- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/16-bit), Japanese LPCM 2.0 (48kHz/16-bit)
- Subtitles: English
- Region: A (B? C?)
- Certification: 18
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: TFC
- Run Time: 102 Mins.
- Blu-ray Release Date: October 10, 2011
- List Price: ¥5,040
[amazon-product region=”jp” tracking_id=”bluraydefinit-22″]B004XAM0Q0[/amazon-product]
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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Hold on to your hats and put your seatbelts on, because Redline from anime powerhouse Madhouse and director Takeshi Koike in his debut feature is one wild ride! A frenzied, hyperactive, automotive sci-fi crime thriller of sorts, Redline is set in the distant future and follows the race car driver “Sweet” JP. Recently paroled for fixing races, JP is back on the underground racing circuit and back to his old tricks. He’s just nearly won the Yellowline underground race before a spectacular crash right before reaching the finish line wipes him out of qualifying for the next major race, Redline. Of course, the fix was in, set up by his crooked mechanic, a weird alien named Frisbee who works as the drug dealer to a big time mafia crime boss who fixes the races.
These aren’t any ordinary races, mind you. These are crazy, supersonic races where anything goes and contestants fire weapons at each other to blow one another off the courses in their sleek, modern, spaceship-like vehicles. But, now, JP is in for a surprise. The coveted underground racing prize, a victory at Redline, is in his sites. He’s been granted a position in the race even though he wiped out in Yellowline as two racers have backed out owing to the race’s revealed location. The location revealed – Roboworld, a planet in a demilitarized zone, ironically, with the most feared military in the world that will stop at nothing to keep the race from happening.
This time out, JP is in it to win it, even if it means going against his new love interest, the sexy and highly-skilled racer Sonoshee. Unbeknownst to JP, however, Frisbee, has made a secret deal to sabotage JP’s car if he tries to win. With that, the Roboworld military, and the other contestants vying for the win, the Redline becomes a wild race for victory that could prove to be deadly.
From the very opening sequence it is obvious that Redline is something completely unique and new. The animation is so energetic, hyperactive and refreshing, it is truly beautiful to behold. While some people may be turned off by the seemingly chaotic motion of Redline, there is no doubt it represents a giant leap forward for anime that everyone else is going to have to catch up to.
Video Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Redline’s AVC/MPEG-4 1080p/24 encodement is dazzling, to say the least. It arrives with a transfer in a slightly window-boxed framing on Blu-ray that is absolutely flawless with eye-popping colors, extremely sharp details and no issues with aliasing, noise, or macroblocking in its fast moving imagery whatsoever.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio is equally enjoyable in a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/16-bit) mix that is aggressive from the opening to the end with rumbling engines, big explosions, and pulsating techno soundtrack that rattles floorboards. The surrounds are engaged practically straight through with discrete sounds and ambient atmospherics whilst the dialogue is clean and manages to stay above the fray most of the time. One minor issue might be that high frequencies sound just sightly edgy, which may become a little fatiguing at higher volumes over the course of the film.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
The supplements are all promotional in nature and consist of Redline trailers and TV spots.
The supplements:
- Trailer [Short]
- Trailer [Long]
- TV Spot [30 sec. A]
- TV Spot [30 sec. B]
- TV Spot [15 sec.
- World Trailer Special
- World Trailer #1
- World Trailer #2
- World Trailer #3
- World Trailer #4
- World Trailer #5
- World Trailer Roboworld
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
A mesmerizing anime production from first-time feature director Takeshi Koike, Redline is a unique and exciting entry in the world of anime that breaks new and refreshing ground, with a blitz of action and enticing graphics. It arrives on Blu-ray with a flawless video presentation and energetic lossless soundtrack from TFC.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product region=”jp” tracking_id=”bluraydefinit-22″]B004XAM0Q0[/amazon-product]
Shop for More Blu-ray Titles on Amazon.co.jp
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
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