Disclaimer: This review covers "Digimon: The Movie" (2000), including the American package film, and the original three uncut films "Digimon Adventure," "Our War Game!," and "Hurricane Touchdown!!," as made available on Discotek's North American Bluray release in 2024.For me, there's a lot to talk about with "Digimon: The Movie," but let's start with Discotek's legendary re-release. The movie came out on VHS and DVD two decades earlier, and was long out of print, just around the time when my adult self was getting nostalgic for it (I still had the VHS, but no working player). That's when Discotek started teasing their announcements for an upcoming convention, a practice to hype things in a way most other distributors didn't do anymore. They teased the biggest announcement would be Digimon related, and shortly before the convention, a mysterious 3-hour Digimon screening was scheduled. Social media was abuzz with guesses... they already released the 1st season on Blureay, so maybe this was the 2nd sesaon? Could it be the "Movie"... but why 3 hours instead of 1.5? My secret guess was that they were giving us both the American and original Japanese versions of the "Movie," which barely fit the 3 hour length, but that seemed to good to be true... Ultimately, Discotek delivered. They DID have Season 2 on Bluray coming soon, but said to attendees to rush to the screening room to see "one more announcement." On Twitter, fans quickly spread the word that they did, in fact, get "Digimon: The Movie." The original American cut, complete with the licensed music. AND the original uncut Japanese versions. WITH BRAND NEW English dubs for those uncut versions, WITH THE ORIGINAL 90'S DUB ACTORS. All in one set. Everything except the terrible Angela Anaconda short film where those characters line up to see the Digimon movie. A miracle for 90's kids everywhere. Licensing and approvals would hold up the release, but about a year and a half after this bombshell announcement, I got my hands on this cherished childhood memory on a modern playable format. And this re-release was definitely made for my generation. Aside from slightly more niche anime like DragonBall Z, One Piece, and perhaps Shaman King, Pokemon was the giant super-craze that sweeped the nation, thanks to its merchandise synergy with a cartoon, games, comics, toys and more. Shortly after, Digimon came out, and later, shows like Beyblade and Yu-Gi-Oh. But the big argument on the playground was: "were you a Pokemon kid or a Digimon kid?" I liked both, but felt much more invested in Digimon. I liked the digital / computer-centric theme, the different take on monster friends and enemies that could talk, and the story arc about trying to find your way home and, eventually, saving the world. I came across the limited release of "The Movie" entirely by chance, when I discovered the movie's website and played their awesome browser-based Flash games. My parents were puzzled by the colourful flying monsters, but for me, seeing the movie in the theatre was an awesome experience. But as an adult, nearly 25 years later, did the movie still hold up? The first thing I watched was the "Combined American Movie" on the disc. It opens with the old English credits, with still clip art of the Digimon flying across the screen, clearly made by some American executives at the last minute. And with the new film-exclusive Digi-rap, with new lyrics not in the original TV opening theme. A song I hadn't heard in decades. And I sang the song out loud, word for word, not missing a beat. Tears were flowing and I was laughing. Yes, this film might only be for 90's kids that grew up with it, and my bias is in my score here, but for us, this is meaningfully special. And for the rest of you, this was (partially) directed by Mamoru Hosoda, one of the biggest anime directors working today, with plotlines directly reused in his later film "Summer Wars," and his unique animation style in full display - that alone should warrant some worth. The plot will make little sense if you haven't already seen Season 1 and 2 of Digimon, but you can just treat it as "kids show with colourful monsters yelling fireballs at each other." The American cut is built with three acts, each originally different movies. The first act is a short prequel, with a toddler Tai and Kari coming across a Digi-egg for the first time, and seeing it do battle like a Godzilla kaiju in their city. The second act is the main entree, where Tai, Izzy, Matt and T.K. direct their Digimon partners from the real world to fight a virus Digimon wreaking havoc on the Internet. The third act uses all the heroes from the second season (which I recall had not yet aired on American television when the movie was in theatres) to fight a mysterious infected Digimon owned by an American digi-destined kid named Willis. Willis' narrative is a part of all three acts to tie the film together, Curiously, Willis is not a part of the first two acts at all in the uncut versions (the American side actually edited a handful of visual cuts to add Willis' name and picture). No, the writing isn't great outside the scope of a Saturday morning cartoon. But the digital references, from dial-up internet to emails backlogging a server's bandwidth, are fun and still make sense today (at least, as much sense as they did back then). And in Hosoda's acts especailly, special attention is given to the human element, such as how they interact with each other and the neighbours around them. It's a small detail that helps elevate the story a little, and isn't something to take for granted. 
