EXCLUSIVE - Mulan: Special Edition DVD Review!

DisneyChris · Post by **DisneyChris** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:29 am

Hi everyone, Hong Kong has just released the Mulan: Special Edition DVD today, and I got it for half the price by exchanging my old VCD (Although this is an R3 DVD, I think putting this topic in the General Discussion would be alright, since the extras are the same with the R1 release). Believe me, this DVD is very Platinum-like, with amazing video and audio and a plethora of extras.

OK, here's my short review of this DVD. I'm sure Luke will do a better job in October...

Video/Audio:

When I first looked at the picture, my jaw dropped wide open. This presentation is absolutely stunning. It is extremely sharp, and absolutely no dust or speckles were present. Colors were vivid and I noticed no softness. I don't own the old DVD, so I can't compare them, but I'm sure this new one surpasses. This is as good as the "Lion King" DVD.

As for the audio, dialogue was crisp and clear. The 5.1 soundtrack made good use of the back speakers during war scenes and when the Hun horses gallop around. It's a lovely soundtrack.

Extras:

This DVD holds over 2 hours of bonus material, and it is as stunning as the picture. I won't go through each and every feature, but I will talk about some highlights:

- The deleted scenes are very interesting, almost each one accompanied with an introduction by the film's director. Make sure you take a look at Mushu's deleted song!

- Jackie Chan has a Mandarin and a Cantonese MV of "I'll Make A Man Out of You" resided on respectively Disc 1 & 2. Jackie also plays some cool kung fu as the song goes on. Quite nice.

- The production shorts are not as fluffy as the ones in the TLK DVD; they are more in-depth and interesting. The publicity, character design and visual development images are all very cool and worth viewing.

(One special thing about this set is that when you highlight a bonus feature on the menu, you get to see how long it runs!)

Overall, the special features are very informative and interesting. They are almost Platinum-quality.

Conclusion:

This Mulan: Special Edition DVD is excellent. Kudos to Disney for this great job. It's absolutely worth your buy.

2099net · Post by **2099net** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:31 am

The question is... Does it have trailers? Mulan has some excellent trailers, including one with pencil test animation (which is on the Gold Collection disc). It will be a shame if these are missing from the 2 disc set.

DisneyChris · Post by **DisneyChris** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:36 am

2099net wrote:The question is... Does it have trailers? Mulan has some excellent trailers, including one with pencil test animation (which is on the Gold Collection disc). It will be a shame if these are missing from the 2 disc set.

Sorry, 2099net, it doesn't, but the great extras can pay up for the loss!

2099net · Post by **2099net** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:39 am

Thanks DisneyChris04, but it does annoy me. What's with this recent "drop the trailers" attitude that most DVD studios are going through?

Surely the most simple extra they can include is the trailer(s)? I bet they managed to get some trailers on for their upcoming releases

Can't miss out on the marketing can we?

Sorry Rant over.

Post by **Luke** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:18 am

Thanks for the great review, Chris!

Disneykid · Post by **Disneykid** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:22 am

Thanks for the review, Chris! It sucks that there's no trailers, though. I'm very confused on Disney's mindset about trailers because sometimes their DVD's have them (Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland: ME) and other times they don't (The Lion King, Mulan: SE). Do they just toss a coin or something for each release? At least Aladdin's getting the trailer on its DVD (though only one).

Also, one question, Chris: Is there some sort of "Play All" feature on the DVD so that you can string the featurettes into one documentary ala Beauty and the Beast or Atlantis?

Joe Carioca · Post by **Joe Carioca** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:28 am

Thanks a lot, Chris! Your comments are much appretiated.
Now, my usual questions (hehe):

1- I believe the DVD has the Disney Enhanced Home Theater mix 5.1 track, right? Could you tell us if the track is in Dolby Digital format (like the future US edition) or if it is a DTS track (like the international versions of The Lion King)?
2- So there is a making of featurette included! I believe is the 7-minute making of produced for television, isn't it?
3- Are the galleries big or they are a bit poor like "Alice in Wonderland"'s gallery?
4- Now, the most important question of all: are the menus animated?

[just kidding, hehe]

Thanks!

gau dog · Post by **gau dog** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 12:16 pm

People should keep in mind that this is the R3 HK release and all the features might not be exactly the same as the R1. The previous R3 HK DVD didn't have any trailers on it either. Disneychris04, if you have the time, it would be nice to just make a list of all the features and materials... what I would like to know in particular is if it has the audio commentary.

AwallaceUNC · Post by **AwallaceUNC** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 12:20 pm

Great review, Chris, thanks! I sure hope the trailers are included on the R1 DVD... weren't they on the old version??

-Aaron

DreamerQ18 · Post by **DreamerQ18** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 6:08 pm

THANK U CHRIS! for your great review I am so Excited Ocotber is going to be a great month and it better get here fast so I can get my Mulan and Aladdin

.

MickeyMousePal · Post by **MickeyMousePal** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 6:37 pm

Thanks for the review I can't wait till October to get Mulan: Special Edition.

shdwrlm3 · Post by **shdwrlm3** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 7:09 pm

Thanks so much for the review, disneychris04!! Mulan remains my favorite Disney movie, and this release sounds like it'll blow the Gold Edition out of the water.

2- So there is a making of featurette included! I believe is the 7-minute making of produced for television, isn't it?

