Story
Princess Mononoke, Mononoke Hime in Japanese, is the story of a Prince named Ashitaka and his journey to lift a curse put upon him by a former Boar God turned demon. Finding that the Boar God was changed due to an iron bullet, Ashitaka is forced to leave his village and journey to the west to seek those who forged the bullet. Upon finding the Iron Works, Ashitaka learns of the war between man and nature over the woods of the Deer God, whom the humans want to kill. Leading the fight against the humans is the lovely wolf princess Mononoke whom Ashitaka falls in love with. This love is what forces Ashitaka to get involved in the fight and attempt to stop both sides from fighting a war that will cause nothing but pain no matter who wins.

Packaging
Nice cover showing the iron works in the background with Ashitaka guarding against a sword attack. The swords have been made holographic for reasons that may possibly be just for effect. The top contains basic propaganda of how good the movie is based off of critic's opinions. Below the title we are given the names of the main character's Voice Actors, all of which are well-known and talented actors. The back cover contains more propaganda and a basic summary of the story with screen captures. You are also given a short list of the extras and features of the audio/video contained on the disc. Nothing too special or unique about the packaging, but nothing wrong or inadequate either. Within the DVD casing we are given a slip with the cover on the front without the holographic swords and on the back is the chapter list with the same screen caps that appeared on the back casing of the DVD.

Menu
Disappointing in that Miramax is the company that dubbed and created the DVD. Nothing but screen captures are used on each page with no music to accompany them. Navigation is simple enough but could have been more breathtaking had just a little more time been put into the layout. Even the early DBZ DVDs had a better menu than this, and that is saying a lot.

English
With expected changes from the original version, the English dub was still excellent. With great voice actors such as Claire Danes and Billy Bob Thornton, the character's personalities remained just as perfect as in the Japanese version. The problems I had with the English version did not lie in the actors but rather in the writers. Changes in dialogue appeared in almost every sentence, however for the most part the changes did not ruin the mood or idea of the sentences. No names were changed with the exception of the "Deer God" being changed to "Spirit of the Forest." Furthermore, the word "God" wasn't used as often as possible, which doesn't work in an anime about the Gods and their fight with the human race. The main character's name "Ashitaka" was given a different pronunciation that could perhaps be the translation of the romanizational spelling of Ashitaka. If you are confused with what I am talking about, the English version pronounces it as "ash tee tah kah" while the Japanese version pronounces it as "a sh taw kaw." Hopefully you understand now. Anyway, going back to the voice actors, though the main characters were given professional actors to voice the roles, the minor characters, whomever they may have been voiced by, were well done. No voice was unnecessarily changed to sound corny or different from how a normal person speaks. The original musical score is left in with the exception of one song that was re-mastered with English dialogue. In all, the English version had very few problems and was well done.

Japanese
Just as stated in previous reviews, nothing is better than the original. Of course there were production problems in that the subtitles were yellow, but given a black border. White is a much better color for subs though; they are easier to read in all scenes regardless of the amount of light or dark. If purchasing this DVD I'd suggest watching the Japanese version before the French or English just so you can see the perfection of the story before seeing other versions.

Video
The video for this feature is absolutely amazing. A did see a few scratches here and there, but the brilliance and brightness of the colors makes up for this. I did not however see even one rainbow appear. In all, the quality of the video is a huge step up from anime DVDs of the past.

Extras
Once again Miramax disappoints us by giving us a shady amount of extras of low quality. Only two appear on this DVD, a featurette (of which I never can sit through no matter what the movie) and the theatrical trailer. I was expecting much more when I chose the bonus material option.

French
To be honest, I didn't watch this version nor do I ever plan to. I know very little of the neither French language nor am I used to French dialogue. I cannot see this version being any less well done than the English or Japanese versions were. If you know French and enjoy French films, I'm sure you will like this section of the DVD.

Final Thoughts
Combining breathtaking art with an amazing story and given great voice actors, Princess Mononoke is a treat for anyone who chooses to watch. However, I did find myself having the stop the movie halfway through and do something else before being able to sit down and finish it. Though the plot itself is very good, the story moves slowly at times causing the viewer to bore easily. Furthermore, the ending was in a way disappointing, you are left with a feeling of regret that something more exciting did not happen. Mononoke is a great anime that I suggest buying, but you're not missing much if you never see it.

© Eric.