ghost in the shell

after receiving the akira tin last week, thought i'd better check out some other absolutely hatstand japanimation and borrowed my mate's region 2 'ghost in the shell'.<br />on both soundtracks (much worse on the 5.1 english dub) there seemed to be a lip synch problem where the entire soundtrack had a 1 second delay to the picture. i watched it on a techtronic modded sony 7700 and have had no similar problems on any disc from any region before.<br />anyone have this disc and had the same problem? or could it just be my mate's disc? have checked some region 2 reviews out and there seems to be no mention of this, likewise with the region 1 version.<br />could anyone shed any light on this as i loved the film and would like to buy it if the problem doesn't happen across all discs.<br />cheers for your help.<br /> <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

[Reiner]

No problems with the Australian version (doesn't say what or if there is any code) here.

cheers reiner<br />will see if i can rent another region 2 version and see..........

[PoochJD]

Cozzer,

Get the R1 version, instead! The reason being, that all the DVD-Rom only material on the R2 edition, is available in fully-DVD-accessible material on the R1 edition, which means you're getting lots of Behind-The-Scenes stuff not normally available to you.

Plus, the R1 edition has no lip-synch problems or widescreen 16:9 problems either.

Pooch

that's what i was waiting to hear!!!<br />shall order immediately!<br />cheers <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

The lip-synch problem is apparent on all the R2 discs. R1 is fine. Luckily I found this out before buying the film on disc.

Ugh! My Akira has non-anamorphic widescreen problems! It occasionally squishes down to 2.35:1! Other than that I can't complain, the film looks gorgeous compared to my crusty video version.

[BadAss]

Any one else interested in another classis Jap animation series should look at Macross Plus. Believe me this puts the clissic's like Akira and Ghost in the shell in the shade.<br /> On VHS it come's in four 40 minute parts but it's soon to be released on two DVD's containing two episodes each.<br /> The animation is first class, the score is awesome and the characters are some of the very best I've seen on any animation. This is TopGun set in the future. SHEAR CLASS.

[PoochJD]

BadAss,

Whilst I won't deny you the fact that "Macross Plus" is very good, it is not in the same league as "Akira" or "Ghost In The Shell", at all!

The only titles that can come close are: "Perfect Blue", and "Princess Mononoke". The R2 edition of "Perfect Blue" is a stunner, and has both the dubbed and subtitled tracks on it, plus the extras are pretty cool as well!

"Princess Mononoke" is Region 1 only, and the extras are almost non-existant, but that's down to Buena Vista being gits and not wanting to spend any money on it. (BV being a division of Disney!) However, due to fan pressure, they were forced to include the subtitled edition, alongside the US dubbed version, so at least you get the choice.

Also worth checking out, on R1 at least, is "Gunsmith Cats: Bulletproof". A very funny, fast-paced, action-comedy/thriller about two teenage female bounty hunters. I can also recommend the R1 editions of "Urusei Yatsura: TV Series Volume 1" and "Dominion: Tank Police" as well! Both are very, very funny, and are worth their weight in gold!

Oh, and you should really get your DVD player chipped to play DVD's from any region, as most of the cool Anime is Region 1 only! And there are some stunning titles due out very soon, including:-

"Blood: The Last Vampire"<br />"Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade"

The last one, is a stonking piece of animation, and is a definite must-have!

Pooch

Well for those that liked princess mononoke (and rightly so) i would point out that it isnt the best piece of work by the master director miyazaki, also look out for such gems as porco rosso, kiki's delivery service, my neighbor totoro, and my personal favourites castle in the sky laputa and nausica and the vally of the wind, the last two were available on video as laputa and warriors of the wind but they may be hard to find now.<br />unfortunately disney has owned the rights to all the miyazaki productions for half a decade or more and yet havent released any home versions. which sucks. hopefully the dvd versions of some of his work arent to far away. if anyone knows please place a post.

nathan

ps. anime fans should all have castle of cagliostiro by now right? if not get it now either region 1 or the soon to be released region 4 (dont know about region 2) this was directed by miyazaki and you can tell. an exellent purchase.

[PoochJD]

Titan,

I think that with Miyazaki, ALL of his movies are masterpieces, but all for different reasons. However, for a superb adult title, that deals with its themes in a serious way, then "Princess Mononoke" should be classed as his best work.

Having said that "My Neighbour Totoro" is a lovely children's fantasy, that a lot of adults will like as well, and it's a shame that Buena Vista/Disney don't pull their fingers out, and start releasing a Miyazaki DVD Collection, containing bi-lingual DVD's of all his works, complete with plenty of extras, especially after they spent all that money on getting the rights to them!

A nice boxed-set containg dubbed and subbed versions of all of the following, would be greatly received by many of his world-wide fans, myself included:-

Porco Rosso<br />My Neighbour Totoro<br />Nausicaa In The Valley Of The Winds<br />Laputa: Castle In The Sky<br />Kiki's Delivery Service<br />Modern Day Raccoon War Ponpoko<br />Whisper Of The Heart

Pooch