Hayao Miyazaki's - Howl's Moving Castle - DVD Hauru no ugoku shiro Hayao Miyazaki's - Howl's Moving Castle

(aka 'Howl's Moving Castle' or 'Hauru no ugoku shiro')

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Japan 2004

A simple young girl called Sophie is put under a curse by the evil Witch Of The Waste, transforming her into an ugly old woman. Ashamed of her appearance, Sophie deserts her hat shop and heads into the hills in search of a cure. She comes across the strange, yet awesome Moving Castle, the abode of the much-feared magician, Howl. Inside the castle, Sophie befriends the fire demon Calcifer, who can see through the spell and offers to help her return to her natural form.

For his efforts, however, Sophie must help Calcifer break the contract he has with Howl, the details of which he is forbidden to explain. So Sophie assumes the position of the castle's cleaning lady and gets close to the young, handsome Howl, who takes a fancy to the young Sophie, whom he can also see behind her withered facade.

Director Hayao Mayazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) has produced another masterpiece from his Studio Ghibli. A beautifully crafted, mostly hand-drawn animated feature, Howl's Moving Castle is the latest in an impressive catalogue of quite simply, some of the best animation ever committed to celluloid.

Gary W. Tooze

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 5, 2004 (Venice Film Festival)

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DVD Comparison:

Nibarki - Region 3 - NTSC vs. Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection) - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Gary Tooze and Henrik Sylow for the Screen Caps!

(Nibarki - Region 3 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers

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Distribution

Nibarki

Region 3 - NTSC

Optimum
Region 2 - PAL

A L T E R N A T E V E R S I O N S

Disney - USA Region 1	BV - Japan - Region 2	AV Channel PAL (Australia) Region 4	IVR (HK) Region 3	AV Channel PAL (Australia) - Region 4 - Limited Edition	Taiwan (2-disc) Region 3
	For rent:

Runtime	1:58:56	1:54:17 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.82:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.15 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.77 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Nibarki
Bitrate: Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection)
Audio	6.1 DTS EX Japanese, 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese, 5.1 Dolby Digital Korean (dub)	5.1 Dolby Digital Japanese, 5.1 Dolby Digital English (dub)
Subtitles	English, Japanese, Korean, None	English (translated), English (HoH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Nibarki Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.82:1 Edition Details: • A 2nd disc of extras only in Korean (or in Japanese with Korean subs) DVD Release Date: December 29, 2005 Transparent Double slim Keep Case inside cardboard sleeve Chapters 24	Release Information: Studio: Optimum Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Disc 1 • Alternate storyboard • Studio Ghibli trailers • ... • Disc 2 • Interview with Diana Wynne Jones (7:34 / 4:3) • Interview with Pete Docter (7:22 / 4:3) • Hallo, Mr. Lasseter (16:36 / 4:3) • Explaination of CG (19:45 / 4:3) • Trailer collection (12:08 / 4:3) • Theatrical Trailer (1:37 / 16x9) DVD Release Date: March 13, 2006 Amarey Chapters 26

Comments

Comments by Gary Tooze (on Nibarki issue)
I was sent this by YesAsia to review but I have a fair degree of certainty that both the Japanese and upcoming US editions are far superior. There is a thick black border around the edge of this Korean release limiting the horizontal resolution. Colors appear slightly saturated to me at times and the image detail exhibits some haziness. The optional English subtitles are readable but of a poor jagged font that is very improvable.

Of course this is being quite picky - for tube viewing this is an acceptable release. Perhaps its failing are the un-translated menus and 2nd disc of Korean extras. For Miyazaki fans the safest bet is the Japanese release which actually made our 2005 Best of the Year poll HERE. Like all quality Japanese editions it is pricey, but for passionate DVD-ophiles this always seems to be overcome by the desire to own the best possible version. For those with more patience, but are still curious about this marvelous fantasy film, we suspect the US Disney version will be quite good, if not up to the precise-ness of the Japanese release. I realize that this is a fair amount of speculation but after doing 100's of comparisons certain patterns start to form. If we are able we will compare alternate editions (but please don't just email me screen captures - we have a methodology for maintaining standards for doing our comparisons - thanks!)

Comments by Henrik Sylow
The Optimum edition has minor artifacts in form of mosquito noise and macro blocking, but in comparison its far superior. Strong colors and sharp details.

The additional material is a mixed bag. The two interviews are very standard and offers little, if any, new details. The Miyazaki meeting Lasseter is really more for obsessive fans only. Finally, the only real piece of additional material is an explanation of CG, which goes into details and explains a lot.

DVD Menus

(Nibarki - Region 3 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

Screen Captures

(Nibarki - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection) - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
Subtitle sample - Capture is resized from 1016px to 800px

(Nibarki - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection) - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)