The Thai Version of Rodan: Garuda

An old review I did for Garuda, Thailands answer to Rodan.
Fun film, but Thailand should stick to Tony Jaa for the goodwill ambassador of the country :).

Disc Title: Garuda

Disc Distributor: Media Blasters

Packaging: Amaray keep case

Discs: 1
Region Code: 1 (USA/Canada)
Colour System: NTSC
DVD Format: Double Sided & Single Layered
Video Ratio (Side 1): 1:85 Anamorphic


Main Feature Runtime: 1Hour 54:00 Mins
Main Feature Chapter Stops: 14
Main Feature Audio Tracks: English (2.0), English (5.1), Thai (2.0), Thai (5.1)
Main Feature Subtitles: English Subtitles

Video 3.5 out 5

This copy of Garuda utilizes a 1:85:1 16X9 enhanced print. The quality of the transfer is quite good considering that it’s a conversion from PAL to NTSC. These transfers can be plagued with issues such as ghosting, but thankfully this disc does not seem to suffer from any of those problems. The print is dark though, but that seems to be a deliberate decision by the DP to hide the sub-par CGI (which there is a lot of). However, this leads to the picture being washed out at times and image clarity is lost. It may have been shot on Digital Video. There also seems to be a fair amount of grain, plus I noticed some print damage.

Audio 4.5 out of 5

The audio is by and large fine, except for one bizarre part of the Thai track when a soldier is about to put Tim in a locker. When they are talking about death, something odd happens like a really bad sound splice. Besides that, the sound is fine and clear otherwise. The English dubbing is mediocre mostly due to the fact that the voice actors were poorly chosen and the sound is not mixed naturally with the sound effects (it is similar to the sound mixing on some of the Heisei Godzilla dubs). It is a shame as a good dub may have increased the fun factor of the movie. The Thai DVD did have a DTS track, so I'm surprised it was not ported over. The 5.1 and 2.0 both had good separation and effects. No complaints besides the sound splice and lack of DTS.

Special Features 3.5 out of 5

Media Blasters shows once again that they are the “king of ports” and pretty much all the extras from the Thai disc are here. These include a subtitled trailer and a 25-minute making of with interviews with the cast and behind-the-scenes footage. Interestingly, the making of is censored and features a cigarette optically censored, which is quite humorous as the optical censor makes it look like it is hiding something really vulgar. The making of is good and shows how the special effects were done. The DVD has nice menus and setup which play the Thai Linkin Park song that plays at the end of the movie (which is also good for a laugh). There are some trailers for other Media Blaster titles. Media Blaster also has complete translated credits (including dub actors) after the main feature. The film itself has bilingual credits though.

Overall 4 out 5

Despite some misgivings about the picture quality, I strongly suspect this film may have been shot on Digital Video. I do recall hearing something to that effect at one point, but I have to say Media Blaster put out a nice DVD of Garuda. If you liked the movie, then it is a good purchase choice. However, I would recommend a rental if possible as I found that after watching it once, I had no desire to watch it again; you may want to give a trial rental (also to make sure it would work). If you like it, then grab it because it is most likely going to be the best DVD available for English language speakers.