| Video & Audio: Tora-san's Tropical is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen trimmed slightly from its original Panavision to about 2:1. Like all of Panorama's DVDs, it falls into the better-than-nothing category until something better comes along, if something ever does. One note: Shochiku theatrically released a Special Edition version of Tora-san's Tropical Fever to theaters in 1997. That version apparently used computer graphics to add Hidetaka Yoshioka (who played Tora-san's nephew in the later films) to the story in added scenes. This reviewer hasn't seen this version, but in any case this DVD is the 1980 cut only. The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio sounds like standard mono but is clear of distortion, and the English subtitles are adequate. Optional Chinese subtitles are also available.
Extra Features: As usual, the lone supplement is a skimpy director's biography and filmography (in both Chinese and English), repeated in the CD-shaped booklet included with the disc. |
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