Product Details

• Actors: Charles Baker, Troy Baker, Anthony Bowling, Luci Christian, Leah Clark
• Directors: Takahiro Imamura
• Writers: Eiichiro Oda, Hirohiko Uesaka
• Producers: Gen Fukunaga
• Format: NTSC, Color, Widescreen, Subtitled
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby TrueHD 5.1), Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Japanese (Dolby TrueHD 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Funimation Prod
• DVD Release Date: January 27, 2009
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001K98M7I
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,283 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "One Piece: The Princess and the Pirates - Adventures in Alabasta Movie #8 [Blu-ray]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A desert may seem like an unlikely place for pirates, but Luffy and his Straw Hat crew fight for Princess Vivi in the eighth One Piece movie, subtitled "The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta." Crocodile and his Baroque Works gang foment a civil war in Alabasta, so they can control the country after most of its warriors have been killed. Crocodile also hopes to gain control of the Pluton, an ultimate weapon that may or may not exist. But Luffy and the Straw Hats charge to Vivi's rescue. Having eaten the Suna Suna or Sand Fruit, Crocodile can turn any part of his body into sand--a trick that may remind viewers of Gaara in Naruto. The climactic battle between the two pirate leaders pits Crocodile's sand transformations against Luffy's Gum Gum limbs and wits. Despite its title, One Piece: Movie 8 consists of recut footage from the "Alabasta" story arc of the TV series with some bits of additional animation. The repurposed footage doesn't always fit together: the film opens in the middle of an adventure and some important story elements get lost in the shuffle, including how Luffy is saved from the poisoned wound Crocodile inflicts. These inconsistencies probably won't bother One Piece fans. (Rated PG-13: violence, risqué humor, tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

Product Description

The island kingdom of Alabasta is about to erupt in civil war – a war engineered by Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and his criminal organization Baroque Works. Monkey D. Luffy, his Straw Hat pirates and Princess Vivi race to the island, where the strongest warriors of Baroque Works wait to stop them. Can Vivi and her friends stop an entire war? And how can Luffy fight Crocodile, when Crocodile can turn into sand?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally Awesome, February 9, 2008

By 

Marty Kingsley "The Omega Geek" (West Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Piece - The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta (DVD)

How my ratings work:
5 - I really liked/loved it
4 - I liked it
3 - Could've been better/worth a look
2 - Just didn't live up to the potential
1 - Simply awful

I just saw this movie today with my friends. I've been a fan of One Piece for a good while. I've yet to read the manga, but I plant to read it some day. This movie has everything you could want: action, comedy, drama, intense battles. I don't need to go into the plot since it's mentioned above. The voice cast is outstanding, and it's cool to see it all uncut (I've mainly seen it on tv). If you love One Piece, you'll love this. If you're a fan of anime, movies, and pirates, you should love it in general.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The wacky and delightful adventures of superhero pirates on a quest to save a desert kingdom, March 11, 2008

By 

Nathan Andersen "film lover, philosophy profe... (Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Piece - The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta (DVD)

(What's this?)

I don't know anything about the Manga upon which this is based and have never had the chance to see any of the episodes of the popular television series featuring the characters from One Piece -- but all that really isn't necessary to enjoy the eye-poppingly enthusiastic animation and delightful story of how a mismatched group of super-powered pirates rally behind a desert princess to save her kingdom from the dangerous fiend Crocodile.

I suppose this ought to be classed under the heading of guilty pleasure (for me) since its target audience seems to be teenage boys and girls -- though I understand that manga and anime have a much larger adult audience in Japan than comics and animation have in the US. The animated women are all voluptuous and not afraid to use their feminine charms to disarm an enemy, and there is lots of blood and violence -- though it is certainly not to the point of being gory or pornographic, the film does "earn" its PG-13 rating. Still, the film remains playful and inventive in its approach, somewhat like Pirates of the Caribbean, and would be hard to describe as offensive (my wife and I saw this together and both of us smiled through it).

While the characters and story are lots of fun, the real delight in this picture is the animation. It is endlessly inventive, over-the-top, and gorgeously rendered. The images strike a very nice balance between the lush style of visuals associated with the most artistic of anime productions, such as the work of Hayao Miyazaki, and a cartoonish and playful style that is closer to Pokemon, with visual jokes and excess that could have been contributed by Mad Magazine enthusiast (here the limits of my knowledge of anime show themselves, since there has to be a better Japanese analogy for the combination of slapstick, adventure, mild sensuality, martial arts and swashbuckling violence and fantasy that is on display here). It is really quite exciting to watch, since not only the story but the visual style is unpredictable without overwhelming the cohesiveness of the whole.

All I can say is that I wish we had stuff like this when I was a kid -- though I can't say I'm ready to introduce it to my own kids yet. It's probably better for them to find it on their own when they are no longer taking my suggestions. If you end up taking my suggestion to check this out, and find yourself or your kids or your parents becoming hooked on the delightful characters and style, and are impatiently waiting for more of the series to make it overseas, don't blame me.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Blu-ray has very good picture quality, Dolby TrueHD both in English and Japanese and a lot of action-packed battles!, March 8, 2009

By 

Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: One Piece: The Princess and the Pirates - Adventures in Alabasta Movie #8 [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

When it comes to animated films, especially for a long running manga and anime series, they're typically stand-alone and filled with mindless action and simple plot. But with the eighth "ONE PIECE" film titled "THE DESERT PRINCESS AND THE PIRATES - Adventures in Alabasta", the film focuses on intense battles and dramatic sequences that make this one of the better "ONE PIECE" films in years.

