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Sen To, X-Men 2 311

Posted by michael from the imagination-and-lack-of-it dept.
liquidbrains writes "With 'Princess Mononoke' fresh in our memories, the number one highest grossing film in Japan -ever- is coming to the US. Thanks to Disney and Pixar's John Lasseter, who has supervised the dub, we can soon expect a fine English adaptation of animation master Hayao Miyazaki's latest masterpiece, 'Spirited Away'. See the trailer here." Reader thefalconer writes "It seems that Apple has just released the very first trailer to X-Men 2 on their website. From what I've seen this movie looks like it's going to rock! Too bad I have to wait for May of next year!"
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Sen To, X-Men 2 More

Sen To, X-Men 2

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  • FIX HIS HELMET!

    And hopefully there's more than just one semi-lame "X-Men mission" at the end, with the rest of the movie having characters totally in the wrong point in the timeline tooling around looking for reasons to cause special effects.

    And please... Toad sucks, you really can do better this time. Please?
    • Toad sucks? No he licks with his tounge!
    • It doesn't have to be loyal to the comic. The comic is the comic, and the movie is the movie.
      I would rather they concentrate on making a good movie rather than concentrating on staying loyal to the comic.

      If the sequel is even half as good as the first movie, then it will be one kick-ass flick!

    • Stop nit-picking and just enjoy the damn film (Score:5, Interesting)

      by WIAKywbfatw ( 307557 ) on Thursday August 22, 2002 @03:53AM (#4117368) Journal
      I don't know about the rest of the /. crowd but I extremely surprised by how much I enjoyed the first X-Men movie.

      As an avid comic book reader (and a one-time X-Men fanatic) I was apprehensive about the film adaptation of my favourite band of super heroes.

      After all, the track record of comic book characters on the silver screen wasn't exactly filled with success - Superman, Batman were both good movies but their follow-ups got progressively worse, Judge Dredd had so much potential (see Robocop, which even includes some classic Dredd on-liners) but was such a disappointment, The Punisher, etc. (The less said about Supergirl the better.)

      Compared to all of these, X-Men rocked.

      Not only was it true to the comic book in most regards but it got across the underlying moral message of the comic book title - that no matter what we look like on the outside or what we can do, we are all equal - without having to excessively spoonfeed the audience or dragging its feet.

      OK, if we're nitpicking then Rogue shouldn't be a teenager and neither should Bobby (Iceman). Jean Grey should be called Marvel Girl - or Pheonix at a pinch - when in costume not Jean (did anyone else find it silly that her's was the only alter ego that didn't have a proper name?). Ororo should have either had a headpiece or a mohican hair cut. Toad should have been fatter and stupider. Mystique should have had a costume. It should have been the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

      But, there are things that will work in comic books that won't work on screen. The writers allude to this when they have Wolverine question the fashion sense of the team's costumes, to which Cyclops replies "What would you prefer, gold spandex?" - any X-Men fan will recognise this immediately as a reference to Wolverine's own comic book costume, which was originally blue and gold and later orange and brown.

      In fact, this was one of my favourite scenes in the movie, and even my girlfriend who wouldn't read a comic book if you paid her laughed along with the joke.

      Bottom line is this: rather than nit-pick over minor details why don't you just enjoy the film?

      Brian Singer, the cast and the crew did a great job. Would it kill you to acknowledge it?

      • Re:Stop nit-picking and just enjoy the damn film (Score:5, Funny)

        by Xpilot ( 117961 ) on Thursday August 22, 2002 @04:34AM (#4117457) Homepage

        Mystique should have had a costume.

        I beg to differ. I'm sure most guys here would agree with me. :)
      • I loved the movie and I still like to watch the DVD occasionally. Some great special effects, e.g. the lightning bolts and some of the other "mutant powers".

        However, the fight scenes were to laugh. Aside from Wolverine's fight sequences, which seemed well thought out and genuine, the X-men come across as a bunch of amateurs who couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag. In the Storm vs. Toad scene, she just stands there and gets her clock cleaned. The mighty Storm, huh? I guess the Professor should teach less physics and more martial arts at his academy.

        On the other hand, come to think of it, one of the biggest goofs in the movie was Magneto's assertion that a lightning bolt to the copper structure in the Statue would be dangerous, when in fact it would have safely been conducted away. Maybe Magneto needs to take some of X's physics classes.
        • On the other hand, come to think of it, one of the biggest goofs in the movie was Magneto's assertion that a lightning bolt to the copper structure in the Statue would be dangerous, when in fact it would have safely been conducted away.

