Audible difference
The marketeers have labelled it "Hypersonic" – and that’s a pretty accurate description. The soundtrack, rebuilt from original elements, has been remastered in 24-Bit, 192kHz Dolby TrueHD. This eclipses what you get with regular film releases, which are routinely mixed and mastered at 24/48kHz resolution.
Multiple soundtracks are on the disc to compare and contrast
Once loaded, the movie defaults to the English language Dolby TrueHD dub, but you’ll need to flick on the subtitles and jump straight to the Japanese TrueHD track to hear this high resolution mix. The phenomenal audio remastering job has been overseen by Akira’s composer Tsutomu Ohashi (sometimes known by his pseudonym Shoji Yamashiro). He says he took on the project to create the “ideal audio experience.” Job done, Ohashi-san.
Not only does the extended frequency response make Ohashi’s memorable, pounding score richer than Kobe beef, it enables you to listen to the very fabric of the soundtrack itself. Everything is louder and sharper; it becomes super-easy to pick out the jet engine roar blended with Harley Davidson, used to create the sound of Kaneda’s iconic red motorbike.
To hear just how much things have changed, the film’s original two-channel Japanese PCM mix is also available on the disc. It’s flat and empty in comparison. A DD5.1 Japanese track is also included.
Definitely a sound investment to showcase your home theatre audio
The caveat is that Akira’s Hypersonic fidelity probably won’t be appreciable on a mainstream all-in-one home cinema system. But if you have high-end AV kit, here’s a platter that’ll really test its mettle. Crank the volume and it’s like having a sonic enema.
Outside of the film itself, there’s not much in the way of extras on the Blu-ray: just a handful of short trailers and the director’s storyboards, all 737 pages of them.
Verdict
There may be elements which haven’t dated well, but Akira’s iconic character and vehicle designs still elicit fanboy glee. To finally see them on Blu-ray is quite a treat. Even without the Hypersonic hyperbole, the movie still has the power to blow your socks off. Chapter 5’s chase sequence, which is a symphony of roaring motorcycles and explosions, is just darn good fun. And that’s often something that’s often overlooked when discussing Akira. ®
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COMMENTS
I never understood the hype of this Film
Personally I find this move to be VERY OVER RATED. + an age old adage of rather reading the Manga (Comic Book version), of Akria instead.
It's kinda like those Lord of the Rings Movies from a while back, they are ~ok~ at best, but in no way a proper substitute for the real thing (i.e. Printed Material)....
And the Film wasn't even that good, when taken into account with its source material.
sometimes....
"Ghibli's English dubs are excellent"
Ah now, some of them are pretty awful. They may be well acted, but they don't follow the original script. As an example, Spirited Away's closing scenes are marred by inane chit-chat on the US dub, where the Japanese version simply falls silent and lets the director's choice of imagery tell the story. My Neigbour Totoro is also afflicted by the American "Can't-stop-talking-the-kids-will-lose-interest" disease.
For readers who haven't seen either film (and you should, especially Totoro, which a friend of mine justifiably introduced to me as "The best film ever made"), just imagine watching the start sequence of Lawrence of Arabia with some voice off-screen saying crap like "what's that?" "ooh, looks like a man", "ooh, he's on horseback", "coming here." "wonder what he wants", and you'll get an idea.
Still, I've seen much worse butchery of films when they get dubbed into English.
Love the film,
but i am still not sure if it is worth the upgrade over my DVD version and my "all in one" surround sound.
If you like Akira you should also watch "Cyber City Oedo 808", i did an art project based on the car in the opening episode it is that good.
Also "Ghost In The Shell" and "Dominion Tank Police" need a mention.
Knight Sabers anyone?
Bubblegum crisis (BGC) 2033 (done in the 80's).
Firslty I'll admit, the only tenous semblance to Akira is that this is post apocalyptic Tokyo and there are bikes.
But ... If you were an 80's kid, you''ll *LOVE* this. Bit like an anime with music videos in them. The soundtrack(music) is *phenomenal* in that nostalgic 80's way. Seriously, I wish I had the kind of kit they had in that anime. This series is your basic tank-and-spank anime type job, lots of music, bikes, cars, powered armour, gratuitous violence and gore, with some intrigue (but not in the league of the other animes). Oh and girls.. (Who is hotter, Priss or Sylia? Discuss...)
In other words, watchable, over and over and over and over and over again.
Youtube 'victory' and 'bubblegum crisis.' Both the original Japanese dubbed English/Engrish renditions of the music videos are really quite good.
The redone Bubblegum Crisis 2040, or the other one Bubblegum Crash ain't as good but probably worth watching if you like the franchise. Watch 2033 first. If you don't watch the rest you're not missing anything - they're sort of like Matrix II and III. There are also other AD police spin offs, I think like parasite dolls etc.
If you were to ask me which anime series is tops, I'd probably choose BGC 2033, as dated as it is, but that's because I've always kind of liked close-in hand to hand fighting, bikes, powered armour and girls. And the music is really quite good in this. Yes, I prefer this even to the Macrosses.
Fantastic.
