DVD Collectors Online

Tonari no Totoro, a review by dfmorgan

Tonari no Totoro (1988/Japan) (Japan) Director: Hayao Miyazaki Writing: Hayao Miyazaki (Original Material By), Hayao Miyazaki (Screenwriter) Length: 86 min. Video: Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio: 2-Channel Stereo, English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Cantonese: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, German: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Italian: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Korean: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Mandarin: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean

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Stars:
Noriko Hidaka as Satsuki Kusakabe (Voice)
Chika Sakamoto as Mei Kusakabe (Voice)
Hitoshi Takagi as Totoro (Voice)
Shigesato Itoi as Tatsuo (Satsuki & Mei's Father) (Voice)
Sumi Shimamoto as Yasuko (Satsuki & Mei's Mother) (Voice)

Plot:
Critically acclaimed as one of the most delightful and charming family films ever, My Neighbor Totoro is a stunning animated treat full of magical adventure from Hayao Miyazaki.

Follow the adventures of Satsuki and her four-year-old sister Mei when they move into a new home in the countryside. To their delight, they discover that their new neighbor is a mysterious forest spirit called Totoro-who can be seen only through the eyes of a child. Totoro introduces them to extraordinary characters-including a cat that doubles as a bus!-and takes them on an incredible journey.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Bonus Trailers
• Featurettes
• Storyboard Comparisons
• Picture-in-picture

My original review of the R1 DVD is here.

Still a truly marvellous film and this Blu-ray edition enhances it with some added depth and colourings from the added resolution.

Rating: Still a double

(From Ghibli Blu's on July 29th, 2012)

How to Train Your Dragon , a review by Tom

How to Train Your Dragon (2010/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment (Germany) Director: Chris Sanders, Dean Deblois Writing: Will Davies (Screenwriter), Dean Deblois (Screenwriter), Chris Sanders (Screenwriter), Cressida Cowell (Original Material By) Length: 98 min. Video: Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Estonian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Hebrew: Dolby Digital 5.1, Latvian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Lithuanian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Romanian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Russian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Other: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: Commentary, English, Estonian, German, Hebrew, Latvian, Lithuanian, Other, Romanian, Russian, Trivia

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Stars:
Jay Baruchel as Hiccup (voice)
Gerard Butler as Stoick (voice)
Craig Ferguson as Gobber (voice)
America Ferrera as Astrid (voice)
Jonah Hill as Snotlout (voice)

Plot:

Awards:
Nominated:

Academy Award (2010)		Best Animated Feature (Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois)
Academy Award (2010)		Best Original Score (John Powell)
Golden Globe (2010)		Best Animated Feature Film

Extras:

• Commentary
• Featurettes
• Picture-in-picture
• Scene Access
• Wendecover

After all the hype about this movie, I was curious about this one. It had great animation. Also it was fun to watch. But to be honest, I expected a more surprising story. It was without any surprises. Also I didn't really like the voice-acting of the main character. It didn't really fit.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on June 19th, 2011)

NCIS Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

1. BURY YOUR DEAD
The shocking truth to a major secret is revealed with an explosive and deadly conclusion in the final showdown between the NCIS team and an elusive arms dealer.

My Thoughts:
This is a great start to the fifth season. It makes you think we are about to lose one of our main characters again. I really enjoyed every minute of it. So much so that I instantly watched it a second time with the commentary on. The commentary is with Michael Weatherly (Tony) with... and this was a fun surprise... his mother.

My Rating:

2. FAMILY
A startling discovery in an autopsy of a murdered Petty Officer leads Ducky and the NCIS team to search for a missing child. Meanwhile,Tony's feelings for Jeanne become more pronounced.

My Thoughts:
This is kind of an average episode. The main storyline really felt no more then a filler episode. Though I did like the side story of how Tony is handling loosing his girlfriend.

My Rating:

3. EX-FILE
While Investigating the murder of a Marine captain, Gibbs comes face to face with his past when a witness in the case turns out to be his ex-wife.

My Thoughts:
Not a bad episode... but I have definitely seen better. We once again have Colonel Mann in this episode. Which is really fun since we also have one of Gibbs ex-wives.

My Rating:

4. IDENTITY CRISIS
The NCIS team uncovers a web of criminal intrigue after Ducky determines that an unidentified cadaver is a career felon with unmistakable ties to a criminal mastermind.

My Thoughts:
This is a good episode. But definitely just a standard filler episode. No long running storylines really worked on or anything like that.

My Rating:

(From NCIS Marathon on December 28th, 2009)