Unboxing [US]: Harlock: Space Pirate 3D - Limited Edition (Blu-ray 2D/3D)

The first pickup of 2016! This should have arrived a month ago but the distributor wanted to add more quality control to the discs so they pushed it back to this month. This is a rather unusual anime release but nevertheless it's got a pretty decent treatment.

From Twilight Time, here's the Blu-ray 2D/3D release of Harlock: Space Pirate.

Harlock: Space Pirate (also known as Space Pirate Captain Harlock) is an CGI animated movie based on the Captain Harlock anime/manga franchise from Toei Animation. It serves as an re-imagining or a re-boot of sorts with one hell of a budget. The movie has really good visuals and animation but the story may disappoint long-time Leijiverse fans.

Harlock: Space Pirate has seen multiple versions across the world. Hong Kong had released the film on Blu-ray in 2D & 3D with English subtitles (it's a legit release but the subtitles aren't perfect). Australia released the film as a Blu-ray 2D/3D & DVD combo set but only the International Cut (English Dub) is on Blu-ray. The UK received the same treatment as Australia but with a limited edition steelbook. And then North America got the film just on DVD, until now.

Twilight Time is a distributor that releases certain films on Blu-ray with a ton of content but at the cost of releasing them at a certain number of units. This also applies with Harlock: Space Pirate, with only 3500 copies being made. The set however has a lot of content that outmatches the other versions available.

This Limited Edition set provides the film on two Blu-ray discs, each have both the 2D and 3D versions included. The first disc covers the original Japanese version with optional English subtitles as well as an extra audio option dedicated to an isolated score track. The second disc covers the International cut with the English dub. Both discs have the same number of bonus features including the Making of Harlock, Trailers and many more. A booklet is also included. Like most Twilight Time releases, this set is also region free (A, B & C).

Note: At the time of this post I haven't yet checked to see whether the subtitles in the Japanese version use the original character names or the International character names. It's worth noting that the UK & Australian releases used the International character names.

Blu-ray Specs (Original Japanese Version):

Languages: Japanese

Audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1 [Japanese]

Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9 2D & 3D

Region: A B C

Subtitles: English [Japanese language]

Subtitles Locked: No

Discs: 1

Blu-ray Specs (International Cut):

Languages: English

Audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1 [English]

Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9 2D & 3D

Region: A B C

Subtitles: None

Subtitles Locked: N/A

Discs: 1

Plot Synposis:

A futuristic, fatalistic epic animé adventure, Harlock: Space Pirate (2013) is an adaptation of the spectacularly popular Leiji Matsumoto saga about an intergalactic war with Earth as the ultimate prize and the eponymous Captain Harlock as its only potential defender. Fighting against the Gaia Coalition, Harlock and his loyal crew are the sole beings with a chance of defeating the Coalition and returning humanity to Earth.

Extra Content:

Isolated Score Track (Original Japanese Version)

Interviews with Harlock Creator Leiji Matsumoto, Director Shinji Aramaki, and Adaptation/Screenwriter Harutoshi Fukui

The Making of Harlock Space Pirate

Venice Film Festival World Premiere Highlights

Storyboard Galleries

TV Spots

Original Theatrical Trailers

Booklet

Harlock: Space Pirate 3D is available on Blu-ray from Twilight Time for only a certain amount of copies available. The DVD version is also available from Ketchup Entertainment.