Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)My Evangelion background:
I have been a fan of the series since I rented the weird "End of Evangelion" movie a couple of years ago. I rented the original DVDs (the 'Perfect' collection) from Netflix and watched every episode in Japanese+Subtitles and English. I have also seen "Death & Rebirth."
What THIS collection contains (hardware):
I purchased this collection from Amazon. The disks have an interesting textured label application. Nothing else is special about the physical items. Thin DVD containers, decent box, NO inserts AT ALL unless you include the promo page stuck to the back of the box.
What THIS collection contains (software):
Just the episodes and the director's cut versions of four episodes, nothing extra. No commentaries, no interviews, no guides, nothing. Well, it has some previews, but those do not count. To be clear, the director's cut and original versions of the four episodes are both here.
Detailed review:
I watched the first DVD and was amazed at the quality of the transfer. It had been a few months since I had seen the Netflix version, so I re-rented the first DVD to compare.
Yes, the picture quality is vastly superior to the old version. I never really noticed the frame shake before, but watching the original was like watching a crappy 60's western--almost every transition was marred by at least two or three frame shakes that cannot be ignored once the 'clean' one is seen. The images themselves are also much cleaner. The old version looks like a VCR tape by comparison.
The sound was also amazing. I prefer watching in orignal Japanese with English subtitles, so it was a great surprise to hear it in Dolby Digital 5.1--usually the Japanese soundtrack is only two-channel.
There are a few additions to the episodes, but usually very small adds. However, the four director's cut episodes have significant additions that explain things that would otherwise be confusing, which is good, because episode 21 is where the series really takes the story in a new direction.
Opinion:
Again, I watch the Japanese w/ subtitles. I was switching audio sources to compare English & Japanese and they sounded exactly the same except for the vocals. It also reminded me why I watch the Japanese versions--in one scene, Toji gave Ryoko a small item. The English actor said "I guess the cat's out of the bag" but the subtitles showed "Here is a cat souvenir for you" (not exact quotes). The English one makes it sound like he's giving her a secret clue to the rest of the story instead of just giving her a cat coin (she collects cat stuff). Plus, you get to see how many ways the sound for "yes" is used ("yes sir, yes, yeah, probably" are all the same word, just different levels of inflection).
Should you buy it?
Here's how you should do it:
1) Rent "End of Evangelion". You will either love it or hate it, but it provides an alternate ending to the series. Personally, I love it, but I also appreciate the original ending. If this movie makes you want to find out what's going on, then you will enjoy the series. If you thought the movie was stupid and you didn't care about the characters then you will not like the series, so you just saved yourself the cost of the .
2) Buy this collection. You WILL watch it again, so you will enjoy the excellent transfer quality for a bargain price.
Note: I revised this review to strip out renting Perfect collection first. There really is no reason to do this since Wikipedia has more info than the extras. Check out these sites for detailed NGE info:
[...]
Click Here to see more reviews about: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum Collection
Item Name: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum Collection; Studio:Adv Films
Get 43% OFF
Click here for more information about Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum Collection
0 comments:
Post a Comment