Product: The Last Unicorn [VHS] (1982)
Rating: 5.0
A great movie gets a royal treatment
I didn't really expect the Remastered "Last Unicorn" to be such a different experience, but as many times as I've seen this film, I still couldn't tear my eyes away! I saw so many details that I'd never noticed on my 20+ year old VHS. It's in widescreen. When Lir says "Come on old man, I'll write you a reference" you can see his face! The butterfly actually has facial expressions and subtle gestures that must have been plainly apparent only on the big screen. You can see the plates of tacos by the free-men's fire! And the backgrounds-- those gorgeous, richly detailed backgrounds. Not to mention the rich spectrum of colors, restored to their original brilliance. Oh, people. It's worth owning.The music is restored to its epic, un-wavering orchestral splendor. It always bothered me, even as a kid, when the soundtrack would falter and make the sweeping score sound silly and embarrassing, anticlimactic. I wondered if someday they could possibly correct it, and now I own a version that does.I have to complain about the speed, though. It's slightly faster than the version I'm accustomed to, the voices a little bit higher, and every panning shot looks tinkered with, not quite natural.The editing of "damn" isn't nearly as jarring as expected. I'm still perturbed by the film being tinkered with (sheerly for the sake of parents), and as long-coming as this DVD has been, it's unlikely an un-edited edition will be seen any time soon.The extras are more than passable, if sparse, especially the short video of Peter S. Beagle giving a bit of insight on the origins and evolutions of his beloved story. The menu seems to be accompanied by new music, which is a pleasant surprise.