          Most likely, he knew that the X-men specialized in lookin' good and left all the thinking to the Professor, who wasn't present, and he was bluffing.
      • It should have been the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

        I think that the writer changed that on purpose in order to blur the line between good and evil. In the movie, Magneto was not evil: he simply believed in the superiority of mutants over normal people and wanted to ensure their continued surivial in the face of growing anti-mutant concern.

        So instead of being good vs evil, what we actually had was mutant who believes that mutants and mankind must coexist vs mutant who believes that mankind must be crushed in order to allow mutants to survive vs humanity which is just scared about the new mutants.

        All in all, a lot of the "corniness" that can exist in comic books ("Would you prefer yellow spandex?") doesn't really work on the big screen, so a lot of the more comic-book type elements were altered and made more mature. So the Brotherhood of Mutants was made not so much evil as it was a "terrorist" (from the normal's point of view) organization securing the future of mutantkind.

        Likewise, Rouge and Iceman are teenagers because the movie focused on the creation of what would become the X-Men. So the "elder" characters were already there (Jean Grey, Professor X, Cyclops), while the "younger" characters were still growing up in preparation to become X-Men. Don't think of the movies as The Amazing X-Men on the big screen, think of it as the a new universe based on the Marvel universe. Then all the nitpicky stuff can just be ignored. (Likewise, I think the Spiderman movie was supposed to take place in the same Movie-verse that X-Men does.)

        So, yeah, just enjoy the damn film! :)

      • "What would you prefer, gold spandex?"

        IIRC, the question was whether he'd prefer blue and gold spandex, which ALL Of the X-Men originally wore.
  • Know if Gambit will be making an appearance in this film?
  • Allthough it's getting better, the film probably won't be show in europe until October next year.
    I don't know why, but it allways takes such a long time. It's pretty bad too, because when the film is "hyped" in America we hear it too. So when it finally hits the theaters here (in Europe) people go like: "Oh yeah, that movie. That movie's old, man!"

  • OR (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Sancho ( 17056 ) on Thursday August 22, 2002 @03:19AM (#4117310) Homepage
    we could send a message to the MPAA by boycotting [these] movies.

    Nah, I guess that just won't happen.

    • Re:OR (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mttlg ( 174815 ) on Thursday August 22, 2002 @08:44AM (#4118135) Homepage Journal
      we could send a message to the MPAA by boycotting [these] movies.

      Yeah! We'll show those corporate bastards what we think of them by not going to see the movies we actually like! That'll teach them to make anything outside the fart jokes and bodily fluids genre!

      Seriously, there are so many people who will spend money to see any piece of crap (even the latest Eddie Murphy flop had millions in ticket sales, but at least its $100 million price tag will make sure there is never a sequel) that a geek boycott would be lost in the noise floor. The only thing the MPAA will see is a spike in ticket sales (LOTR, Spider-Man, etc.).

      Sure this won't do anything about the MPAA's business practices, but there is no way to have a realistic impact with a boycott - it will never gain enough support to put a dent in the billions of dollars the industry brings in each year. It is up to our legal system to resolve these issues, and boycotting the EFF, Congress, etc. isn't going to help on that front (hint, hint)...

      The best reason for a boycott of this type isn't its effect on big corporations, but instead the impact on ourselves. By not spending money on crap, we have more money to spend on things we like. Instead of seeing "Adam Sandler Whines, Farts, and Beats People Up, Part XVII," you can buy a DVD of that obscure movie you love but nobody else has even heard of. Or you could buy stock in an undervalued company, or pay off some debts a little bit sooner, or get a few more minutes of entertainment at the nickel slots (ok, so maybe that one isn't such a good example). Considering the current state of Hollywood, it is easy to see how a boycott on crap could look like a boycott on the MPAA.

      "If the movie stinks, just don't go!"

    • I generally send my message by posting a SVCD rip to alt.binaries.vcd when the DVD comes out.

  • About time (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It's about time they made an english dub of the masterpiece that is sen to chihiro. I hope that now it can get the international success it deserves.

    Here in France it has been out for about 6 month and it rated quite high in the box office. In japan it has been a huge success, I think that it even beat Titanic.
    • I'm hoping for a subtitled release as well... I'm really not looking forward to a dub.

