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Starring
The Voices Of: Kirsten Dunst, Richard Harris, and Anjelica Huston
Director:
Chris Del Aporte
Feature
length: 91 minutes
Extras:
Making Of Featurette, Virtual Interview With Kaena, Trailers
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions
Packaging: Keep
Case
Chapter Stops: 28
Sound: Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year of DVD
Release: 2004
Theatrical
Distributor: Destination Films
Home Video
Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Reviewer: Mark A.
Rivera
“Kaena: The
Prophecy” is a strange mix of sci-fi and fantasy that at times is beautiful to
behold or simply too mind boggling to grasp. Produced in France, “Kaena: The
Prophecy” began production in 1995 and as far as CGI animated features go it
is boldly ambitious and far more complex than any American counterparts. Kaena
(voiced by Kirsten Dunst” is an unusually bright and adventurous young woman.
Her human tribe live on a huge beanstalk like habitat where they give regular
sacrifices of a tree sap to their gods, who are in fact liquid like
extraterrestrials that need the sap to survive and view the humans as slaves.
When Kaena breaks the law by journeying into the clouds that cover the area
where no human has ever returned before, she discovers the truth about her
people’s existence and her role in leading them toward freedom.
At times “Kaena:
The Prophecy” looks a lot like a computer game, but it also has a lot of
detail and character to it that gives the animation a unique style. I am still
unsure about where these humans came from because at times I think the French to
English translation probably just loses something and yet if this was the French
Language version I doubt I would enjoy it because I would rather enjoy the
visuals in the storytelling when I am watching a genre film than have to read
about them.
Taken from a high
definition digital master, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s DVD edition
presents “Kaena: The Prophecy” in an anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect
ratio that is absolutely flawless. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack is very aggressive and loud too. English Captions and Closed Captions
for the hearing impaired are encoded onto the DVD as options too. Extra features
include a virtual interview with Kaena (3:27) and a making of featurette
(14:05). Both are in French with English Language Subtitles. Trailers for
“Kaena: The Prophecy” (1:36), “Steamboy” (1:16), “Tokyo Godfathers”
(1:38), “Memories” (: 57), “Cyborg 009” (1:14), “Osamu Tezuka’s
Metropolis” (1:41), “Mirror Mask” (1:09), and “Ever Quest 2” (2:58)
wrap up the bonus features on this DVD. The menus are standard interactive still
frames that are easy to navigate. “Kaena: The Prophecy” will be available on
DVD-Video on Tuesday, September 7, 2004 at retailers on and offline from Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.
© Copyright 2004
By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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