Tales from Earthsea Blu-ray Review
Since the script by director Goro Miyazaki and Keiko Niew is based on the third and fourth books in the series by Ursula K. Le Guin, that’s a great deal of backstory for these characters that only gets a brief brush over in the script not making the viewer’s job any easier in understanding motivations for actions (the boy killing his father, for example, or his fear of his “shadow” self) or character connections prior to what we see in the film itself. Though it’s a tale about magic, there’s not actually a lot of it present in the film; it’s talked about far more than it’s shown, and some of the animation that we’d expect to be dazzling (the early battle between dragons, for instance) seems rather mundane and thrown away. As with some other Studio Ghibli efforts, the running time is a bit long for the story being imparted with time taken away from the narrative for toney mood-establishing songs and far too much brooding by the two youngsters in the story. The tale touches on some serious themes such as the evils of drugs especially when used for decision making, and there are dark sequences concerning child slavery and patricide with a decent amount of blood shown (the PG-13 rating is no accident). The animation features some dazzling use of color (some orange-red sunsets overwhelm the senses), and the climactic face-off between wizards while not technically stunning gives us the dramatic conclusion we’ve been craving, but there’s a definite lack of emphatic tension through much of the film even though it should be fraught with it due to the numerous perils present and the sense of possible disaster looming in every frame.
Both casts do very good work with the original Japanese cast edging out their English-language counterparts. Bunta Sugawara and Timothy Dalton both score top marks in their respective casts with their firm control of their Sparrowhawk character. Mariska Hargitay doesn’t quite seem as comfortable playing Tenar as Jun Fubuki is. Oddly, though Lord Cob is pictured rather androgynously on the screen, actress Yûko Tanaka voices the role in the original version while actor Willem Dafoe does it in English, quite a contrast in styles but rather effective in either interpretation. Playing Cob's head henchman, both Teruyuki Kagawa in Japanese and Cheech Marin in English get to play enjoyably broadly much to our considerable delight.
TV Spots and Trailers (10:01, HD): three TV spots and three theatrical trailers are presented in montage form.
The Birth Story of the Film Soundtrack (1:00:18, SD): composer Tamiya Terashima explains what he wanted his music to accomplish in the film, greatly praised by producer Toshio Suzuki and director Goro Miyazaki. With the director’s father Hayao Miyazaki occasionally glimpsed in the background, the composer introduces us to a series of unusual instruments used in playing his score, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the talented musicians from around the world who play them are also shown.
Behind the Studio: Origins of Earthsea (4:07, SD): a brief promotional featurette about the film and its place in the Studio Ghibli universe.
DVD Copy: disc enclosed in the case.
Legendary Oscar-winning Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki had always wanted to film some of the stories in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series of books, but it was a project that never got off the ground. In 2005, Miyazaki’s son Goro decided it was time for him to direct his own animation project at Studio Ghibli, and he chose a couple of books in the Earthsea series to serve as the plot of his film. The 2006 film offers some striking imagery and a decent message on the meaning of life, but the movie doesn’t quite achieve the mystical power of his father’s best efforts, and the film, though successful at the box-office, offers a somewhat garbled story with a less than compelling narrative drive.
Studio: Disney
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA, French 5.1 DD, Other
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 1 Hr. 56 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray, DVD
keep case in a slipcoverDisc Type: BD50 (dual layer)
Region: ABC
Release Date: 02/03/2015
MSRP: $36.99
The Production Rating: 3.5/5
Since the script by director Goro Miyazaki and Keiko Niew is based on the third and fourth books in the series by Ursula K. Le Guin, that’s a great deal of backstory for these characters that only gets a brief brush over in the script not making the viewer’s job any easier in understanding motivations for actions (the boy killing his father, for example, or his fear of his “shadow” self) or character connections prior to what we see in the film itself. Though it’s a tale about magic, there’s not actually a lot of it present in the film; it’s talked about far more than it’s shown, and some of the animation that we’d expect to be dazzling (the early battle between dragons, for instance) seems rather mundane and thrown away. As with some other Studio Ghibli efforts, the running time is a bit long for the story being imparted with time taken away from the narrative for toney mood-establishing songs and far too much brooding by the two youngsters in the story. The tale touches on some serious themes such as the evils of drugs especially when used for decision making, and there are dark sequences concerning child slavery and patricide with a decent amount of blood shown (the PG-13 rating is no accident). The animation features some dazzling use of color (some orange-red sunsets overwhelm the senses), and the climactic face-off between wizards while not technically stunning gives us the dramatic conclusion we’ve been craving, but there’s a definite lack of emphatic tension through much of the film even though it should be fraught with it due to the numerous perils present and the sense of possible disaster looming in every frame.
Both casts do very good work with the original Japanese cast edging out their English-language counterparts. Bunta Sugawara and Timothy Dalton both score top marks in their respective casts with their firm control of their Sparrowhawk character. Mariska Hargitay doesn’t quite seem as comfortable playing Tenar as Jun Fubuki is. Oddly, though Lord Cob is pictured rather androgynously on the screen, actress Yûko Tanaka voices the role in the original version while actor Willem Dafoe does it in English, quite a contrast in styles but rather effective in either interpretation. Playing Cob's head henchman, both Teruyuki Kagawa in Japanese and Cheech Marin in English get to play enjoyably broadly much to our considerable delight.
Video Rating: 4.5/5 3D Rating: NA
Audio Rating: 5/5
Special Features Rating: 4/5
TV Spots and Trailers (10:01, HD): three TV spots and three theatrical trailers are presented in montage form.
The Birth Story of the Film Soundtrack (1:00:18, SD): composer Tamiya Terashima explains what he wanted his music to accomplish in the film, greatly praised by producer Toshio Suzuki and director Goro Miyazaki. With the director’s father Hayao Miyazaki occasionally glimpsed in the background, the composer introduces us to a series of unusual instruments used in playing his score, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the talented musicians from around the world who play them are also shown.
Behind the Studio: Origins of Earthsea (4:07, SD): a brief promotional featurette about the film and its place in the Studio Ghibli universe.
DVD Copy: disc enclosed in the case.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewed By: Matt Hough
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