw in 1999. Songs that used to play at certain cues in the 2.0 stereo channel edition that I am used to from the Manga version no longer play. Most - if not all - of the music has been re-recorded with newer synths and sound strange and disorienting. There's also this weird hawk sound motif scattered throughout the movie which is just really odd and out of place? Essentially, the "Sound Renewal" mix is the audio equivalant of George Lucas' "Special Editions" Star Wars films. That is to say, Oshii and Kawaii went back and re-did a lot of the audio and soundtrack to "re-envision" the film. The pacing and mood has changed entirely. For someone like myself so accustomed to the original 2.0 mix, the "Renewal" version is so disorienting, it makes the movie unwatachable. And it's noticeable right from the very first scene. I sat and watched the movie for the 1st time waiting for the music to kick in and it never did. It took me about an hour into the movie to ask myself what the hell was going on, hit pause, and do do some research. <
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>I wouldn't mind having the "Sound Renewal" 5.1 audio track on the disc if Bandai had also included either the original 2.0 track or remastered the non-"Renewal" audio track in 5.1. But they didn't. To compound the matter further for a Patlabor 2 purist (many of whom, if you're reading this, are interested in this remastered edition), Bandai makes no mention of "Sound Renewal" on the disc's packaging. BUT....all is not lost. Bandai Visual did indeed release a re-mastered video version with the original 2.0 audio track, but it is Region 2 and Region 3 only. And you'll have to research on your own whether or not English subtitles are included; I could not find an answer in regards to that. <
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>This really feels like a missed opportunity on Bandai's part. I thought I was getting the definitive Ptlabor 2 disc with remastered video and sound but alas - I am so used to the original audio mix the film is unwatachable for an old fogey like me. If you're new to Patlabor 2, you're not predisposed like myself, and I wholly suggest picking the film up in its remastered splendor. But anyone else used to the old Manga/2.0 audio mix and soundtrack, you should at least know the deal with this disc's audio track. Whole songs are missing or have been replaced with others. And beware the hawk screech!

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Another excellent release for a classic film
The infant Bandai Visual USA, in its quest to outshine the existing Bandai Entertainment USA, has once again shown that it is willing to put far more effort into releasing quality titles in a quality package, just as with their release of "Patlabor 1: The Movie" last spring. <
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>A word of warning to those reading the other reviews: any review dated before July of 2006 is refering to the old Manga Entertainment release of "Patlabor 2", which is a far inferior disc to this recent Bandai Visual rerelease. <
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>The new release of this film treats it the way that Manga _should_ have treated this gem of the anime industry, with a much better translation of the dialogue, extras that consist of more than trailers for other products by the same company, and a complete storyboard (translated into English, even) for the film. <
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>The new English translation for the dialogue alone makes this version worth buying, as it is obvious that the translators spent a lot more time massaging the languages to provide the characters with more passion and subtlety in their speech. This is critical in a thinking-man's film, which is the only type of film that Mamoru Oshii directs. The old Manga version of the film treated the language too lightly, and managed to leave out minor, yet important, parts of the language. The quality of the film still showed through the Manga bungling, but with this version the film truly shines. <
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>The extras for this Limited Collector's Edition are, simply, wonderful. Just as with the LCE of "Patlabor 1" there is seperate Special Features disc including a making-of documentary, and two books. One of the books provides essays about the film and its meaning at the time it was released as well as essays and interviews dating from later times. These provide the reader with some perspective of what the film meant to Japanese audiences in 1993 when it was released, and how its meaning and significance is changing as time passes. <
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>The other booklet is a complete translated storyboard for the film, which is intriguing because it shows how the film's shots were originally constructed, and the small notes in it can provide insight into specific details and elements required by the director (Mamoru Oshii) which on the surface seem insignificant, but which actually set much of the atmosphere and tone for the film. <
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>Are these extras necessary to enjoy the film? No, they aren't. In fact, if you're just interested in watching the movie in which Mamoru Oshii crystalized his signature style (later to be repeated in "Ghost in the Shell" and "Innocence"), then I'd say get the standard release of this film by Bandai Visual (released in early July of '06). The extras would mostly be of interest to the hardcore "Patlabor" fans, or those curious about the process of creating animted films. <
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>A final word of warning to long-time "Patlabor" watchers; with these Bandai Visual USA film releases, some long-running characters in the saga receive their fourth or fifth English-language voices; the Japanese voices remain constant, but the English ones switch (at least partially) with every new series, movie, or production company.

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Smart anime
Patlabor 2 is a very good anime, both by the technical quality of Oshii's team's work, and by a very good and smart screenplay, using politic and terrorism as background. <
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>This movie show us that anime is not only for kids (see Disney) and that japanese anime can have a beautiful picture and good screenplay.