Product Details

• Actors: Sataka Maeda; Takashi Fujii Koji Imada
• Directors: Masaaki Yuasa
• Format: Anamorphic, NTSC, Widescreen
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Tbs
• DVD Release Date: June 5, 2006
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000IONF6O
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,240 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Legitmate release? Hard to tell..., February 13, 2007

By 

Andrej J. Bevec - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mindgame DVD Import Set (DVD)

If you're reading this review you've probably already seen Mind Game and aren't curious as to its cinematic and narrative qualities. Rather, you're interested to know if this DVD, available off of amazon, is a legitimate release...probably for the following reasons: you want the cleanest transfer of this movie possible, and (more importantly) you want to support the studio and the creative people who made this great movie.

Now, let's try to clean up this Amazon product description: this disc does indeed have a very nice transfer so you don't have to worry about that. The movie is region free, meaning it will play on your standard USA DVD player. You have a pick between Japanese 2.0 and 5.1 sound mixes and English subtitles. The disc includes standard bonus materials, trailer etc. As far as I can tell the DVD menus are identical to the Japanese version aside from English subtitles for the navigation options.

If you're looking for a high quality version of Mind Game to play on your DVD player this is the right choice.

As for the disc's legitimacy, it's difficult to tell. The DVD case came sealed, the actual front paper insert that makes up the graphic portion of the case is of middling quality, making me suspicious of its origin. The back of the case and the DVD itself say it is licensed for home use and copying and publicly exhibiting the film is prohibited, but there is no information on the disc or case on who owns the rights to distribute the film: usually a DVD will have scads of writing around the edge of the disc detailing what company owns what part of the IP etc. There is no paper insert on the inside of the case (where you would normally have chapter's etc.). I have bought American films from brick and mortar stores that have had poor printing on their covers and didn't have inserts either...but if I had to choose, I would say this release is not official.

I'm not quite sure how to score something in a situation where the movie is so good but the release is so dubious.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, great animation, great music, July 11, 2009

By 

Surferofromantica "S.O.R." (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mindgame DVD Import Set (DVD)

A very very odd film about a young Japanese slacker who runs into the girl he loved in his school days who's also mixed up in a spot of trouble. The film uses a lot of experimental animation techniques to tell a story about... what, I'm not really sure. There is the slacker, there are two sisters, one of whom the slacker is in love with, there are two yakuza, there is a mysterious old man, a whale, and God. The story has a lot of flashbacks, most of which you don't really understand until you finish it. There is a bit of alternate endings stuff like how things would have turned out differently if things had been done in a different way, there is also a conscious "I will go back and correct my mistake" element. Several scenes are very funny. The characters are quite well developed. The Japanese is Kansai dialect, which is very earthy and good fun. Some of the fantasy sequences are totally off the wall, and the filmmakers definitely had a lot of fun with it. Some of the techniques are truly amazing, such as scenes of driving down streets, which I believe is very tough to do. The "water-running" scene at the end of the film has to be seen to be believed. A gorgeous and unique film that is enjoyable from end-to-end, not only because it tells a story we don't expect with feeling and sensitivity, but it is also about human emotions and hope. The music is by Yamamoto Seiichi, the guitarist for the Boredoms, Rashinban, Omoide Hatoba, Rovo, TEEM and too many other bands to name, and was put together by several of his units, including Rashinban. The drummer is the late China (Nishiura Mana), who died on November 4th, 2005 in a van crash on tour in the US with DMBQ.

5.0 out of 5 stars GWT US A REAL DVD/BLUE RAY IN THE U.S.!!!!, December 26, 2010

By 

Dr.Mr.SavageHenry - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mindgame DVD Import Set (DVD)

I understand this is a bunk offering.

But dammit 4C and Madhouse!!!! Give us this on disc!

My favorite animated movie of all I have seen in my lifetime of animated film loving and I can't even own it on a disc.