TALES FROM EARTHSEA

THE PLOT THUS FAR

Something bizarre has come over the land. The kingdom is deteriorating. People are beginning to act strange… What’s even more strange is that people are beginning to see dragons, which shouldn’t enter the world of humans. Due to all these bizarre events, Ged, a wandering wizard, is investigating the cause. During his journey, he meets Prince Arren, a young distraught teenage boy. While Arren may look like a shy young teen, he has a severe dark side, which grants him strength, hatred, ruthlessness and has no mercy, especially when it comes to protecting Teru. For the witch Kumo this is a perfect opportunity. She can use the boy’s “fears” against the very one who would help him, Ged.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

“Tales from Earthsea” is this weird mix of the first four Earthsea books by Ursula K. Le Guin. While I’m not a super fan of the fantasy genre, I appreciate the efforts by Studio Ghibli to mine an interesting story from a few overlong books. The film relies on a lot of convenient plot devices and a deus ex machina. But, it stands on par with where Hiyao Miyazaki was in the late 1970s. Given the changing nature of animation on an international scale, I was impressed with this effort to deal a legit dramatic tale around a fan appreciated series.

Goro Miyazaki isn’t his father yet, but he has no need to be. I see the younger Miyazaki moving away from the overt emotion and humor of his father and adapting a far serious mood with his work. That being said, I hope that he works with a better crew of writers next time. While Goro Miyazaki can mine insane visuals on par with his father, the scripting feels like lesser Ghibli. Not the worse thing, but it’s enough to be distracting.

The Blu-Ray comes with storyboards, trailers, featurettes and a DVD copy as the special features. The A/V Quality is the same as the last few Ghibli releases in North America. The transfer is an insane 1080p presentation. But, the DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track on this disc stands as the best of the recent release wave. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to the Miyazaki fans.

RELEASE DATE: 02/03/2015