Perfect R2 Rip. Crisp and clear.

Perfect R2 Rip. Also included surround track, but I had to watch it in stereo since I don't have the equipment.

Perfect R2 Rip. Also included surround track, but I had to watch it in stereo since I don't have the equipment.

Nothing much to add to the previous reviews. A flawless set of a strange but beautiful movie. I doubt if HKs can get any better. Besides the references the other reviewers stated, this also reminded me a little bit of Nausicaa, with all those strange plants and creatures. Recommended! Equipment used: Sony DVD-NS300 PAL codefree player; cheap Grundig 27" PAL stereo TV

Stunning video. Definately an R2 rip. The art style is interesting in that all the characters have light colored outlines rather than the normal black outlines, which serves to make the video softer without actually resorting to blurring the images. A nice touch, and it works for this movie.

Perfectly ripped audio, both normal stereo and 5.1 japanese tracks.

Perfectly ripped audio, both normal stereo and 5.1 japanese tracks.

Packaging: The MAC release features a clear case, with the movie information on the back being in japanese. I assume it's a direct copy of the R2 case. The case is quite bright and cheerful looking, rather ironic considering the mood and tone of the movie overall. Menus: In Japanese, obviously, being an R2 rip. The first menu option is "scene selection" rather than "play" which threw me off the first time I popped the movie in. The menus themselves are quite nice, if minimalist. Extras: There's a bunch of extras, unsibtitled, including trailers and what I assume is a "making of" feature. There's also some art galleries. A nice selection overall. The Feature: Hmmm.... imagine if Akira and Pinocchio had a love child with an Oedipus complex. Freud'd have a field day with this movie particularly the "Bola's" The movie itself is quite dark; a parallel tale of a wooden robot/puppet creature searching for meaning after its master has died and a woman's desire to reconcile with her father. The character designs are cute and appealing, with simplistic shading like one might see on your average kids show; but while this pinocchio-story may sound like a great premise for a happy family movie, one should still be wary of showing this to kids. The opening scene of the movie features a sequential head crushing + decapitation, and there's plenty of claret flowing later as the movie draws to a close. Furthermore, numerous flashbacks for various characters interspersed throughout the movie can serve to break the flow of the film as well as confuse the events occuring on screen. Overall it's quite an absorbing film, and one well worth watching, despite its occasionally confusing editing and numerous flashback scenes. The visuals are gorgeous, and the story, while never quite fully explained or realized as much as one would like, is well worth experiencing.

Video is definatley R2 ripped as its great. Doubt its as sharp as the R2 but its a rip what do you expect?!

No probs at all here as its was good clean audio!

No probs at all here as its was good clean audio!

The menu was in Japanese which made it confusing as to what to click on... There were extras but I wasnt really bothered about watching them. As for the film itself, all I can really say is its Pinocchio on acid! The usual 'puppet' wants to become real story but set in what I presume is the future with the spirit of a dead 'warrior?' thrown in. I would definately not watch this again as it didnt seem too good a story. Theres a scene thats definately copied off Akira (near the end, once you see you'll know) but thats about all really.

R2 or LD ripped. Crisp, vividly colored. Only very minor pixelation on dark scenes (*NOT* action scene).

The Jap track is a bit muffled. However once the volume is sufficiently turned up, everything is good.

The Jap track is a bit muffled. However once the volume is sufficiently turned up, everything is good.

WOW! This is a title that really surprises me since I've had watched Princess Mononoke. The graphics is top notch, breathtaking with intrigue landscape and creatures. It's a rather dark tale but not hopeless nor despair. I really have enjoy the plot (althought I kinda understand it). It's refreshing and captivating. I HIGHLY recommend this title.

R2 rip. Fabulous. Which is good, because the animation is amazing and deserves nothing less.

2 tracks available-Japanese Dolby Digital 2 channel and Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1. I messed around with both, and even though I'm not a big audiophile, I was very impressed with how great the 5.1 sounded. Excellent.

2 tracks available-Japanese Dolby Digital 2 channel and Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1. I messed around with both, and even though I'm not a big audiophile, I was very impressed with how great the 5.1 sounded. Excellent.

Extras Included!: "Making Of" Featurette/Creator Interviews (unsubbed, sadly);Line Art galleries (Character Design and Mechanical & Prop Design); Image Art galleries (Story Art and Backgrounds); Animated Storyboards (VERY COOL!); TV and Theatrical Trailers. If you like the artwork in this film, you will love these extras. This is an interesting film, sometimes very straightforward, and sometimes extremely convoluted. The writer/director (Takashi Nakamura, chief animator for "Akira") worked on this film for almost 10 years and has acknowledged that much of it is deeply personal, so I kind of got the feeling that some of the symbolism used is stuff that only makes sense to him. Still, I enjoyed "Tree of Palme" quite a bit. It's dark (sometimes very disturbing), but also very touching. If I had to give it a rating based solely on the story, I'd say 4.8/5.

Great. All darkened scenes are intentional.

Great.

Great.

What can I say, perfect disc of a very interesting film. It's a bit like Nausica meets Akira with some Angel Egg to boot. It's pretty long at 2 1/4 hours too.

This would receive perfect marks except that there was some slight graniness, but I think that is because I watched this on my PC. The video was often very dark at times (almost too dark to see) but that was the style chosen by the director. The animation quality is top-notch, though!

I'm no audio-phile, but this sounded great to me.

I'm no audio-phile, but this sounded great to me.

I had no idea what to expect from this movie, but I think I can sum it up in three words: Weird and Beutiful. Palme is a retelling of the Pinnochio story, but the familiar Disney elements of the story have been replaced with a dark vision of a fantasy world. The story is engaging and very complex, and while its conclusion is a little weak (a common failing in anime) this story as a whole is WELL worth watching or owning. If you like "deep" anime like Angel's Egg or just like to watch stunning visuals, pick this up.