      Whenever I watch any foreign movies, I _always_ watch in the language it was originally made in... The only way to get the real feeling, imho.

      I doubt they'll release the subbed version theatrically though, so I'll just go the import route instead and buy the Japanese DVD.

      N.
    • Oh, it definitely beat Titanic [finsoft.co.yu]. From the article:

      Since opening last summer it took 29.3bn yen (£15.5m) at the Japanese box office, beating Titanic's record of 26bn yen (£13m) and Miyazaki's previous film Princess Mononoke, which took 19.3bn yen (£10m).
  • I saw the anime from Miyazaki about 3 months ago in France where the title was "Le voyage de Chihiro". It's a beautiful poetic movie and was quite successful in France. I seem to remember that it was in the top 10 most watched movies of the week for a couple of weeks at least. Let's hope it was not Dysneyified in the US.

    • I'll second that. Saw it not too long ago, and I was relatively blown away. Smart, bizzare, poetic, and funny movie. It is perhaps aimed at more of a children's market, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. My daughter (who is about 6) liked it a lot, although it's a bit scary in places for the littlest ones.

      • In an interview (can't find it again), Miyazaki said that he made "Princess Mononoke" mostly for kids and it seems mostly adults liked it. He made Chihiro mostly for adults and did not want to predict who will like it.

  • Sen's "To" versus X-Men's "2" (Score:4, Insightful)

    by KNicolson ( 147698 ) on Thursday August 22, 2002 @03:30AM (#4117327) Homepage
    Tut, tut, any self-respecting anime geek would know they don't sound alike, as this headline seems to be trying to imply.

    Anyway, mixing the two is sacrilige, as the first is 500 times what the second will ever be. (self-respecting anime geek subtle joke inserted in the hope of karma whoring a few points off them...)

    • Anyway, mixing the two is sacrilige, as the first is 500 times what the second will ever be.

      I've not seen X-Men's 2 (hehehe :), but, living in France, I have seen Spirited Away twice (will be three times next week).
      I'd say that Spirited Away it's 500 times many of the movies I have seen.... In particular I think that it is definitely better than Mononoke: in SA Miyazaki goes back to the Totoro-ish kind of movies he excels, and it shows.
  • Why would any self-respecting anime fan buy a English dub of "Spirited Away" when the Japanese DVD includes a very good set of English subtitles?
    • Because a truly self-respecting anime fan is able to resist the anti-dub propaganda? Because he hopes that the US release will not have the strong red tint of the Japanese DVD, and knows that it will also contain the Japanese soundtrack and be cheaper?
      • anti-dub propaganda? Come one... judging from your previous post you seem overly emotional with these things. I myself when first watching anime a long time ago easily loved subs far more then dubs. That doesn't necessarily mean I like dubs better then subs all the time but I usally do. One of the rare times I enjoyed a dub more was (cough) when i watched princess mononoke(cough).
    • Be aware that Japanese fans have been up in arms over the Japanese DVD release. Apparently, the color balance is way off the original theater release - it's heavily red-biased.

    • Re:Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Man, I hate people like you.

      I am a long time fansubber, if you pay any attention to the digisubbing scene, there's a very good chance you've seen something I've worked on. (Whether through BakaMX, Live-eviL, or other projects.)

      Anyway, people don't seem to understand that if you don't BUY anime, there WILL be no anime. Look, if Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi is a success in America, then that will ENCOURAGE others to bring films over here as well as Disney. Likewise if people don't support it, it will DISCOURAGE more anime from reaching our shores.

      As a fansubber I love nothing more than to see a show I helped promote get licensed and released in the United States, because that means the community is healthy, and people are supporting the industry.

      You just don't get the point at all. I hope this was a troll, because you come off like such an ass. We WANT more anime to come out over here. So yes, any SELF-RESPECTING American anime fan should buy the R1 when it comes out, and go see it in the theater, and promote it to others. Otherwise you're not helping the community that you claim to belong to.

      I don't want people like you watching my fansubs, I don't feel you have any devotion to the community at all.

      -Tofusensei (posting this anonymously because I got sick of waiting for slashdot to send the damn registration email... if you want to reply to me directly email live_evil_fansubsNO-SPAM-SPAM@SPAMhotmail.com (you know what to remove :P)

      BTW, just for the record, I pre-ordered and imported the Region-2 DVD, which is very nice, but does have the annoying red tint. And I will be buying the R1, assuming I can get it, because I am moving to Tokyo in September.
      • Man, I don't know quite what to say in response to something like this ... Some of your points are very good, but others of them are even more trolling than the original post (which I feel if read in the right way is a perfectly legitimate question).

