THE PLOT THUS FAR
The adventures of “Porco Rosso”, a veteran WW1 pilot in 1930s Italy, who has been cursed to look like an anthropomorphic pig.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Porco Rosso” is the film that turned me into a Miyazaki fan. So many people will blow smoke at Nausicaa, Mononoke or even the random Lupin III movie he did. The film is about a man cursed to look like a pig. He’s an Indiana Jones type by way of Sky Captain who uses his plane to hunt down pirates off the coast of Italy. Mussolini fascists and cruise ship robbers are the order of the day, as Michael Keaton offers up a performance in the English dub that blows away the original language track. Yeah, I’m the one that went there.
This is one of the very few Miyazaki films were I perform the English dub. I tried listening to the original language track on the Blu-Ray and I found myself struggling to connect. Keaton got the tone down and made you believe in his tortured pig pirate flying pilot. The pain in his voice only matched by his longing to return to normal, it is the kind of stuff that Spielberg used to pull off in his heyday. I can’t wait to show this film to my daughter when she’s older, as I feel that kids under the age of 10 might not fully appreciate what’s going on here.
The Blu-Ray comes with a DVD copy, featurette, storyboards, trailers and an interview with the producer as the special features. The A/V Quality is amazing for a Ghibli flick. The 1080p transfer continues to pop for these Disney North American offerings. The DTS-HD 2.0 master audio track is period appropriate considering the original Japanese released, but if any Miyazaki demands a re-mix into more audio channels, this is it. In the end, it’s a must-buy.
RELEASE DATE: 02/03/2015