With the uncut versions released in North America for the first time, you'll want to know what the differences are. In total, the uncut versions offer a full 40 minutes of extra content (including credits). It struck me how fast-paced the American version was, both in editing and dialogue, whipping out puns and jokes every minute, and inserting nods to things like the American Digimon theme. The uncut version is more mellow and takes its time, with each film feeling like more of a complete experience by comparison. Some brand new bits include Tai's dad coming home from work (hinting that he was a drunk), or Tai's mom not being a terrible experimental cook, or the role Season 1's characters had in the third act (they were completely left out in the American edit of that arc). Some of the better jokes are still kept in the new dub, but most are left out, for a balance between what purists and older fans would expect. And of course, the music is completely different, with all the American pop insert songs replaced with a more classical, thematic score and the Japanese themes. Personally... if only for nostalgia, of course I prefer the American version. I love the cheesy pop songs and ridiculous jokes. Even the more brazen edits, like the final shot ("he's tone-deaf") clearly cut from an earlier battle sequence, were fun in their stupidity. But to be able to see the original versions, with the original Japanese language actors no less, was a refreshing treat.You'd be surprised for me to say this about a film about a kids' show, but I say the animation still holds up. As a kid, I remember Mamoru Hosoda's distinct animation style (with exaggerated expressions and no shadows) as not matching the style of the TV series, and thought it looked weird by comparison. As an adult, I appreciate the features a lot more. The last act of the three was a completely different director, and matches more closely to the TV series while employing some more ambitious theatrical action. All in all, that action and colorful monster designs keeps things fun to watch. The painted backgrounds help remind one that this is a 90's anime production, which may please viewers that like seeing details like the texture of the paper. The original dub of the American movie is the same as it was, and is the biggest connection to the original series. But yes, the uncut films also have a dub, with even more of the original cast coming back, most notably Michael Reisz for Matt (the recent Digimon Tri films also brought back the dub actors, but some key actors were suspiciously missing). Unfortunately, a few died in the past decade are therefore couldn't return, but this was as close as anyone could hope for. As referenced, the new dub has less jokes and slower pacing, and some of the actors do sound a little older, but overall, it's a solid dub. And the original Japanese actors are quite good, so "purists" will be happy with that instead, and even nostalgic fans should give that version a listen. To this day, my "Digimon: The Movie" soundtrack CD is the best collection of pop songs I have. Aside from a few custom songs about Digimon, the American edit includes random 90's pop songs such as Smash Mouth's "All Star," Barenaked Ladies' "One Week," Fatboy Slim's "Rockafeller Shank," and several more. Why? No idea, but it hindsight, it's hilarious and adds to the fun. By comparison, the uncut's score is slower but also more dramatic, and builds up the tension as to how the heroes will solve the problem. It's arguably much better, but not as fun... both have their merits, but both are great.Briefly, it's worth discussing the Bluray quality. Discotek is usually reliable, but this was clearly an analogue production not made for HD formats. Character outlines are surprisingly sharp, but the detailed painterly backgrounds suffer in their colours. Some noise and banding is more noticable on the uncut versions than the combined versions of the films, sometimes in backgrounds, sometimes in what should be simple solid colours on the characters. Some auto-sharpening on details like eyes is weird in a handful of shots. This is all to say this looks better than it's ever looked, but also shows weaknesses I wasn't expecting. This might be both because of the quality of the original master files, which probably weren't great, and also because almost four hours of analogue-era film was put on the one disc. Frankly, I'd accept much worse to watch this again at all, so I'm not complaining. Looking at my reviewer score, which is the average of several different factors... I'm surprised. This is not a great film, and should only appeal to fans that grew up with it. But the production and music, perhaps for unusual reasons, and my own sense of how much fun these films are, make them stand up better in the grander scheme of it all. Whatever the case, this is a crazy unexpected release and an important moment in 90's anime culture. Thank you Discotek. This might be one of my most precious discs on my shelf.