They showed a 22 minute one where I live. I think I have it on tape somewhere. I'm surprised that they don't have the Michelle Kwan ice skating special on the DVD, though. It tended to be incredibly cheesy at times, but was still enjoyable.

Joe Carioca · Post by **Joe Carioca** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 7:45 pm

shdwrlm3 wrote:They showed a 22 minute one where I live. I think I have it on tape somewhere. I'm surprised that they don't have the Michelle Kwan ice skating special on the DVD, though. It tended to be incredibly cheesy at times, but was still enjoyable.

They also showed the making of here in Brazil, but I didn't tape it!

I have the Michelle Kwan special, though.

Disneykid · Post by **Disneykid** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:28 pm

There was no real "making of" special here. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was the last Disney movie to have a behind the scenes special (in the U.S., anyway). After that, the stupid Movie Surfers specials came rolling in starting with Hercules. So even though we did technically get a Mulan special, it was from the Movie Surfers, which is what I doubt you guys are referring to.

DisneyChris · Post by **DisneyChris** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:30 pm

gau dog wrote:People should keep in mind that this is the R3 HK release and all the features might not be exactly the same as the R1. The previous R3 HK DVD didn't have any trailers on it either. Disneychris04, if you have the time, it would be nice to just make a list of all the features and materials...

I think you're right, gau dog. Luke, if you want, you can move this to the International DVD forum, and add "R3" to the title.

I'll see if I have time, then I'll post all the features on the disc.

gau dog wrote:what I would like to know in particular is if it has the audio commentary.

Yes, it has an audio commentary by producer Pam Cooks and directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook. I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, so I can't talk about how it is.

Disneykid wrote:Also, one question, Chris: Is there some sort of "Play All" feature on the DVD so that you can string the featurettes into one documentary ala Beauty and the Beast or Atlantis?

Yes, there is a Play All feature.

Joe Carioca wrote:1- I believe the DVD has the Disney Enhanced Home Theater mix 5.1 track, right? Could you tell us if the track is in Dolby Digital format (like the future US edition) or if it is a DTS track (like the international versions of The Lion King)?
2- So there is a making of featurette included! I believe is the 7-minute making of produced for television, isn't it?
3- Are the galleries big or they are a bit poor like "Alice in Wonderland"'s gallery?
4- Now, the most important question of all: are the menus animated? [just kidding, hehe]

1 - I think this is one minor difference between the R3 and the R1 release. This R3 DVD does not include a Disney EHT mix. It only has Dolby Digital soundtracks.
2 - No, I didn't talk about a making of featurette. They are making-of featurettes.

Each is around 6-7 minutes long.
3 - The galleries are not too big, but not too small too! But there are some never-before seen or rare publicity posters!
4 - Some are animated, some are not. But when they are animated, you can see self-moving brush-strokes that ultimately becomes a drawing of a character in the movie! (sort of like the film's opening)

Feel free to ask more questions! I'm happy to answer.

Joe Carioca · Post by **Joe Carioca** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:35 pm

I think that's all by now!

Thanks a lot for the everything, Chris!

Disneykid · Post by **Disneykid** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:35 pm

Yeah, thanks for answering our questions, Chris! It's great to know that there's a Play All feature so I can just sit down and watch rather than wading through menus selecting mini featurettes like with Tarzan (which was great, don't get me wrong, but really could've used a Play All feature). When you get the chance, tell us what the pop up fact track's like!

shdwrlm3 · Post by **shdwrlm3** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 11:18 pm

4 - Some are animated, some are not. But when they are animated, you can see self-moving brush-strokes that ultimately becomes a drawing of a character in the movie! (sort of like the film's opening)

Wow, that's exactly what I had hoped for! Thanks once again for the info!

As for the making-of special, in New York it was on Channel 7 (WABC) at 7:30 a Saturday night a few years back, so I'm guessing all ABC affiliates aired it at some really bad timeslot. Ming Na hosted it, and it was pretty informative. Never saw the Movie Surfers thing, though. I wish I had Disney Channel back then.

Loomis · Post by **Loomis** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:03 am

Excellent review, chris.

Being one of the unlucky ones who doesn't have a copy of Mulan on DVD, I'm really looking forward to ANY DVD release of it. A SE is even better. And it sounds as though the "Special" is reasonably apt this time around.

I may even cave and buy the R3 editoon (although the Australian one is out soon enough).

DisneyChris · Post by **DisneyChris** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 3:36 am

Hi, I'm back, I've compared my DVD's extras to the extras on the press release (http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... php?t=3730). It's all the same except:

Disc 1
1. As said before, there is no Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix.

Disc 2
1. My DVD does not have "Early Progression Reels" under Disc 2's "The Journey Begins" section (but I highly suspect this is similar to "Production Reels or Production Demonstrations").

2. My DVD has a Cantonese version of Jackie Chan's "I'll Make A Man Out of You" MV and a Mandarin "Reflection" MV performed by CoCo Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

3. My DVD has a Spanish "True to Your Heart" MV.

(Also, The R3 Disc 2 is divided into 2 parts (same as Disc 1): Music & More and Backstage Disney. The first one holds the music videos while the latter includes all the other stuff.)

And by the way, the press release had a "...And More" sign at the end of the extras list, so those missing MVs above may be present in the R1 disc in the end. Last, I would like to remind all of you something:

gau dog wrote:People should keep in mind that this is the R3 HK release and all the features might not be exactly the same as the R1.

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EXCLUSIVE - Mulan: Special Edition DVD Review!

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