Castle in the Sky Blu-ray

(aka "Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta" )

directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Japan 1986

In "Laputa - Castle In The Sky" many of the elements by which one defines Miyazaki comes together. The fascination with aeroplanes, the struggle of nature versus technology, the maturing of young girls. Not surprisingly, it has a feel of "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" over it a swell.

Based upon the Gulliver's story about the flying city of Laputa, the story centers around a mysterious crystal held by a young girl, who with the help of a boy escapes the evil skypirates, who wants the crystal, and finds her way to the city in the sky.

The action and slapstick is similar to the one in Cagliostro, the motifs allude Nausicaä, and the film is all Miyazaki.

Henrik Sylow

Poster

Theatrical Release: August 2nd, 1986

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Comparison:

Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Disney - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection) - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Disney - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow for the DVD Review!

Box Cover
Distribution	Optimum Region 2 - PAL	Disney Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:04:59	2:05:09.115
Video	1.78:1 Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.88 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,818,850,241 bytes Feature: 30,015,719,424 bytes Video Bitrate: 23.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Bitrate Blu-ray
Audio	2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese, 2.0 Dolby Digital English (dub)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 3685 kbps 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 3685 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio Japanese 2098 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2098 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio French 320 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps / Dolby Surround
Subtitles	English (translated), English (HoH), None	English, English (HoH), French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Optimum Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Alternative Storyboard • Textless Opening and Closing (4:57 / 4:3) • History of Castle in the Sky (2:25 / 4:3) • Original Trailers (4:06 / 4:3) • Studio Ghibli Trailers DVD Release Date: February 27, 2006 Keep Case Chapters 18	Release Information: Studio: Disney Aspect Ratio: - 1.85:1 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,818,850,241 bytes Feature: 30,015,719,424 bytes Video Bitrate: 23.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Original Japanese Storyboards (2:04:41 in 1080P) Behind the Studio • The World of Laputa (2:19) • Creating Castle in the Sky (3:41) • Character Sketches (2:40) • Producer's Perspective: Meeting Miyazaki (3:14) • Scoring Miyazaki (7:18) • Behind the Microphone (4:08) • Original Japanese Trailers (4:07) Blu-ray Release Date: May 22nd, 2012 Standard Blu-ray Case inside cardboard sleeve Chapters 18

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Disney - Region 'A' Blu-ray - May 2012: Firstly, not all captures are exact matches as the timeline frequently interfered.

The dual-layered transfer looks pretty sweet on Disney's new Blu-ray. Detail tightens and colors lose the boosting of the picture-boxed Optimum SD-DVD. It's hard to identify, even, a minor flaw in the 1080P rendering. It is authentically darker than the DVD, has no artefacts and is pristinely clean. I'm sure this is a very accurate replication of the original appearance.

Audio gets a massive boost in DTS-HD5.1 English at 3685 kbps of the option of stereo lossless for the Japanese track. Joe Hisaishi 's score and the many effect sounds are crisp with some subtly robust power. While I don't own the Optimum - I suspect a difference in subtitle translation - whether the Disney is directly from the DUB (or DUB-titles) seems quite probable - as it seemed to follow as per my checking.

With the extras we get an optional John Lasseter intro to the film, where he states that Castle in the Sky is a favorite, plus the lengthy original Japanese storyboards lasting over 2-hours in 1080P plus the 'Behind the Studio' production featurettes regarding the score, the voice characterizations etc. approaching 1/2 an hour. There are also the original Japanese trailers in HD.

Certainly a film for everyone and the Blu-ray provides a great presentation plus extensive extras for the keen. Recommended!

Gary Tooze

***

ON THE DVD: A PAL-ified NTSC transfer - pictureboxed - and there are problems with both ghosting and combing. Compression artifacts present, but not intrusive. Colors are strong and overall it holds up for CRT viewing. There are some extra and trailers.

- Henrik Sylow

Menus

Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection) - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Disney - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Screen Captures

Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection) - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Disney - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

Subtitle sample

Optimum (The Studio Ghibli Collection) - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Disney - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

Ghosting on Optimum

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