        First off, although I'm not big on the internet digisubbing scene and I've never encountered your (or anybody else's) work, I do appreciate the positive effects that you and other fansubbers have had on the success of the anime industry in the US. I am myself a fansubber (read my Linux fansubbing guide [dominia.org] if you don't believe me), and although I don't distribute fansubs publicly out of concern for copyrights, I bet we must have a lot in common if we're both crazy enough to fansub ;-)

        if you don't BUY anime, there WILL be no anime.

        I totally agree with this statement. However, in light of this statement, I don't see how you can possibly object to the original post's suggestion to buy the R2 DVD. A sale of the R2 DVD is still a sale, and still supports the studio every bit as much (and probably more so) than an R1 sale.

        any SELF-RESPECTING American anime fan should buy the R1 when it comes out, and go see it in the theater, and promote it to others.

        I do not agree with this statement at all. Remember the question at hand is whether to purchase the R2 DVD or the R1 DVD. Now, maybe some people like you are rich and can buy both, but most people are content with one or the other. An anime fan, whether American or otherwise, has no ethical obligation to purchase the R1 DVD preferentially over the R2 DVD. I fail to see how it could be any other way. I should have every right to purchase the R2 DVD, if I want, and not get lectured by the likes of you.

        We're not talking piracy here. We're talking about the purchase of a legitimate R2 DVD which pays legitimate royalties to the producers. The anime industry is not going to die if everybody in the US decides they want to purchase R2 DVDs from now on.

        What has not been explicitly mentioned so far is that R1 DVDs are often way better value than R2 DVDs. Now, it should be said, I really appreciate how cheap R1 DVDs are, and again I appreciate your efforts to bring anime to R1 if nothing else then for this reason. But your position that I am obligated to prefer R1 over R2 is, frankly, bogus. If I am feeling masochistic and I want to buy an R2 disc and pay twice the money for half as much stuff, isn't that my right? And who are you to take that away from me? Why do you "hate" people who, for whatever reason or another, genuinely prefer the R2 discs?

        To put it another way: you fansub (I assume) out of your own kindness and generosity, right? I know I sure do. Fansubs are a gift, and, IMO, a gift that comes with no obligation on the recipient to repay any of the enormous effort involved in their making. Now before you say anything I am well aware that he who receives a fansub is ethically supposed to go out and buy the anime commercially when it is released. You may interpret this as an "obligation". But we do not enforce this requirement, nor could we without bringing all of internet distribution to a screeching halt. Be honest with yourself here: probably more than half the people who view your work never follow up with any commercial support at all. The people who buy R2 DVDs are not the enemy here. I would be absolutely ecstatic if anybody were motivated to go out and purchase R2 anime DVDs as a result of viewing my fansubs.

        Okay, woah, that got wayyyy too long, but I hope I was able to contribute something of value.

    • Why would any self-respecting anime fan buy a English dub of "Spirited Away" when the Japanese DVD includes a very good set of English subtitles?

      Because this isn't a DVD release. It's a theatrical release, and even the hardest of hardcore subtitle fans realize that watching a movie on the big screen is much better than seeing it on DVD.

      FWIW, Disney and American Cinematheque [egyptiantheatre.com] are doing an advanced showing at the El Capitan theater on 10 September. Miazaki will be there in person to answer questions after the showing. I was at a showing of a subtitled version of Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira where the preview was mentioned, and after the show essentially the whole theater walked over to El Capitan to buy tickets. That ought to give you some idea of how vital those people thought that subtitles are. Tickets weren't available that day (or the might have sold out immediately) but I bought mine the first day they were available. Good thing, too, because they sold out the next day.

    • The US DVD includes the original soundtrack and a set of English subtitles. At least, the DVD I watched last night had the right color balance and I watched it in Japanese with English subtitles. DVDs these days generally have soundtracks from the region they're for and the region they're from, and subtitles for both of these and frequently others.

      For that matter, dubs are getting much better these days. Evidentally the anime world has discovered that there are actually decent English-speaking voice actors. I still prefer subs, but when I watched Cowboy Bebop on DVD, the dubbing wasn't jarring (like, for example, Ranma); I had to actually notice that they were speaking the wrong language in order to realize I'd forgotten to set up the DVD.

