Review: Laputa - Castle in the Sky

Paul

Paul

Ghost of Animes
Administrator
Beginning a period in which we will be posting a number of Miyazaki reviews, Martin Butler has sent us his review of Laputa: Castle in the Sky.<ul><span class="menu">A beautifully crafted adventure, with enough excitement, suspense and humour to keep all ages entertained. If Disney had equalled the quality and accuracy of the original English dub, this would be another 10.</span></ul><a href="http://www.animeuknews.net/viewreview.php?showreview=124">Read the full review.</a>
 
I assume because there is no British version available and also, wasn't there a recent Disney re-release and re-dub of a lot of their Ghibli stuff?

kupoartist said:
Also, the review number is 124 not 123 (so the link above doesn't work)
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Sorry, fixed now ;) I was literally speeding through the news today since I was bombarded with exciting press releases.
 
If there was a UK release, it's now out of print. I checked on Play.com and Amazon but nothing. Heres hoping Optimum pick up the slack.
 
This is the Disney re-dub and re-release. It was released at the same time as Kiki's Delivery Service. Also, the British release is indeed out of print and hard to find. Presumably why the US version was reviewed.
 
Laputa is actually a film I could never get into as much as most of the other Ghibli titlesi've seen. I liked it still but for some reason greatly enjoyed Mononoke, Totoro and KiKi's far more.
 
Noratav said:
This is the Disney re-dub and re-release. It was released at the same time as Kiki's Delivery Service. Also, the British release is indeed out of print and hard to find. Presumably why the US version was reviewed.
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The version i reviewed was the UK one, and Amazon still seem to have it in stock: click here. the title was changed to simply 'Castle in the Sky' for the rerelease (sorry for any confusion i caused there by using the old name!). i bought my copy many months ago so there is a chance it went out of print.
 
Concrete badger said:
Noratav said:
This is the Disney re-dub and re-release. It was released at the same time as Kiki's Delivery Service. Also, the British release is indeed out of print and hard to find. Presumably why the US version was reviewed.
Click to expand...
The version i reviewed was the UK one, and Amazon still seem to have it in stock: click here. the title was changed to simply 'Castle in the Sky' for the rerelease (sorry for any confusion i caused there by using the old name!). i bought my copy many months ago so there is a chance it went out of print.
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That's not in stock - it's via 3rd Party marketplace sellers only. Still, I strongly believe that the UK Region 2 Castle in the Sky IS back in circulation.

Castle in the Sky UK R2 was released alongside Kiki's Delivery Service by Buena Vista in 2003. I got interested in anime in early 2004 and was actively seeking Castle in the Sky on DVD from summer onwards. It disappeared off of Amazon's stock, then Play.com's. I tried to get it from Choices Direct and a number of other retailers in the early Autumn, but to no avail. The line I got from one company was that "Buena Vista have a trouble with the Master disc and are unable to make any copies".

I now however think that Buena Vista have finally cracked it. I did a search of lesser known DVD stockists on the net, and 3 or 4 said they had stock. I ended up buying it from Bensonsworld about a month ago. Convinced that i'd got the last of a dwindling supply, I went into Cambridge only to find one recently opened shop stocked to the gills with copies of Castle in the Sky. Conclusion: Amazon and the big net retailers are just exceedingly stupid. There are copies of Castle in the Sky on UK R2, but they're just choosing not to stock them or aren't bothering to find out if they're being replicated anymore. Anyone who wants to see this marvelous film: shop around. It is out there on UK domestic release!
 
I used to watch Laputa when I was very young on a VHS recorded of the T.V. It is coming up to my 18th birthday and I am desperate to find a copy. However I would like to find the R2 version as this apparently has the original english cast on it and I wouldn't want to watch it in any other way as it wouldn't be the same. Can anyone recommend a good place to buy a copy from? I seem to have looked everywhere!
 
Japanese R2 from YesAsia: http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/p ... on-videos/

Japanese R2 from cdjapan.co.jp
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWDZ-8014

The cdjapan one lists an English track... if any DVD is going to carry the old Dub (the one without James Van Der Beek - "Errr! I'm not Gay!") that'll be the one. Plus, the Subtitles are likely to be better as well. On the UK R2, The entire opening section (Pirates Attacking the airship) is accompanied by subtitles for about 20 phrases not said in the Japanese audio track (there are very few lines of dialogue in the original, and rightly so!). Even if you don't get the right dub, at least you'll be getting the best R2 edition you can...
 
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