Plot: What’s it about?
Yugi is the champion of card battles, a foe so powerful, all who step up to challenge are sent off in a daze from the defeat. He is skilled with the cards, but he also has some help, thanks to a special ability that gives him a serious edge. His grandfather gave him a mystical necklace, a charm that allows the wearer to summon an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. Of course, Yugi uses this incredible power not for practical matters or the good of mankind, but to help him card duels. His technique works though, as countless beaten opponents can attest, but one is more determined than ever to dethrone Yugi. His name is Kaiba, a classmate of Yugi and a skilled player himself, though he can never out duel his most vaunted opponent. His consuming obsession with Yugi soon causes some shifts in the mystical realm. The Pharaoh who supplies Yugi’s power once has a powerful enemy known as Anubis, a being who wished to control the world. An epic clash followed, with the Pharaoh beating Anubis and sending him into a distant dimension. But Anubis has been unleashed once more and his best chance to defeat his sworn enemy is to join with Kaiba. If his power can allow Kaiba to crush Yugi, then the Pharaoh’s power is weakened, so Anubis can then overtake the world. Can Yugi plays his cards right and continue to win, or will Anubis have another chance at world domination?
If you thought Pokemon was designed to move merchandise, then you have to marvel at the shameless nature of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. This animated television series has less plot than a porno, with storylines developed only to push more merchandise. The entire premise of the show revolves around cards, you know, the kind kids can collect, trade, and what not. A show engineered to cash in on the current craze for card based games, an area mined more times than California’s mountains. But once again, the parents have given in and let their kids begin their card collections all over again. Yes, Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering, two once popular card games for children, have been pushed to the back of the closet, in favor of Yu-Gi-Oh! The show is lame and fails to even stack up against other afternoon cartoons, the video games have been dull and lifeless, but even so, the cards sell like hotcakes. With the show still popular, the producers struck while the iron was hot and released a Yu-Gi-Oh! feature film. The result makes the Pokemon movies look like Citizen Kane, with no plot, no action, and animation that could pass for a high school art project. The word of mouth was atrocious, even the kids hated the movie and it showed, with lackluster box office production. This should have been direct to video from the start, so perhaps more interest will be given for this version. I can’t recommend this movie in good faith to anyone, I found it to be a dull, rushed project that fails to deliver, even with low expectations. If your kids have to see it, do yourself a favor and put in a Pixar movie instead.
Video: How does it look?
Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie is presented in full frame, which compromises the theatrical presentation. I know this is a title that is aimed at younger folks, but I am still unsure why a widescreen option wasn’t included. Maybe small kids don’t understand those black bars, but the rest of us do and we expect all titles to use anamorphic widescreen when possible. Aside from the lack of a widescreen choice though, this is a solid looking transfer. Some edge enhancement is presented at times, but no real problems to discuss here. The film’s juiced color scheme comes off well, the hues are bold and rich, but never smear or bleed in the least. The contrast is smooth also, no detail is loss at all and black levels are well defined also.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included Dolby Digital 5.1 track is a good one, with good surround presence and an overall crisp presentation. This is by no means an explosive experience, but you’ll hear those rear channels and on the whole, this is a solid & creative mix. The surrounds are used often and seem well mixed, as the elements are never hollow or forced, which is good news. The pop rock soundtrack is well presented also, with no real issues to report. The dialogue is presented in an English language track and sounds great, with a rich presence. This disc also includes French and Spanish language tracks, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, and French, should you need those options at some point.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes a Monster Challenge memory game, as well as the film’s theatrical trailer.
