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Princess Mononoke [DVD] [2001]
 
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Princess Mononoke [DVD] [2001]

DVD ~ Yôji Matsuda
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura
  • Directors: Hayao Miyazaki
  • Writers: Hayao Miyazaki
  • Producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Scott Martin, Seiichiro Ujiie, Seiji Okuda
  • Format: Animated, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
  • Language Japanese
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
  • DVD Release Date: 22 Oct 2001
  • Run Time: 130 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005QB7X
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 31,402 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Princess Mononoke has already made history as the top-grossing domestic feature ever released in Japan, where its combination of mythic themes, mystical forces, and ravishing visuals tapped deeply into cultural identity and contemporary, ecological anxieties. For international animation and anime fans, this epic, animated 1997 fantasy, represents an auspicious next step for its revered creator, Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service), an acknowledged anime pioneer, whose painterly style, vivid character design, and stylised approach to storytelling take ambitious, evolutionary steps here.

Set in medieval Japan, Miyazaki's original story envisions a struggle between nature and man. The march of technology, embodied in the dark iron forges of the ambitious Tatara clan, threatens the natural forces explicit in the benevolent Great God of the Forest and the wide-eyed, spectral spirits he protects. When Ashitaka, a young warrior from a remote, and endangered, village clan, kills a ravenous, boar-like monster, he discovers the beast is in fact an infectious "demon god", transformed by human anger. Ashitaka's quest to solve the beast's fatal curse brings him into the midst of human political intrigues as well as the more crucial battle between man and nature.

Miyazaki's convoluted fable is clearly not the stuff of kiddie matinees, nor is the often graphic violence depicted during the battles that ensue. If some younger viewers (or less attentive older ones) will wish for a diagram to sort out the players, Miyazaki's atmospheric world and its lush visual design are reasons enough to watch. For the English-language version, Miramax assembled an impressive vocal cast including Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup (as Ashitaka), Claire Danes (as San), Minnie Driver (as Lady Eboshi), Billy Bob Thornton, and Jada Pinkett Smith. They bring added nuance to a very different kind of magic kingdom. -- Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com

On the DVD: with an impressive widescreen aspect of 2.35:1 and a pleasant 5.1 Dolby digital sound, you cannot fault the transfer of this animation in any way. However, the special features leave a lot to be desired on what is a classic piece of modern anime. The "Behind the Scenes" feature holds no information on the making of Princess Mononoke in its original form--with no input from animator Hayao Miyazaki--and the trailer is taken from the American release of the movie (even though it calls itself an "original" theatrical trailer), complete with the annoyingly hyped-up voiceover that comes with US film trailers. The redeeming feature of this DVD is the ability to watch the anime in its original language with subtitles, a much more passionate and beautiful form--so much of the feeling and lyricism of the movie is lost with the transfer to English language and misplaced casting. After watching the original Japanese version of Princess Mononoke and reading the book you begin to wonder why the West has become such a solitary child of Disney. --Nikki Disney

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
DVD 9
English\Japanese
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English Japanese
Dolby Digital 5.1
Original Japanese Language
Original Theatrical Trailer
Behind The Scenes Featurette
English


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Customer Reviews

44 Reviews
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 (36)
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (44 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A True Master piece, 26 Oct 2001
This review is from: Princess Mononoke (DVD and Book) [2001] (DVD)
Finally after years in the dark, the UK gets not only one of the greatest animated films ever, but possibly one of the greatest films ever made. Hayao Miyazaki is a god amongst animators and it's not difficult to see why from this beautiful film. For anyone who is even remotely interested in anime, this movie is a must have and for everyone else, this shows the world just how great the genre is. Forget the stereotypical violence etc, this is what japanese animation is all about. The DVD set in itself is a brilliant introduction to anime in itself, although not mentioned above, the DVD also includes a book about the past films made by the director of this film. This DVD set is fantastic, everything is in here that a film this grand should have. Only one thing prevents this set from being perfect though, the subtitles used in the japanses language version isn't so much a translation of the Japanese original, but more like a script for the English version, something which is painfully obvious throughout the film, whether you understand Japanese or not. Even so this should no way detract from the purchase of this DVD, an absolute must buy.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best anime i've seen since Akira, 9 Sep 2001
This review is from: Princess Mononoke (DVD and Book) [2001] (DVD)
One of Japan's most successful films finally gets a release in the UK. Essentially a tale of man's destruction of nature, the brilliant storytelling of Miyazaki presents us with one of the most enjoyable fantasy tales since Star Wars. Set in a time when forests cover the Earth huge forest Gods keep watch over the creatures that inhabit the woods. When young prince Ashitaka slays a Boar God turned Demon he's left with a curse on his arm that threatens to kill him. His only option is to travel to where the demon came from in hope of a way to lift the curse, instead he enters a conflict between the miners of Iron Town and the wolf clan of Moro and San, the Princess Mononoke. The english language version is suprisingly of high standard compared to other dubs of Japanese movies. Featuring the voices of stars like Gillian Anderson and Billy Bob Thornton i didnt find myself wishing to view it in its original language unlike Akira. Special mention must be made to the terrific score by Joe Hisaishi which adds to the emotion of the story. Mononoke doesn't have the cgi effects of Shrek and recent Disney animations but it has some of the most imaginitive ideas seen on screen whether it be live action or animation. One word of warning though, Japanese anime's don't hold back on violence and some scenes in Mononoke may not be suitable for young children, but if your dismayed at the lack of quality at the cinema this summer this is one blockbuster you may well want to check out and an absolute must for fans of Manga and Anime.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars You cannot alter your fate, but you can rise and meet it, 15 Feb 2006
By A Customer
I received Princess Mononoke on Friday as part of Amazon Rental service. And I have been watching it everyday since. The film is absolutely outstanding, and in my opinion Japanese anime, in fact animation at its best. It is no kiddy film - there are no fluffy happy dancy animals. The beasts are mean but only because they wanted to protect what they see as rightfully theirs - the forest. While it is easy to blame human - as embodied by Lady Eboshi who champion the scientific progression of modernity, Miyasaki has rejected the simplicity of a black and white view between good and evil. Good and evil constitute each other and as human and beast, we embody both. Lady Eboshi is not all evil - her motives to deforest is to protect Irontown and its people. Irontown is a refuge for the socially marginalized - lepers and prostitutes alike. Her matriachal role as the maiden of Irontown makes her one of the most intriguing character where these role are normally played by male in conventional film. As for Princess Mononoke - Eboshi's nemesis, is no Disneyfied princess either. She is a feral wolf-human raised in the forest by the wolf clan when she was abandoned as a child. She embodies the wilderness of nature and kill mercilessly to protect the spirits of the forest.