      For that matter, you may notice that this is a fantasy story, and would likely be enjoyed by kids who can't read (or can't read quickly enough to follow it). The US DVD will mean you don't have to read all the subtitles to your little cousin when your relatives come over and want to watch something.
    • 1) Not only is it a theatrical dub, but I've heard that some areas will also have subtitled prints of the film available. No matter how much you hate dubs, you have to admit that the chance to see it subtitled in a theater is worth something, eh?

      2) The Japanese version of the DVD reputedly has a mastering problem that tilts it heavily toward a red tint on any normal TV on which it is displayed. Also, it is a region-2 disc, so that folks who want to buy it need to be able to play omniregional. (Not that this will be a problem for most of the geeks here, but...)

      3) By buying their version rather than the American version, you're taking away from the profitability of American version of the picture, and reducing the chances Disney will try anything like this again. This is kind of Miyazaki's last chance for an American release with Disney...when they released Mononoke, it was a total wash. $10 million license fee, $2 million total theatrical take. A lot of fans are counting on Spirited Away doing well enough to get all Miyazaki's films released on USA DVD.

      Sure, you can import the Japanese DVD, but a lot of fans can't...and if Disney doesn't release any more of the films here, you're depriving Miyazaki-san of a lot more potential income and the chance to make more masterpieces of film. (And the money you spend on the Japanese disc goes to Disney anyway, since they're the ones who handle Ghibli's video releases world-wide.) If you want to buy both versions, then go for it, and more power to you. Me, I'm waiting for the American release and the American DVD.
    • Why would any self-respecting anime fan buy a English dub of "Spirited Away" when the Japanese DVD includes a very good set of English subtitles?

      Because I want to sell my family members on hit anime as well, and they won't watch anything with subtitles, no matter how good it is.

      Next elitist? Yes, you in the back....
    • 1: Cheaper. The Japanese DVD sells for Y4700, and that doesn't include shipping from Japan. And you'll still need a region-free or R2 compatible player. (this also limits which of my friends can borrow the disc...)

      2: *HOPEFULLY* they'll fix the color problem.

      3: Buying American releases encourages companies to do MORE releases... (which is a good thing, right?)
  • Should I really ask the obvious?

    Y-Women?
  • [Warning: Otaku alert] In Japan, the DVD contains English subtitles. So anyone in Region 2 (Europe/Japan) can see it in its original form.

    For me, the sound and accent of the voices is just as important as the visuals, so the dubbed version of Princess Mononoke was awful. When trying to recreate the atmosphere of medieval Japan, you should not use American valley-girl/dude accents. Dubbing can significantly detract from a film, and it certainly did in Princess Mononoke's case (Luckily the DVD release had the original soundtrack). Imagine how badly Amelie would have sounded if she spoke with an American accent (Not that I'm flaming Americans, any accent other than French would have been pretty bad).

    Having said that, the dubbing on the trailer for Spirited Away actually sounded pretty good, and I don't think it'll detract from the experience. As for movie itself - [Ferris Bueller paraphrase]: I love the flick. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

  • Hayao Miyazaki (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Inexile2002 ( 540368 ) on Thursday August 22, 2002 @03:41AM (#4117342) Homepage Journal
    Check out Nausicaa.net [nausicaa.net] for more about Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. These people are brilliant, and Disney bought the North American distribution rights because they're (as much as I hate them) good business people. Porco Rosso, Mononoke Hime, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, The Castle of Cagliostro and Tonari No Totoro are all examples of pure brilliance.

    This is what Animation should be. Also, Disney's trailer sucks, ignore it, the trailer for the French release was WAY better, check out the official France site [chihiro.msn.fr] or follow the "La Fiche du Film" link here [commeaucinema.com](they took down the really good trailer, damn). There are other trailers around, anyone got links?

  • Direct XMen2 trailer links (Score:5, Informative)

    by Sparr0 ( 451780 ) <sparr0@gmail.com> on Thursday August 22, 2002 @03:43AM (#4117346) Homepage Journal
    well, not quite direct, damn akamai

    Low Res [akamai.net]
    Med Res [akamai.net]
    Hi Res [akamai.net]
  • What we can hear of the dub in the ad sounds ...okay, I guess. But hearing any name which was ostensibly unchanged is painful to me. "ha-kooo!"

