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Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003)
Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003) poster
Letterboxd

Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003)

Animation, Science Fiction, Music, Adventure • 1h 8m

Directors: Kazuhisa Takenouchi & Leiji Matsumoto & Hirotoshi Rissen & Daisuke Nishio

Cast: Romanthony, Thomas Bangalter

Letterboxd
IMDbThe Movie Database (TMDB)

Best English-friendly & video release

Video notes:

PAL DVD is sourced from the least bad digital/video sources. PAL is the original framerate for the film.

Blu-ray is sourced from a filmout, but has no visible resolution increase from the DVD

Updated 2 months ago


Upcoming

4K "remaster" shown in cinemas, but it is a very poor AI upscale

Best audio release

PAL DVD 2.0 mix

5.1 mix is a mediocre upmix, and the Blu-ray has more limited mixes than the DVD


About the film

Four talented alien musicians are kidnapped by a record producer who disguises them as humans. Shep, a space pilot in love with bass player Stella, follows them to Earth. Reprogrammed to forget their real identities and renamed The Crescendolls, the group quickly becomes a huge success playing soulless corporate pop. At a concert, Shep manages to free all the musicians except Stella, and the band sets out to rediscover who they really are — and to rescue Stella.

Alternative Titles
Interstella 5555, Interstella 5555 - The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, Interstella Five Five Five Five, Interstella5555: The 5tory of The 5ecret 5tar 5ystem

More Animation on Blu-ray

Director: Kenji Iwaisawa

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Netflix Streaming

Upcoming Release:

US GKIDS Blu-ray announced

Best Audio:

Japan Pony Canyon Blu-ray for original 7.1 mix

Netflix Streaming for English dub

TV series

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Amazon Streaming

Upcoming Release:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray announced

Best Video & Audio:

Japan Pony Canyon Blu-ray

Directors: David Hand & Ben Sharpsteen & William Cottrell & Larry Morey & Perce Pearce & Wilfred Jackson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Mono track is on the included Blu-ray; 4K Blu-ray missing original mono. LaserDisc probably better

Director: Satoshi Kon

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Sony 4K Blu-ray is very smeary with the upscaling but has correct aspect ratio and very good HDR grade.
UK Blu-ray has wrong colors, and Sony 2007 Blu-ray is the worst (encoding and AR)
See professorwho's review

Directors: Chris Appelhans & Maggie Kang

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

"Sing-Along Edition" not included on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, only available on Netflix Streaming

Director: Masaaki Yuasa

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US GKIDS Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Japan Aniplex Blu-ray is severely lowpassed, which is not an issue on the US release

Director: Mamoru Oshii

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Bandai JP 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

All 4K releases are sourced from the same mediocre transfer provided by Bandai, with various amounts of tweaks. Japanese disc presents it with the least tinkering.

The best attempt at improving it comes from the German/French releases from KSM/All the Anime, both of which use the same master with HDR regrading (original grade is SDR in HDR container), tasteful regraining and sharpening, in an attempt to breathe some life into the middling transfer, making for an arguably more pleasing viewing experience.

All earlier releases are from an even worse transfer, with significant black crush, with the exception of a Japanese TV airing, which doesn't suffer from that issue, but instead is heavily sharpened and suffers from poor encoding.

Comparisons: JPN UHD, USA UHD, FRA/GER UHD, ITA UHD (tonemapped), JPN UHD, USA UHD, FRA/GER UHD, ITA UHD, ESP UHD (PQ), All 1080p BDs, HDTV, HDTV filtered

Audio Notes:

Original matrixed stereo mix: Bandai JP 4K Blu-ray
Most discs include this track with comparable fidelity (which is excellent).

Dolby Atmos remix: Lionsgate US 4K / All the Anime FR 4K
6.1 remix (from Ghost in the Shell 2.0): KSM DE 4K / All the Anime FR 4K

All tracks on the Lionsgate US 4K replace the original ending song with the one heard on the English dub. As the Atmos track on the FR 4K is just a port, it also has this song replaced.

Additional Info:

Japanese 4K includes English dub and subtitles.
French/German 4Ks are not English friendly, with no dub or subtitles.
French disc includes the Atmos track, but the German disc does not.

TV series

Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK Anime Ltd. Blu-ray

Video Notes:

UK has reportedly better compression than the US Viz Media

TV series

Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK Anime Ltd. Blu-ray

Video Notes:

UK has reportedly better compression than the US Viz Media

Director: Simon Wells

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Dolby Stereo: THX Certified Laserdisc

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cbcHydra Spectre

· last reviewed 2 months ago

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