Heroic Yugi squares off against archrival Kaiba in an adventure even more dangerous when the imaginary monsters in their playing cards become ferociously real and when an old evil enters the fray.
For thoughts on Yu-Gi-Oh: The Movie, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
Yu-Gi-Oh: The Movie comes to MOD Blu-Ray courtesy of Cinedigm with a fetching 1080p transfer that brings all new life to this big-screen tale. While details about the source are scarce, the cover art notes that this has been “digitally remastered”, and it appears to be in really healthy shape. The colors present are very deep and vibrant in a way that really radiates off the screen. There is a complexity to the hues that really show off the richness of the animation. Delineation is crisp and pleasing with no unnatural jagged lines or color bleed. The textures, from the character designs to the environments, are impressive and give the films a nice sense of space. One of the areas where the animation really shines is the distinct details of the character and monster designs. Black levels are strong, and there are no obvious signs of banding or compression issues. Fans of this material will be delighted by this presentation.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track in English. There is thankfully very little in the way of age-related anomalies present here with the track presenting free of damage. Dialogue sounds crisp and clear without sound effects or the score trouncing on vital information. The story provides a very lively atmosphere with bursts of action sound effects during gameplay. The track handles these environmental effects quite capably. There is a dynamic energy to the proceedings which opens up this world admirably. This track presents everything accurately without much in the way of damage or other unwanted issues. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.
Special Features
There are no special features provided on this disc.
Final Thoughts
Yu-Gi-Oh: The Movie could be said to be only for the fans, but this actually does not seem to have much support from the fans either. This is clearly a cash grab that takes a normal episode’s worth of material and stretches it unsuccessfully to feature film length. You get a quick thrill from some of the monster duels, but that dissipates pretty quickly – and continues for another hour. If you love seeing two people playing a complex but ultimately fruitless card game that sounds like gibberish to newcomers, you are in luck. Even those familiar with the mechanics of the material will find these long stretches of duels to be tedious as you rarely get an escalation or deeper sense of importance as to what the game means to the characters outside of the arena. A third act villain barely registers, and the resolution is instantly forgettable. Cinedigm has released a MOD Blu-Ray with a stellar A/V presentation but no special features. If you happen to like this film, the quality of the release is good.
Yu-Gi-Oh: The Movie can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or through various other online retailers.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Cinedigm has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
