Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

• The Making of Osamu Tezuka Metropolis a documentary on the film production (33:16)
• Interviews with the films creators (8:03)
• Multi-angle animation comparisons (City View 0:41 + Wheel Room - 0:55)
• Original Trailer (1:41)

• Promotional Trailer (2:17)
• Standard Dual Format edition to feature reversible sleeve

Bitrate:

 

 

 

The Film:

''Metropolis,'' a hallucinatory tour de force of color, perspective and scale, virtually encapsulates the history of Japanese animation. Based on a postwar manga by the legendary comic-book artist Osamu Tezuka and directed by Rintaro from a screenplay by Katsuhiro Otomo (whose ''Akira'' is a landmark of feature-length anime), the film combines the latest digital technology with traditional painted-cel techniques.

If any two dozen frames of ''Metropolis'' -- enough to fill one second of screen time -- were hung in a gallery, the sheer visual density and sensory stimulus would be overwhelming. The effect of almost two hours of exquisitely detailed and remarkably varied cityscapes, rendered in a palette of colors and light effects that would make a live-action cinematographer or an Italian Renaissance painter weep, is exhausting and exhilarating. The dream world of ''Metropolis'' is so intricate, so sublime, that the ordinary world seems to be the one missing a dimension.

Excerpt fromTimeOut located HERE

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

Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis comes to Blu-ray from Eureka in the UK. With the negative format in 35mm this looks more textured than more-modern glossy, pristine, digital animation does. Colors can shift from shadowy passive dull to exuberantly bright and impressive. The 1 3/4 hour film is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and the resulting 1080P presentation is very pleasing. In-motion the image quality is relatively smooth without stuttering movement we sometimes see from Manga transferred visuals. The image is exceptionally clean and I was very satisfied with how the Blu-ray supported the, very visual, film experience.

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

 

1) Eureka (original English subtitles) - Region 'B' - Blu-ray TOP 2) Eureka (Japanese audio - US theatrical English subtitles) - Region 'B' - Blu-ray MIDDLE 3) Eureka (English DUBtitles) - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eureka cover every option for the audio and subtitles with DTS-HD Master (24-bit) 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo in the original Japanese plus a similar encode, but even more robust English DUB in 5.1 and an English DUB in linear PCM stereo. For my viewing I stuck with the original Japanese but played back sampling the other options. There are some adroit separations in the surround - not tight so much as deep and surprising as well as subtitles in crowd noise. And there is also depth present in the more aggressive scenes - and it sounded very pleasing as does the varied score by Toshiyuki Honda. There are optional English subtitles for the original release translation, the US theatrical release and for the DUB (DUBtitles). Eureka covered the bases with this effort so no complaining about not including certain options. They are different as we indicate in our samples above. My Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

Extras :

Extras include the 1/2 hour "The Making of Osamu Tezuka Metropolis" a older documentary on the film production in Japanese with English subtitles. There are a couple of interviews with the films creators including director Rintaro. They run about 8-minutes, also in Japanese with English subtitles. We get a two brief multi-angle animation comparisons (City View 0:41 + Wheel Room - 0:55), both an original and promotional trailer plus the dual-format package also includes a second disc DVD.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis is a fascinating film. I always seem to get something unique out of watching these Japanese animation futuristic-styling features (Ghost in the Shell and Patlabor series). You must give-over to the animation - which was quite easy here - and the story evolves with some serious science-fiction and adventure motifs. There is a lot to digest with Metropolis but I found the experience rewarding. The Eureka Blu-ray has a solid video and covers all the audio/subtitle options most could want. It's a good package and one we can endorse. Recommended! 

Gary Tooze

January 6th, 2017

 

Eureka (UK) has this Blu-ray: and a Steelbook Blu-ray edition available: