UltimateDisney.com/DVDizzy.com Reviews: Discussion Thread

Discussion of non-Disney DVD and Blu-ray.
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Escapay
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Post by Escapay »

CJ wrote:I may not always comment on all the reviews, but I do read them all.
Ditto.

By the way, my standard gift of a pink elephant whenever I see a good review (in this case, LATT: PE) :

:pink:


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Luke
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Post by Luke »

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. Thanks to two new reviews from the indefatigable Aaron Wallace, we now have 400 DVDs reviewed on thsi site!

Check out #'s 399 and 400:

Ellen: Season 3
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/ellen-season3.html

Jim Brickman at the Magic Kingdom: The Disney Songbook
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/jimbrickman.html
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PR Fan
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Post by PR Fan »

Congrats Luke and Aaron on 400 Dvds reviewed, and i know your busy and all but i just hope you do the SPD reviews before June 6th or whenever MF comes out on DVD.
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Post by Luke »

PR Fan wrote:Congrats Luke and Aaron on 400 Dvds reviewed
Don't forget Jack, JR (Netty), Renata, Lindsay, Kelvin (Disneykid), Captain Hook, Jake, R (Loomis), Joe (Wonderlicious), the other Aaron W (Disneyfella), Pals, MMB, MichaeLeah (TheLittleMerman), Matthew Rand, Disney Duster Mike, and anyone else who has written or contributed to a UD DVD review!
PR Fan wrote:i know your busy and all but i just hope you do the SPD reviews before June 6th or whenever MF comes out on DVD.
I think my written portion of the review is more or less done, but that's only one-fourth of the whole. Perhaps we should keep the entire thing anonymous, though, as I don't think you'll be too happy with my take on the show.

:o :shifty:
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Post by PR Fan »

Yes congrats to everyone on revewing 400 dvds, even thought i probably have only read like 60 of them lol.

Oh no it's okay especially on SPD since that's usually what the whole fandom said at least on The Joining Forces on what Aaron said.
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Error in "Whisper of the Heart" review

Post by Blissey02 »

The following is an open letter to Aaron Wallace, author of UD's review of the Studio Ghibli release of "Whisper of the Heart:"

Dear Mr. Wallace,

I loved your review of the Studio Ghibli film "Whisper of the Heart," which comes out on R1 DVD today.

However, I have found a glaring error in your review.

In your review, you refer to "The Cat Returns" (2002) as a "prequel" to "Whisper of the Heart." Well, that is totally incorrect. The "making of" "Cat Returns" specifically refers to "Cat Returns" as a semi-sequel to "Whisper of the Heart."

Going even further specific that that, Aoi Hiragi-san, the author of the "Whisper" manga, based the concept of "Cat Returns" on a story later written by Shizuku, the protagonist of "Whisper of the Heart." (If you've seen "Whisper" or the "making of" video on the "Cat Returns" DVD, then you know what I am talking about.)

I apologize if I have offended you in any way, but I felt this should be brought to your attention as soon as possible.

Signed,

William C. Raymer
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Post by AwallaceUNC »

I had thought it was a sequel as well, but as is explained on this DVD's "Behind the Microphone" featurette, <i>The Cat Returns</i> is in fact a prequel. Cary Elwes, the English voice of The Baron, talks about this at length ("at length" is relative to the 8 minute run-time of the featurette, of course).

<i>Whisper</i> was written and theatrically released before <i>The Cat Returns</i>, and given that prequels are kind of sequels themselves also (in that they still come afterwards), that might be what you are going for, but the story of <i>The Cat Returns</i> (which is not its literal title) is supposed to take place before the story of <i>Whisper</i>. Elwes also talks about the way in which he had to make The Baron sound older for <i>Whisper</i> than he did for <i>The Cat Returns</i>.

This can get confusing for those following the English releases, because although <i>Whisper</i> was theatrically released in 1995 and <i>Cat</i> in 2002, they were released on DVD in reverse order here. But then, my understanding is that it doesn't make a great deal of difference either way, as the two movies are kind of loosely correlated (which is why I wrote "a prequel of sorts").

Does that make sense? Hopefully it does. Thanks for reading and responding. :)

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Post by Lucylover1986 »

Great review of Proof, Jake! I'll definitley give it a rent since you so highly recommended it. This is the first 5 star review a DVD has received also I believe.
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Post by Luke »

Lucylover1986 wrote:This is the first 5 star review a DVD has received also I believe.
This year, yes, but definitely not of all-time. In fact, two DVDs got 5-star ratings in the first month or so of implementing the star ratings.
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Post by Lucylover1986 »

Oh ok. It's definitely been a while though.
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Jake Lipson
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Post by Jake Lipson »

Thanks -- your comments are appriciated.