The film starts off with the Straw Hat Pirates in the sea, they discover an object or person who needs help and eventually they save the person.

The person happens to be Mr. 2 Bon Clay, a transvestite and a member of Sir Crocodile's organization, Baroque Works. He has the ability to change to anyone he touches (face and whole body). He takes all their identities (when demonstrating his abilities) and eventually leaves the group. This causes great concern to Vivi as she notices that one of the people he changed to was her father and must mean that there is trouble
in Alabasta.

This leads the whole crew to Vivi's desert homeland in which she finds out that Alabasta is in turmoil with a civil war ongoing (courtesy of Crocodile's evil plans). As the crew, investigate the desert area, Vivi learns from one of her father's assistants that a civil war has turned the country upside down and that Crocodile was using Mr. 2 Bon Clay to impersonate her father with his evil plans. Thus, the crew are now off to stop Crocodile.

Unbeknownst to the pirates, Crocodile and his gang have been observing them. This leads to the first battle between Crocodile and Luffy which looks as if Luffy has been killed.

With the Straw Hat Pirates in mourning, they want nothing but to revenge their fallen leader and get their revenge against Crocodile and his gang. Meanwhile, Vivi tries to think of a way to stop this civil war and bring peace back to Alabasta.

The film is a retelling of episodes 93-130. So, when you try to condense 37 episodes into a 90 minute film, there are a lot of things that you lose. But this has been numerous times with plenty of anime series and it's either win or lose depending on the viewer. But also if there is anything new introduced in the film.

If anything "THE DESERT PRINCESS AND THE PIRATES - Adventures in Alabasta" focuses on action sequences and a few dramatic situations from the story arc but the biggest difference is production quality. Animated films are usually better than their television counterparts and on Blu-ray, this film just looks beautiful.

VIDEO AND AUDIO:

The picture quality of "THE DESERT PRINCESS AND THE PIRATES - Adventures in Alabasta" is absolute beautiful. Many scenes use the amber and blues but most of all, since this film is quite recent (2008), the animation is quite vibrant in colors via 1080p High Definition.

As for audio quality, both English and Japanese dialogue tracks are in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. This is very important because many animated films on Blu-ray would feature only the English dub track in Dolby TrueHD and the Japanese track in 2.0 stereo. So, it was great to watch both films in Japanese and English and I was impressed by the FUNimation dub work as opposed to what was on television several years ago.

I definitely enjoyed the use of special effects in the rear channels for this film. With this film full of action, I'm glad the speaker channels were well utilized.

Also, for those who don't have Dolby TrueHD receivers, you can watch the film in Dolby Digital 2.0 as well.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are no special features but the FUNimation trailers.

JUDGMENT CALL:

The eighth "ONE PIECE MOVIE 8: THE DESERT PRINCESS AND THE PIRATES - Adventures in Alabasta" film features a significant part from the Alabasta storyline from the television series because it introduces several characters such as Nico Robin and Mr. 2 Bon Clay who have a major part to play in animated series of "ONE PIECE" and also, it features a major member of the Straw Hat Pirate gang leaving the group.

Unlike many animated films based on a manga or anime series which are storylines simply not-related to the series and sometimes non-canon, one can see "THE DESERT PRINCESS AND THE PIRATES - Adventures in Alabasta" as an abridged Alabasta storyline which was part of the anime.

Whereas the anime television series, of course, had 37 episodes dedicated to the Alabasta storyline, you lose a lot of the plot but yet, the film manages to focus on the overall theme of "ONE PIECE" which is friendship, loyalty, sacrifice and all out battles.

But because the film is a condensed version of so many episodes, there are hardcore fans who are going to be upset by the fact that an awesome storyline can't be condensed for a 90 minute film but then you have the other side of the fandom who is used to seeing anime films done this way and looking forward to any new footage or anything special that the film can bring.

Of course, with it being a film, the production values are much better. But is it worth watching if you already invested in the television series? If you are a hardcore fan, you're probably going to buy it anyway to make sure your collection is not missing any film and if you never watched "ONE PIECE" ever, then you're going to be treated to a film that is full of action, cool characters and hard hitting battles.

"THE DESERT PRINCESS AND THE PIRATES - Adventures in Alabasta" is more of an ode to those who enjoyed the Alabasta storyline and then giving them something new and fun to enjoy. And for those who have never seen "ONE PIECE" but have a mild familiarity of its characters, certain parts may not make sense to the viewer but overall, the film becomes an action anime film about friendship and loyalty and can still be enjoyed it on its own. It's not that difficult to follow.

Again, it's great to have a "ONE PIECE" film make its way to Blu-ray, the picture quality brings out the colors of this film and the audio quality has good use of special effects on both front and rear speakers. I wish there were some sort of special features even if it was just the trailer for the film or a textless ending theme in Japanese and English.

Overall, "ONE PIECE MOVIE 8: THE DESERT PRINCESS AND THE PIRATES - Adventures in Alabasta" is a fun, action-packed film and one of the lower priced anime films out there. Check it out!