Mr. Magoriums Wunderladen. DVD Rezension

Kind and friendly Molly Mahony is an extremely talented pianist. She won prizes at a very young age and everyone expected her to have an amazing career. However, she is now at the beginning of her twenties and has to work in a toy store for a living, always looking for that last, final and perfect set of notes to finish her first piano piece. The only extraordinary thing in her life is the fact that the toy store is magical and led by Edward Magorium. He is only 243 years young and has been making kids smile for 114 years, especially young Eric who spends all of his spare time in the store. When Magorium tells Molly that he will be leaving soon and giving the store to her all hell breaks loose. An accountant shows up whose task it is to find out how much the store is worth – and then the toys go crazy. After Magoriums final farell the magical store seems to dissolve and Molly is offering it for sale. Out of all people it is the accountant who finally lets her realize how much creativity and what an extraordinary potential for wonderful things is hiding inside of her.

Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman and whizz kid Zach Mills as Eric will entertain you and let your imagination run free again. Note: The film is especially for young people. The end is really sugary but then again this film is the best only for people who still believe in the wonderful magic of the games and favourite toys of our youth and what amazing adventures we had with them.

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
1 DVD | Interviews, Trailer | 2,35:1 (16:9 anamorph) | German, English DDigital 5.1 | ca. 90 minutes | Rated: G (in Germany) | 2008

All rights reserved (c) Walden Media, Universum Film etc.

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Guardian of the Spirit, Vols. 1 + 2. DVD review

A masterpiece has entered the German market almost unnoticed. Guardian of the Sacred Spirit (Seirei no Moribito) was published as a 26 part series renowned among anime fans for the quality of its drawing style, the complexity of its story and its amazing sound and music. The source to the TV series is the first of ten volumes of the Guardian books by Japanese author Nahoko Uehashi. Balsa, the spear woman, happens to save the second son of the emperor of the country New Yogo. The second empress invites her to the palace to employ her services. Her son seems to be possessed by an alien creature and in danger of being killed by the emperor’s men. Balsa has to take the prince with her and flee. The emperor assumes the creature to be a dangerous demon and both Balsa and the prince will find no mercy at the hands of the assassins. But it is the egg of a water spirit inside of Prince Chagum’s body which is reborn only every hundred years to make the lands fertile again.

The first two DVD’s make you want to see more. The complex and exciting story will fascinate you right from the beginning with small details hinting at the larger canvas. The quality of the graphics is amazing. (…)

Guardian of the Spirit Vol 1. Part 1
1 DVD | No bonus material | 16:9 (1.85:1) anamorph | German, Japanese DDigital 5.1 | about 30 minutes | FSK 12 | 2008
Guardian of the Spirit Vol 2. Parts 2 – 5
1 DVD | No bonus material | 16:9 (1.85:1) anamorph | German, Japanese DDigital 5.1 | about 96 minutes | FSK 12 | 2008

Amazon.com offers. U.S.A. & Canada
There are several editions of single, double or full series collections. Please have a look around.

Amazon.co.uk offers
Unfortunately, there are no UK editions of this great series (as of yet.) Imports from the US are available via Amazon.com. If you are into watching the original Japanese version do have a look at the German complete collection. The first DVD is set to be released in the UK on September 6, 2010.