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Limited Edition Box (Korea)
written by Juice / photos by Juice
Although this edition has been labeled as a Limited Edition, it appears to be in stock almost everywhere you look. A welcome upgrade from the single disc release of Ninja Scroll, this collectors edition comes complete with a special box, a poster, a pack of postcards, the 4:3 DTS release of the disc, and a 16:9 "enhanced" release of the disc.
The big question is if this set is worth paying twice the price of the single DTS edition that is currently out there!
I own the original R1 release of Ninja Scroll, released back in 1998 with Dolby Digital and 4:3 aspect ratio. It was a fine release for the time, and I recall playing the scene in the forest where the ninja crew throw upwards of a thousand ninja stars...just so I could hear the sound effects on my 2.0 system.
Fast foward 6 years and a few releases, and we're given a brand new set from Korea, with 2 discs and some extras.
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The LE box is large, surprisingly heavy, and closes with a hidden magnet enclosure. A paper band that states "Collector's Edition" and has an image of Jubei across it covers up the right 1/3 of the front. Japanese text, in red embossed letters, covers about a 1/3 of the cover on the left side. The same text along with OLY and the DVD logo appear on the spine. The box is comprised of stiff board, black, with enough texture that you can feel it under your fingers. If you look closely at the 1st image above, you can see the texture. Opening the box, you first see a manila envelope, but I've removed that for now and will touch on it later in this review. Removing the manila envelope and folder poster, you're prestned with two seperate DVD cases. Across the top of the box, inside, is an inch wide black strip of board, which is made of the same material as the box. It has "Collector's Edition" embossed in deep red letters across it. The first DVD case contains the "remastered" edition of Ninja Scroll, as well as a 12 page full color booklet, which is built into the case. You cannot remove the booklet from the case without damaging it, as it is glued to back of the book. |
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| Resting behind this "Collector's Edition" dvd case is the 4:3 release of Ninja Scroll. Note that even though the "remastered" edition is touted as 16:9 anamorphic, it is really the 4:3 release cropped to 16:9 and remastered. |
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Let's get to the envelope that you first see when you open up this LE. The envelope is a little larger than the box itself, so the right side on my version has about an inch of it folded down into the box. Plain black text adorns the front of the envelope, and on the flap on the back is sealed by a red and black sticker. I used an exact-o knife to get into the envelope, but be warned, you can't get into it without damaging either the sticker or the envelope. Sealed inside envelope are 5 full color cards. They show case the poster and scenes from the movie. |
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The poster that comes with this edition is nice, large, but it has been fold quite a few times to fit into the box. Jubei takes up the foreground, with all of the players of th emovie spread around the rest of the poster. All of the text on it is in Korean. |
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Twice the price for 2 discs of the same movie, but in different aspect ratios with some minor differences in sound. The "new" CE version has DTS-ES in the English and Japanese dub tracks.
As an owner of the original version, I'm glad I purchased this set. Since it includes the original, I don't feel I've lost anything, and even though it's a bit more expensive, the 2nd DVD, box, cards, and poster make up for it.
- Juice's Verdict -
- Build
Quality: 7 -
A good box that holds the materials well. The hidden magnet closure
mechanism is a welcome design feature that works well with the box and
keeps it looking clean.
- Content
and Extras: 6 -
Good looking poster and some nice cards, but nothing more. Above
average, but only barely so.
- Overall
Rating: 6 -
I'm giving
this a 6 because it contains both versions of the movie, has a nice DTS
SE track, and comes with some decent extras for a low price considering
its packaging. If you're a Ninja Scroll fan and only have the old release,
look around for this set, you'll enjoy having it in your DVD case.
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