Customer Reviews

Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century Movie

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Surprisingly, the deeper I delve into the Case Closed Universe, the more impressed with the property I become. I was a self-admitted late adopter to the series (beginning with the 5th season oddly enough) then backtracked to some of the earlier examples of the mythos on account of how much I enjoyed the later ones. Now I've picked up a few of the full length feature films and am pleased to report that they dazzle as well as the popular television serial, perhaps even surpassing it at times.

The show, for those who have yet to experience it, follows a pretty formulaic structure whereby the title character happens upon criminal activity that requires a good deal of intelligence to successfully point the finger of blame. Sounds like standard mystery-genre fare so far but what's unique about Case Closed is that the lead is played by a 17-year-old (Jimmy Kudo) investigator who has been transformed, via an experimental drug, into a child. The kid goes by the made-up name Conan Edogawa after two popular mystery writers and goes to live with his friend Rachel Moore and her private detective father, Richard. If you're looking for back story, I strongly recommend considering Funimation's Case Closed DVD Starter Set as except for a narrated opening sequence, the films waste very little time retelling past events.

Coming in at a total runtime of 100 minutes, The Last Wizard of the Century spans a single DVD housed within a standard-sized clamshell case. The show wears an appropriate if not slightly conservative TV PG rating (due to a steady dose of cartoony violence rather than inappropriate language or nudity).

Language options are standard sub & dub, which means the viewer has the choice of the original Japanese dialog track (stereo) or an English dub (Dolby Digital 5.1) and the option of running English subtitles with either.

The story of The Last Wizard of the Century goes something like this: Two new (previously undiscovered) Faberge eggs turn up and the sheer value and intrigue surrounding the priceless gems makes them the target to a wide variety of international entrepreneurs, politicians, collectors and thieves. One thief in particular has his sights set on the eggs; the elusive Phantom Thief Kid. It initially kicks off with the Phantom Thief Kid's latest crime feat, which of course has the Metropolitan Police scrambling in panic.

When the Phantom Thief Kid provides an encrypted written note (boast) that he intends on stealing the egg out from under everyone's noses, the cops (and more importantly, Conan) decide it's time to get involved.

As with any solid mystery, there are more layers to this tale than in your average onion! Several moments play out as a sort of pseudo-Indiana Jones with hidden vaults, booby-trapped artifacts, and treasures that do far more than simply look nice. The remainder of the film plays just like any other episode of Case Closed with Conan being a step or two ahead of even the most deviant-minded criminal.

Phantom Thief Kid represents a wonderful addition to the mythos with his enigmatic and charming way offering a counterpoint for Conan's (and his friends') bubbly enthusiasm. Best of all, his appearance in the final few moments of the film is nearly worth the price of admission in and of itself.

Aside from the longer runtime there are some notable differences between the film and the series. Among them is a reliance upon revealing pieces of pre-Conan life for Jimmy Kudo as threads with which to solve the mystery as well as mysteries that are themselves more complex (involving half a dozen key clues to solve rather than the one or two common of the series). Also Richard Moore is portrayed as being far-less dopey and actually contributes to the case's conclusion on multiple occasions; so dramatic is this change that the gimmick of Conan knocking Richard out via a tranquilizer dart then using his voice-changing bow-tie to reveal the solved case in the end is omitted entirely!

There also tends to be a greater focus on Conan's pal and fellow-age-reduced Anita Hailey, Dr. Hershel Agasa and the gadgets he invented to aid Conan on his mission.

As is always the case (no pun intended) with this show, the artwork and visual style aren't extremely rich or polished. Instead the animation is fairly simplistic but gets the job done. Focusing on the show's beauty (or lack thereof) is truly missing the whole point of what makes Case Closed so special. This is suspense-driven story telling that goes the extra mile to make sure each motion picture provides sufficient resolve. I consider myself a competent wannabe detective, but failed to solve this one prior to Conan's unraveling of clues at the end!

The English dub is pure first-class Funimation all the way, which means it just nails the little language details that make the original mystery fun. I can only imagine the work, planning, and translating this must require to get right. The effort pays dividends though when you view the finished product and literally forget that this wasn't originally written in English. That said, this is an example of a film that offers great acting value in either language choice.

In all, quite an entertaining addition to a solid franchise and perhaps the best of the films (at least of the ones I've enjoyed so far). I found it thoroughly entertaining and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to existing fans and neophytes of the franchise alike.

A good movie that I stumbled upon when my boss (i work at a daycare) asked me to go to the library and get a kids flick for the kids. I haven't Case Closed in years. This movie has gotten me back into the spirit (just like with Pokemon 3 the movie and the Pokemon series) and I've already ordered the fourth movie because this one had a trailer for the fourth. I can't wait. I wish I could keep this one but I have to return it to the library.

Nice plot, I was guessing who the Scorpion was all throughout the movie and in the end I was SOOO wrong. I still can't believe who the killer was, what a shocker. And the end, yeah, that guy is definitely the last wizard of the century, I wish something like those eggs existed.

I recommend this to anyone who likes anime, Case Closed or just detective and suspense movies. I also advise to check out the rest of the movies, I'm sure they're just as great or better! There're 14 in all as of this year (1 more than Pokemon who's 13th recently came out).

I just got this movie today. Yes, it is the R1 release. I got it from Rightstuf. Well, now that is out of the way, I will start my review.

In the Last Wizard of the Century, Mr. Suzuki (Mr. Sebasitan(spelling?)) has a rare treasure known as the "Memories Egg", which Kaitou Kid (Phantom Thief Kid) has his eye on stealing. However, on the night he attempts to steal it, somebody shoots him. Now, it it is up to Shinichi (Jimmy Kudo (aka. Conan Edogawa)) to find out not only the mystery concerning the egg, but also who shot Kid.

