Patlabor Movie 2

By Andrew Bolton     February 16, 2002
Release Date: September 26, 2000



The Review!
Content: A
I liked this movie over the first Patlabor movie, it has a great story, and animation. The movie is mostly story driven, with the word "deep" summing up the feel to it. There is lots of plot content going on throughout the movie, with some good action scenes here and there.
Audio: B
Both audio tracks are presented in DD 2.0, the review concerns the English audio track. I was disappointed at first by the fact that there was no DD 5.1 track as in the first Patlabor movie. I must say for not having the DD 5.1 track I was impressed by the audio that was presented. Manga used a Pro-Logic that had directional effects, as well as use of the rear surround channels. The track is comparable to the 5.1 track that is used in the first movie. The audio was clear and easy to understand, the movie overall was dialogue based, with surround use mostly in the action scenes. The English voice actors did a good job, and as far as I could tell the same voice actors from the first movie are back. The English track stays pretty close to what is said in the subtitles (more so than the first movie). For you die-hard Japanese audio track fans, I did listen to a few random spots in the Japanese track, and the audio is clear and easy to understand.

Video: B
The movie is presented in its original wide screen format in an non-anamorphic 1.85:1 ratio. The video itself is mostly free from edge jaggies, and pixellation, with an occasional spot of dirt on the transfer. The spot where the video is lacking (besides being non-anamorphic) is that the fact that is has a washed out feel to it.
It is not distracting to me, nor takes away from the film, but I do feel that the transfer could have been better. The layer change was a bit too noticeable for my liking, but at least it occurred between scenes.

Packaging: B
It comes in an Alpha case with a little 2 page booklet listing the tracks, and a brief spot about the movie. The artwork on the front and back is a bit too dark and unimpressive for my liking.

Menus: B
The same menu format from the first movie is back. They are easy to navigate and look good. The only thing I dislike is the few second video clip that plays before going into some of the sub menus. When I go into a menu I want to go there now, not after a clip has played.

Extras: D
The only extras are the original trailers for the movie and the Manga fan club trails. Some TV spots for the first movie are included as Easter Eggs (the same ones as in the first Movie). Overall the lack of any extras is quite disappointing.

Review Equipment
Pioneer 525 DVD Player, Pioneer 309 DD/DTS Receiver, Toshiba 32" Cinema Series TV, Speakers: Various brands (no Sub yet)