    And then there was something to the effect of "I'm MASTER Haku!" (emphasis not added)

    Dubs suck. No dub yet has not sucked, at best they equal or outdo the originals in only a few areas.
  • I have put up some direct links on a page here :
    http://homepages.inspire.net.nz/~bathtub/traile rs. html
  • Surely that would have been made by an evil MPAA member? And all you people will be boycotting it for that reason?

    Ah, so it was posted here for protest purposes, so everyone knows what to avoid, and when to avoid it. My mistake ;o)

  • Four Words: (Score:4, Informative)

    by NeuroManson ( 214835 ) on Thursday August 22, 2002 @04:39AM (#4117467) Homepage
    alt.binaries.multimedia.anime

    See it without excessive mouse raping (and it's subbed, sorry, some of you will have to deal with the horrors of reading)...

    Or try for it on any P2P service...
    • See it without excessive mouse raping (and it's subbed, sorry, some of you will have to deal with the horrors of reading)

      That's funny. The Japanese edition was released by Disney as well.

  • For an early review of the English dub... (Score:3, Informative)

    by parliboy ( 233658 ) <[parliboy] [at] [gmail.com]> on Thursday August 22, 2002 @04:49AM (#4117482) Homepage
    Anime News Network claims to have seen a 35mm. Read about it here [animenewsnetwork.com].

    The short version: Absolutely nothing was cut from the movie. Not the smokes, not the booze, nothin'. However, a few lines have been added to help fill in certain blanks. He also claims that the dubbing was better than on Mononoke.
  • The audio for the X-men trailer seemed very "Swooshy", like the channels are slightly out of phase or something (or extremely low bitrate with poor compression).

    Nasty... Not a good way to listen to a trailer.

  • A non-literal translation (Score:5, Informative)

    by JeFurry ( 75785 ) on Thursday August 22, 2002 @04:57AM (#4117502)
    One of the things that made the US release of "Princess Mononoke" more accessable to Western audiences was the excellent translation by Neil Gaiman. Gaiman didn't just make a literal translation (try comparing the soundtrack to the "literal translation" subtitles if you have the Region 1 DVD), he also adapted the narrative slightly so that some assumed cultural references were replaced with ones which would be more familiar to us, and conversations would flow in a way more natural to English speakers. He even went as far as to use words that would roughly lip-sync to the film, unlike the literal version. This is a heck of a lot of work to do, and shows real dedication.

    True anime fans, used to subtitles, might balk at this - they'll get the cultural references and know the background. But think back to when you saw your first anime, and how alien some concepts seemed, and don't forget that the R1 DVD edition also contains the original soundtrack and literal translation subtitles, so you still have that option as well as the greater audience appeal resulting from the (respectfully done) Westernisation.

    I hope future dub projects get this kind of attention... it makes quite a big difference. Gaiman said he'd have to be mad to ever do it again. Not an easy job, it seems.

    Has anyone seen other well-done dubs from studio Ghibli on DVD? My other half and I love their work, and want the option of the literal sub/japanese dub, but would also like an English soundtrack if possible...
    • The Mononoke dub was indeed excellent, but it still falls short of the original audio. Granted the fact that I understand Japanese may skew my opinion... but honestly, did they really have to use a female voice actor for the wolf when the original voice actor was male?

      It should also be remembered that the R1 DVD was not at first supposed to have the Japanese soundtrack. It was only after a massive petition effort on this very web site that Disney opted to throw it in. They had to delay the DVD by several weeks to add it, if I recall.

      I will agree that the DVD came out fantastic and was well worth the several weeks' delay. The Japanese portion used seamless branching to play back both audio and video bit-identically to the original version, a faithfulness that I would love to see adopted by other R1 DVDs.

      Has anyone seen other well-done dubs from studio Ghibli on DVD?

      The only other excellent dub I've seen from Ghibli is the French language dub of "Porco Rosso". Out of all the thousands (eek) of hours of anime that I've accumulated, the French "Porco" track is the only dub that I actually prefer over the original Japanese--a standard that Mononoke doesn't even match.

      • The Mononoke dub was indeed excellent, but it still falls short of the original audio.
        Agreed.

        There was a nice review of a pre-screening of Spirited Away on the nausicaa.net mailing list. Sounds like Disney put more effort into getting it right this time. They've used talented voice actors (Quoting from the review Daveigh Chase as Chihiro/Sen, David Ogden Stiers as the Kamaji/Boiler Room Man, Suzanne Pleshette as Yababa and Zeniba, and Susan Egan as Lin) instead of 'name stars' as they did on Mononoke. Chase was voice of Lilo in Lilo&Stitch. John Ratzenberger (Cheers, Toy Story) also has a roll.