As for the five star rating, I tend to give those a lot (Spirited Away got one from me, too), but I tend to judge the DVD in its place. IE, it is not reasonable to hold the DVD release of something like Proof to the standards of the Lord of the Rings extended edition sets, so I don't. Obviously those are going to give you more bang for your buck than Proof is, but the Proof disc did a good job of handling its film within expectations as for what that kind of film usually gets. And as I said I was expecting it to be barebones, so the presence of anything at all is nice. I do wish the trailer were on there too, but that's minor and not worth docking a star for.
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Post by Lucylover1986 »

Good review on the Modern Marvels release Aaron. I watched the show when it aired on TV and I enjoyed it. I can't wait to see that Sin City review from you. I hope you enjoyed it as much as my friends and I do.
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Post by Loomis »

Just read the Modern Marvels WDW review from Aaron (as mine has just shipped), and I really wanted to say 'good work'. I'm really looking forward to the disc.

Only wish that Disneyland would eventually get its own comprehensive doco! Hopefully, 'Secrets, Stories etc' will one day be that disc.

You mention that "As a Disney park lover, containing my excitement while watching the feature was difficult." I suspect I will be the same :D
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Post by BrandonH »

I haven't been on the forum for about a month, but I have been reading the reviews of those DVDs that I find interesting. My compliments to all of you on jobs well done.

I was curious as to when the Disneyland trip report would be updated with parts 2 and 3. The Musical History of Disneyland set looks interesting to me, but I'm not spending $90 on Amazon for it without getting an Ultimate Disney seal of approval for it first.
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Post by Luke »

BrandonH wrote:I haven't been on the forum for about a month, but I have been reading the reviews of those DVDs that I find interesting. My compliments to all of you on jobs well done.

I was curious as to when the Disneyland trip report would be updated with parts 2 and 3. The Musical History of Disneyland set looks interesting to me, but I'm not spending $90 on Amazon for it without getting an Ultimate Disney seal of approval for it first.
Thanks for the compliments. It's good to see you 'round here again. Parts 2 and 3 of the trip are unfortunately on the back burner for me now. I really want to catch up with my "reviews to do" DVD stack. I might end up just skipping the Disney California Adventure and Hollywood stuff and just doing Part 3 on the Musical History set. I mean, the trip was 8 months ago and I doubt many are really waiting on the edge of the seat to read more of my ramblings.

But I promise you more DVD reviews before the end of the weekend and hopefully, more than usual this coming week.
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Post by Paka »

The UD Walt Disney Treasures review series is almost complete!! :lol:

The new Silly Symphonies review - to a 4+ year old set - has just been posted. Better late than never, eh? ;)
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Post by BrandonH »

The Silly Symphonies review is excellent, Paka! No stone was left unturned on that one, and the Easter Egg/menu-less Symphonies section was especially helpful. When I first got the set, I was diligent about finding eggs on my DVDs, but now I can just turn to the review and see how to find those hidden treasures.
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Post by Wonderlicious »

Congratulations on the Silly Symphonies review. This has to be one of the best reviews on the site. All the reviews are great, but this was really well written and helpful with the confusing menus, one of the only real flaws in this release. And I also liked it because I largely agree with what you wrote. ;) You know, I think I may pop in my Silly Symphonies DVD back in the player this afternoon thanks to the review.
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Post by mybluerabbit »

Hello, I am sorry to bother everyone, but I would just like to make a quick mention about the new review for the Walt Disney Treasures Silly Symphones Vol1. The review did not mention the short Practical Pig. Practical Pig is an easter egg and can be found on disc one by going to the captions and then selecting the little yellow chicken to the left. This brings the total number of shorts on Silly Symphones Vol1 to 37, or 36 if you count both versions of ugly ducklying as one short. Again sorry to bother anyone.
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Post by Paka »

Awww!! Thanks, Joe and BrandonH!! :D

I really wasn't expecting such high praise! :oops: I'm very glad you two enjoyed the review so thoroughly; I especially am proud that the review inspired you to watch your set again, Joe! The Symphonies really are wonderful shorts, and I hope that more people seek them out. :)


mybluerabbit wrote:Hello, I am sorry to bother everyone, but I would just like to make a quick mention about the new review for the Walt Disney Treasures Silly Symphones Vol1. The review did not mention the short Practical Pig. Practical Pig is an easter egg and can be found on disc one by going to the captions and then selecting the little yellow chicken to the left. This brings the total number of shorts on Silly Symphones Vol1 to 37, or 36 if you count both versions of ugly ducklying as one short. Again sorry to bother anyone.
Eek! :o

Thanks for pointing that out, MBR! It's not a bother at all! I spent a few days working on this set and thought I scoured the menus thoroughly, but you're right - I missed the water baby image on disc 1's caption menu. I thought I remembered seeing The Practical Pig on the set, but I hadn't watched the DVD for a while, and later assumed that maybe I was imagining it, or it was on the Region 2 set, or something. :P

Again, thanks for correcting that! We'll get it added asap! :)
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