The arrival on Blu-ray of Miyazaki’s timeless feature, Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind reminds me why I mortgaged the farm to buy a top-of-the-line HD-TV and dvd player last year. The true beauty of the director’s visual style, his painterly landscapes and explosions of color have never been more apparent than with this new Blu-ray release. Accompanied by a remastered sound track that deftly matches the film’s narrative in both subtlety and intensity, the film is must for any true fan of animation.
Packed with a number of special features, the release includes a particularly interesting documentary about the origins of the film, with interview footage of Miyazaki as well as insightful commentary about the film by noted film critic and animation historian Charles Solomon, who provided an excellent analysis and perspective of the film within the context of Miyazaki’s entire body of work. An interactive section serves up characters and story snippets from a number of other Studio Ghibli films. The original storyboards are a welcome addition – it’s always fascinating to map a finished film back to the storyboards, to get a glimpse of how something so sophisticated and complex can spring from something seemingly so simple.
Below is the official studio release:
For the first time ever, the magic of Blu-ray™ high definition reveals the exquisite details in Hayao Miyazaki’s epic masterpiece, Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind. Experience the film that launched the Academy Award–winning career (2002 for best animated feature, Spirited Away) of one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of animation.
After a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley Of The Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that guard it. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, the people of the Valley engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth.
Like Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and Ponyo, Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind will dazzle your senses with its intricately imagined storytelling and stunning animation.
U.S. Release Date:
March 8, 2011
Rating:
US-PG; Canada-PG
Feature Run Time:
Approximately 118-minutes
Release Format:
Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray Disc™ + DVD)
Suggested Retail Pricing:
2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (BD+DVD) = $39.99 U.S./$44.99 Canada
Exclusive Blu-ray Bonus
Features:
World of Ghibli including
Behind the Studio
Enter the Lands
Studio Ghibli Trivia Challenge
Original Japanese storyboards
General Blu-ray & DVD
Behind the Microphone
Bonus Features:
The Birth Story of Studio Ghibli
Original TV trailers
Talent/Cast:
Uma Thurman (Kill Bill: Vol 1, Kill Bill: Vol 2, Pulp Fiction, Gattaca)
Shia LeBeouf (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Tranformers, Surf’s Up)
Patrick Stewart (Gnomeo & Juliet, Bambi II, Chicken Little)
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki (Ponyo, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke)
Producers:
Michio Kondô (Nausiacaä and the Valley of the Wind)
Isao Takahata (Castle in the Sky, Nausiacaä and the Valley of the Wind)
Yasuyoshi Tokuma (Spirited Away, Pulse, Ritual)