        I'm glad to see they went with talent this time.

      • The dub of Tonari no Totoro that was released some time ago was for the longest time, at least in my eyes, the benchmark for quality dubbing. The voices actually very very closely matched the original voice cast- and the acting was pretty much spot on. They also didn't change much in the way of dialogue or cultural references, or at least stayed with the spirit (no pun intended) of the original dialogue (at least as I've seen it subtitled- as I don't speak Japanese nearly well enough I can't say for certain). The Mononoke Hime dub wasn't bad- it was impressive that it tried hard to convey the spirit of what was going on and while they didn't particularly keep with matching up voices they didn't do too bad- but I still think the Totoro dub was far better (though admittedly easier- it had a much smaller cast, somewhat simpler plot, and less action to deal with).
      • The Mononoke dub was indeed excellent, but it still falls short of the original audio. Granted the fact that I understand Japanese may skew my opinion... but honestly, did they really have to use a female voice actor for the wolf when the original voice actor was male?
        Well, given that the Japanese voice actor was a male who was widely known for playing female roles--something that the Japanese audience would have known and understood--using a male voice over here simply would simply have confused the audience, who would have wondered if this was supposed to be a male or female wolf.

        If they wanted to go for exact equivalency, then Moro would have to have been voiced by RuPaul, and I don't think any of us would have wanted that.
    • The goofiness of sub loving fans is often short sighted. They will complain that a dub isn't accurate but then fail to realize that an accurate strict translation in spoken English is very odd sounding and thus is a poor dub. You can't win either way with these blockheads.

      Gaiman did an excellent job with Mononoke. Most quality dubs these days flow well because they don't strictly follow the original Japanese screenplay. All of the feeling and themes where in Mononoke even if it isn't a strict translation. So what is the problem? FAR more people saw Mononoke Hime dubed than they would have subed. I can't see anything wrong with that.

      I liked Kiki's Delivery Service. It was kind of overshadowed by movies that came out the same time. It also has the interesting note that it was one of the last performances of late Phil Heartman of SNL fame. But it is easy to make a quality dub out of quality material. :-)
      • No need to go namecalling. Some of us just prefer the (usually) far superior voice acting you get in the Japanese version of these soundtracks.

        Yes, a good dub is good. However, there are a LOT more bad dubs than good dubs, so I'll stick with my subtitles with the occasional exception. I'd much rather have that option than be forced to listen to some of the dubs in existance.

  • May? (Score:3, Funny)

    by BMonger ( 68213 ) on Thursday August 22, 2002 @05:15AM (#4117527)
    Too bad I have to wait for May of next year!
    Not if you have a 12 year old in your neighborhood. I'm sure he could make you an SVCD in late April.

  • Sen To Chihiro .. (Score:2, Informative)

    by denisb ( 411264 )
    Saw the R2 DVD with English subs yesterday, and it is indeed an amazing movie. I wish it would appear here in a cinema some time. Not much chance of that happening though (I am living in Norway).

    Not as epic as Mononoke, but definitely magical, and no not comparable to any Disney animated feature I ever saw.

    Could happen it didnt go down too well with the general US moviegoers though, it is indeed quite asian when it comes to all the gods and spirits etc. And the lovestory plotline is not exactly conventional :-)
  • The music in the trailer for X2 is Mars by Gustav Holst. While this is an awesome piece, it just doesn't work with this trailer. It pretty much ruined the trailer for me. Anyone else notice that it just didn't work with the visuals? Almost like they threw it on at the last minute because they didn't have anything else.

    • Re:Trailer Music (Score:3, Informative)

      by cjpez ( 148000 )
      The music... is Mars by Gustav Holst... It just doesn't work with this trailer... Almost like they threw it on at the last minute because they didn't have anything else.
      I've got some friends who work on music for movies (orchestration, etc), and as it turns out, the music for most movies tends to be quite incomplete until just before the release, which is why movie trailers tend to use well-known classical pieces (Carmina Burana comes to mind), or clips from other movies' soundtracks (the themes from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Stargate come to mind). They had to completely re-record all of the music for one pretty major film mere weeks before it was hitting theatres.