The film is laden with adult themes, exploring human relationship to nature. It begs us to answer the question if human progress are indeed painful? Are there any reconciliation? These are global themes.

On the other hand, Princess Mononoke also explored the issue between life and death as embodied by the Forest Spirit - Shihsigami - where life and death is his alone. Are there hope in being alive when everything seems to be crumbling away? There are themes of suffering as embodied by Ashitaka whose wound of hatred marked the tension between humanity and nature.

There are however some cutesy characters like Yakul the elk, the tree spirits - all of which are not only magical but reminds us of a Japan long forgotten - when man and god are at peace. Some said that the film draws idea of Shinto, a dominant beliefs in Japan. Miyasaki claimed that his ideas are an amalgam of both Eastern and Western ideas. There are some parralels between Tolkein's Lord of The Rings which also explore the issue of ecosystem, but also our existence as human being in the world. In Princess Mononoke, Miyasaki reconciled the tension between human and nature will always exist. Progress are ineviable as part of human evolution. However, Miyasaki provides us with the hope that we can still go on living and appreciate the beauty that still exists in the world. The Forest Spirit may have died in its bodily form, but lives on forever in our hearts and in the flowers and trees and animals in the world. While nature was once fearsome and wild, it is now tamed.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly a work of genius
Princess mononoke is one of my favourite films of all time.
The first time I saw it I was blown away. When it ended I was rendered speechless. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Jamesohk

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning and intriguing
This was originally the first anime film I had ever seen, and the film that gripped me into the anime world.
Firstly, the visuals are stunning. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Claire Featherstone

5.0 out of 5 stars More Ghibli Magic
This is a fantastic film! The animation is superb (especially for the forest spirit), as to be expected from Miyazaki, and the story is original and engaging. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2007 by Spider Monkey

5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect blend of story-telling and animation
I wouldn't go so far as the New York Post in calling this film "the 'Star Wars' of animated features," but certainly Princess Mononoke is a vibrant, magical movie that resonates... Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2006 by Daniel Jolley

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably one of my favorate films
This is a great film, mostly because it does not have one or two good characters fighting agenst the bad people/animals. Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2005 by Selece

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning - Blew me Away
I decided to buy this film after watching Spirited Away, and found out that it is twice as good. The art is amazing and the film exciting. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2005 by D. Bramley

5.0 out of 5 stars Miyazaki At His Best!
Hayao Miyazaki is a VERY good director and, in my opinion, this is his best film yet. Spirited Away was also very good, but I think this is better. Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2005 by natedgell

5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome battle of nature
Another Miyazaki masterpiece has arrived on DVD! Princess Mononoke is a story about a battle between the humans and nature told through a young man named Ashitaka. Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2005 by Matt The Cat

5.0 out of 5 stars "You shall know my hatred and my grief"
Hayao Miyazaki has created a film that places among the best I have ever seen, and I am not limiting my comparison to the anime genre. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2005 by Sebastian Fernandez

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb fantasy with a dark edge...
I rented this DVD from Amazon, and loved it.

This is a beautifully animated, subtle fantasy. The plot might at first glance recall the action-packed Western fantasy epics, but... Read more

Published on 24 May 2005

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