The movie was great and just as exciting as the Japanese release, but I have two problems. First, this is an English adaptation, but one character says it has been a while since she spoke Japanese. I have heard Japanese before and I think that line should have been changed. Second, Haibara's English voice did not sound good. Of course, it may just be because it was the first time she made her appearance in the American dub of the anime in this movie, but she sounded too old. Seriously, if people think Ran (Rachel Moore) sounds too old, they should look at Haibara's voice actor. Other than those problem, the movie is definitely good.

The good thing about this movie though is that they have it take place in Japan, instead of America, like the television show.

As with most dubs, this is probably not the best translation out there, but still acceptable.

Also, as a spoiler, this is the first movie where Conan and Kid help each other. It is not just Kaito Kid's first appearance in the movies.

If you prefer the Japanese voices, you can switch the audio track to Japanese and watch. I would recommend this to just about everyone familiar with Detective Conan (Case Closed), but certainly not everyone.

This dust ruffle is very nice. It had very few, if any, wrinkles right out of the package. I put it straight on the bed without even running it through the dryer to remove wrinkles. The platform of the dust ruffle is very good quality; much better than the ruffle that came with the bedding. The fabric of the ruffle hangs perfectly. There is one thing to note: it does not have splits at the corners for a bedpost. That wasn't an issue for me, but it something to note. I do wish the sellers of all the dust ruffles would add this to their product descriptions.

This movie wasn't my favorite...though one thing I really enjoyed was: The Phantom Kid. I felt that the plot was weak. There was good enough action going on to keep me interested:) The Phantom Kid makes an interesting realization:)

I am a diehard fan of the Case Closed/Detective Conan series, both anime and manga, so it really isn't that big a surprise that I enjoyed this movie. The set up of the mystery behind the Faberge eggs was good, and I liked the fact that this was one of the times where Conan didn't actually have to sedate Richard Moore (Kogoro Mori), but instead used hints to get him to the correct conclusion. Kaito Kid's role was as fun as ever, I especially like the shot of him on top of the tower in Osaka before the blackout. Harley Hartwell (Heiji Hattori) seemed a little off in his introduction to the story, and mainly stayed as a background character whose main contribution to solving the mystery was driving Kudo (as Conan) around Osaka. The DVD's sound and visual were as good as expected, I do wish there was something more in the extra-features than just previews for other English-dub anime but I wasn't expecting any different. All in all a worthy purchase, and I am eagerly awaiting the delivery of the next movie.

"Meitantei Conan" or "Detective Konan" ("Case Closed" in the U.S.) has been one of the longest running manga and anime series in Japan. Written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama and featured in Weekly Shonen Sunday since 1994, the anime series which started back in 1996 is well-nearing 600-episodes and 14 movies have been released in Japan.

FUNimation Entertainment have released several of the movies on DVD in Dec. 2009. "Cased Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century" is the third "Meitantei Conan" film that was in theaters in Japan back in April 1999 and was a success earning around 1.45 billion yen (over a million US). The film was directed by Kenji Kodama (director for the "City Hunter" films, "Case Closed" TV series, "Tales of the Abyss", etc.) and a screenplay by Kazunari Kouchi (has written the screenplay for the TV series and all films). Character design is by Masaaki Sudoh (who worked on "Kekko Kamen" OAV and "Momotaro Densetsu") and music by Katsuo Ono ("Lupin III vs. Detective Conan" special and the "Detective Conan" TV series and films).


VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century" is a film that came out back in April 1999. So, you can tell it's an older anime but because it is a film, films tend to have a much higher budget than the TV series so you see more detail and shading in the art backgrounds. Picture quality is slight blurry but it's satisfactory considering it's an older anime using cels and is not digital. Also, the film does have a few dust particles that can be seen from time to time but it's not distracting at all.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 English and Japanese Stereo. English audio dialogue is clear from the center and music and sound effects are more front channel driven. Voice acting is well done on the English side but for those who followed the Japanese series may get confused by the changing of the names. Japanese audio is well-done and for those who have a modern home theater receiver and a 5.1, 7.2 or higher setup, my preference was to have audio set on all channels for a more immersive soundscape.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century" comes with FUNimation Entertainment trailers only. I wished they included the original Japanese theatrical or TV trailers for the film.

JUDGMENT CALL:

I grew up with "Meitantei Conan" and I own several Japanese manga volumes which helped me learn Japanese and have watched the original Japanese anime series including the Japanese drama. But I have never seen any of the animated films before, so it was a pleasure to see FUNimation Entertainment show their dedication in releasing the films in the US.

As for "Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century", Kaito Kid (phantom thief) fans will definitely enjoy his presence in this film. In fact, there's a pretty interesting twist revealed at the end which I won't get into but for the most, the film was well-written. And keeping consistent with the TV series, a film that showcases Conan investigating this latest case and the film features a lot of action, a good number of characters from the TV series appearing in this film and for the most part, a pretty solid mystery case.

For those who have never watched the television series, you can still get into the film because there is a brief introduction of how Jimmy Kudo became Conan Edogawa and also explanation of his various gadgets that he uses and also the supporting characters that appear in the film.

As for the TV PG rating, because Conan has the appearance of a child, "Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century" is not a children's animated film. People get shot and killed or physically hurt in this detective animated film.

Overall, if you enjoyed the animated or manga series or an anime fan wanting a solid mystery film, "Cased Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century" is definitely worth watching!

I bought this DVD as a family Christmas present. It's the mystery of discovery that makes this anime great. We are always guessing the outcome; Fantasic Anime, great for the whole family. I plan on getting the next two movies. You should, too!!

This movie is the best Case Closed yet, I enjoyed it and reccomend it to any anime fan. It is a great comback for the series and I hope they release all the films.