      That said, I didn't mind the music from the X2 trailer. :)

  • Unfortunately, though I shall not be supporting either the RIAA or MPAA financially due to their recent requests for immunity to commit cyber crimes. That makes them criminals in my book, and I don't give money to criminals.

    The movie sounds good though, so I anxiously await the day that jackasses don't run the RIAA/MPAA. ...Hopefully it's before the Matrix 2 and 3 come out? :)
  • I would believe that if the statement was qualified as the highest grossing animation ever, but not film.

    I don't even think that Mononoke even was the top grossing film of the year.

    IIRC, Titanic came out in the same year, and topped the charts in Japan for largest gross.

    • Re:highest EVER? (Score:3, Informative)

      by M-2 ( 41459 )
      Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke) was the highest grossing film in Japan that year. Then Titanic came out, and it surpassed Mononoke Hime.

      Then 'Spirited Away' came out and surpassed Titanic in gross profits.

    • With 'Princess Mononoke' fresh in our memories, the number one highest grossing film in Japan -ever- is coming to the US.

      You mean something finally beat out 'Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster'?

      GMD

  • When the government decided to rid the world of mutants, they did it by using Sentinels [x-worldcomics.com] That was the best part of the Saturday morning X-men cartoon.. I sure hope it comes to the big screen.

    Seeing X-men against humans is kinda weak.

    Also, has Sir Ian McKellan turned into the greatest fantasy actor of all time? Magneto and Gandalf.. wow.
  • At Anime Expo NY in a week and a half, there's a note on the schedule for a 'mystery surprise movie'. Many people think that it's going to be a preview of the dub of 'Spirited Away'.

    Considering the night before, there's the release of 'Cowboy Bebop: Knocking on HEaven's Door' (followed by a panel discussion with the director, character designer, and the music composer (Yoko Kanno!)), as well as showings of the subtitled Escaflowne movie and Char's Counterattack... we think there's good possibility there.
  • I bought the Sen to Chihiro (Spirited Away) DVD on the way back from my last trip to Japan. Oddly enough, the sound menu offers Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0, Japanese DTS, and ...French? I can't really understand the reasoning here, but it's there. There are English subtitles, but no dub.

    BTW I guess in order to be able to select the language or subtitles, you'd should be able to read Japanese. ;-)

    p.s. The newest Ghibli movie is already in theaters in Japan (it came out when I was there) and it's called "Neko no Ongaeshi" (The Cat Returns a Favor). However, it's produced but not directed by Miyazaki Hayao, and before the movie starts is this weird cartoon called the "Gibulies" or something that was like watching one of those 60's acid trip cartoons.

    p.p.s The preview included a new Godzilla movie (Japanese Godzilla, not Matthew Broderick Godzilla) in a double-feature with an animated movie with Hamtaro (the Hamster). I laughed for about 5 minutes non-stop after seeing that.

  • "It seems that Apple has just released the very first trailer to X-Men 2 on their website. From what I've seen this movie looks like it's going to rock! Too bad I have to wait for May of next year!"

    Maybe by that time my afternoons will be free because GoKu will have finally beaten Freeza..

    Aren't we going on three weeks now? It's like trying to watch the whole Superbowl, BETWEEN commercials.


  • So, on imdb they list Senator Kelly as being in the film. Didn't he turn into H20 in the last film? Or is this simply Mystique in his form?
  • I more or less enjoyed watching _X-Men_, although I found that it wasn't really worth watching more than once, except to see Hugh Jackman without his shirt. The thing that I found myself wondering when I watched the movie the second time was how on earth Xavier could expect a bunch of mutants--especially mutant teenagers--to get along with one another, simply because they're all mutants.

    Think about it. "Hi, my name's Gene Hartford, but you can call me, uh, Laserray or something [insert name from Silly Superhero Moniker Generator here.] (I guess that mutant superheroes, like neo-pagans and Slashdot readers like myself, can't resist the special narcissism of adopting a pseudonym, often more than one. "What kind of name is Silver Ravenmoon?") I can punch holes through six inches of steel at five hundred yards. What can you do?" "Oh, I can make ice sculptures." Does anyone really expect that these two will be able to get along as social equals?

    I'd also like to know how Cyclops got through life from the time when his, er, ability first developed, and when Xavier was able to design those goggles of his. Did he spend a year with his eyes tightly shut? But I guess that question, like the question of where the superheroes get their numerous costume changes, doesn't bear close examination.

    hyacinthus (whose neo-pagan superhero pseudonym is Ernest Samuel Tomlinson.)

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