Unboxing [UK]: Paprika - Film (Blu-ray)

As part of my birthday gifts, it's the last film the late Satoshi Koi directed; Paprika.

Note that this post has been updated (4th June 2015) to reflect the new blog format and add additional notes to the release.

Paprika is one of the most interesting film's I have watched, especially if you have already watched Inception. Satoshi Kon's latest directed work about a group of scientists trying to stop an unknown user from exploiting people's dreams using a machine capable of doing so created by the scientists themselves. The music is also done by Susumu Hirasawa (Berserk, Paranoia Agent) and has been collaborating with the director for a number of projects.

This Blu-ray package is like every other film on the market, surprisingly enough as most movies in the UK tend to be region free on Blu-ray this film is also one of them. This means that anyone in America, Japan and countries in Region C can also grab a copy of this film from the UK.

Interestingly enough the audios are Dolby Digital 5.1 instead of Dolby TrueHD 5.1 that the US version has (this applies to English and Japanese only). The Polish language option is a voice-over and the Spanish track is castilian. In terms of subtitles there's English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Slovenian, Swedish and Turkish.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: Japanese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Czech, Polish (VO)

Audio: LPCM 5.1 [Japanese], Dolby Digital 5.1 [Japanese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Czech, Polish (VO)]

Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9

Region: A, B, C

Subtitles: English [Japanese language, English SDH, French, Spanish, German, Italian & more (see above)]

Subtitles Locked: No

Discs: 1

Plot Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com):

When a machine that allows therapists to enter into people's dreams and explore their unconscious thoughts is stolen, the research facility is sent into an uproar and all hell breaks loose. In the wrong hands, the device could be devastating, allowing the user to completely annihilate a dreamer's personality while they are asleep. Only a young female doctor named Atsuko Chiba can stop it. Entering the dream world under her exotic alter-ego, code named "Paprika," she attempts to discover who is behind the plot to undermine the new invention.

Extra Content:

Filmmaker Commentary
Tsutsui and Kon's Paprika - Featurette
A Conversation about the "Dream" featurette
The Art of Fantasy - Interview
The Dream CG World - Interview
Storyboard Comparisons

Paprika is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Sony Pictures in various regions.