Product: The Last Unicorn [VHS] (1982)
Rating: 1.0
This review is for the 25th Ann. DVD release QUALITY
The original run time for this movie is 92 minutes, but this 25th anniversary version is 89 minutes, yet no scenes are cut. How can this be? Simply, the movie has been "sped up" by 4%, which is what happens when movies are put on video in Europe due the difference in frame rate. It looks like what the geniuses who released this DVD did was, take the 4% faster overseas version (meaning the audio pitch is higher), and simply use that without first trying to "reconvert" it back to our system to get the correct time/speed. But wait, this is equally lame, we shouldn't need to convert from a previously converted format, as the U.S. format "is" the original format.Bottom line, this release is not any kind of remaster, it was simply stolen from a European release that wasn't even that good. The best quality DVD version ever released for this movie (to date of this review) was the German release, the quality will blow you away. The only drawbacks for viewing in the U.S. is, you would need a multi-format DVD player for playback (though your PC drive will work), and, you would have the 4% speed hike. Most people won't notice the speed increase, but in music it is more noticeable.Get the German DVD if you can, it has both 2.0 and 5.1 audio, and pristine video quality in true widescreen. And it has the originally UNEDITED audio. Wonder if Lion's Gate will actually do it right for the Blu-Ray release.