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SUMMARY

Lupan is an international thief. Along with his friend and partner Jigen, they are the scourge of the rich and wealthy. After a daring heist of a casino in Monaco, Lupan and his partner discover that all of their ill gotten money is counterfeit. Phony bills so good, that they can fool the government. Intrigued by the prospect of taking over the counterfeiting business, Lupan and his partner set out to find the source.

The source is the tiny European nation of Cagliostro. Lupan, his partners Jigen, and Goemon (a wandering samurai)become caught in a fight between light and shadow, good and evil. They must rescue a young princess, avoid crossing paths with Lupan's ex-lover Fujiko, and avoid being captured by Zenigata, the detective intent on bringing him down. Lupan also has to deal with the evil Count, ruler of Cagliostro, who has ways of getting rid of those who would cause problems.

What's an honest thief to do?

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO:Good video quality. Better than the Streamline VHS release. The colors are darker, and the edges sharper. Manga Entertainment has done a fine job on presenting a better quality release. A little extra clean up would have made the picture perfect.

AUDIO: The Japanese language track is (as near as we can tell) the original mono track. Since this movie is 20 years old, the track is not full of surround sound elements. Voices are clear, and the music is blended well, but it sounds a little fuzzy.

The English track is much better, sound wise. Totally redone from the Streamline Pictures dub, the sounds are crisp and clean, with decent surround sound elements. Music and voices are also blended well.

EDITS: None. That's right, none. The Japanese titles have been restored (unlike the Streamline Pictures release removed the Japanese text.) and no footage has been excised. This is unedited at its best.

EXTRAS: None. If you count the trailer and the catalogue as extras (we don't), there you do have a couple. No character bios, information, concept artwork, audio commentary or anything related to this movie.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: This is a true swashbuckling adventure. Hayao Miyazaki and Haruya Yamazaki have done a tremendous job of adapting Monkey Punch's entertaining manga to the big screen, while giving the new fan something to enjoy.

ACTING: First, the Japanese voices. Wonderful! Fantastic. This is the way Lupan is supposed to be. Despite it's "international" flavor, it is the voice acting of Yasuo Yamada as Lupan that makes this movie a treat. So does the rest of the cast. Each voice reflect the different levels of maturity the characters have.

The English dub is solid, but not as good as the Streamline Dub. While the script is more accurate to the Japanese script, there is a tendency to over embellish. The voices match well, with the English actress as Fujiko being the standout (Unfortunately, Manga does not tell us who does the voices of each character).

FAN SERVICE: None. Unlike many other Lupan movies, which have plenty of shots of a nude Fujiko, this is a Miyazaki film, and he does not fan serve.

CONCLUSION

Castle of Cagliostro is one of the pioneers of Japanese anime in the United States. This movie not only introduced us to a beloved Japanese character, but Hayao Miyazaki as well. His directorial style is well represented in this film. At times seeming very 40's Hollywood in style, with plenty of Robin Hood type action, Miyazaki shows that he can make a beautiful movie better than most, on both sides of the Pacific.

This movie may feel a little dated, with its obvious 70's technology, and somewhat bizarre fashion. The story is still very current, and its message is sincere.

The film is one of those few movies that will appeal to everyone. Despite it's main character being a thief, he is, in his heart a good person. Always willing to help those in trouble, with out any reward is a good message, one that should be herd more often. With the lack of blood and guts (there is violence and inferred death) is one of the few anime that kids can watch and not be traumatized. With that said, it is disappointing that the English dub has what I would consider an excessive amount of "curse words". Not a prude by any means (my vocab is pretty bad), there is  no need for it. It would not have hurt if the writers exercised some restraint. If you are concerned about language, there are only two or three times four letter words are used.

 Castle of Cagliostro is one of the best anime of all time, and certainly one of Myazaki's better films. If you like "My Neighbor Totoro" or "Kiki's Delivery Service", this is one movie that you should get. Geared more for adults, this has plenty of slapstick comedy and good hearted hero's that kids can like. This would be an excellent start for your anime collection.

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