Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow

Plot

Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno watch a film starring Yukie Fujikaze, in a local cinema. Kakashi Hatake has summoned them to watch it as preparation for their next mission: to prevent Yukie, who plays Princess Gale in the films, from being captured during production of her latest film. Yukie is later revealed to be Koyuki Kazahana, a princess from an island known as the Land of Snow. Doto Kazahana, who is revealed to be Koyuki's uncle, was responsible for the murder of her father Sosetsu in a coup d'etat. During the shooting of the film, Doto's henchmen, wearing Chakra armor, attempt to capture the princess, but Team 7 manages to delay the princess from being captured. Doto eventually captures Koyuki and kills her bodyguards, who reveal themselves in an attempt to protect and restore her rightful place as the ruler of the Land of Snow. Naruto enters the ship to rescue the princess, only to be captured and forced to wear a chakra-draining device. Doto forces Koyuki to hand over a crystal necklace her father had given her when she was young, thinking that this is a key that can unlock the hidden treasure Sosetsu had left behind before detaining both Koyuki and Naruto.

Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi infiltrate the fortress while Naruto and Koyuki escape from captivity. They confront Doto but he manages to capture the crystal necklace and flees with Koyuki. Naruto proceeds to follow Doto while the remaining members of Team 7 confront Doto's henchmen. Kakashi gets his revenge by defeating Doto's henchman Nadare Roga, while Sasuke and Sakura defeat the other two henchmen Fubuki Kakuyoku and Mizore Fuyukuma. Meanwhile, Doto discovers the hidden treasure to transform the island into the Land of Spring using a heat generator. Naruto confronts him in a duel, but gets overpowered while Sasuke uses his Chidori to weaken Doto's armour. Soon after, Naruto releases his energy and uses his new Seven Colored Chakra Rasengan, killing Doto and activating a mirror to transform the land. In the aftermath, Koyuki decides to reclaim her rightful place of royalty and even mentions personally with Team 7 that even in the life of royalty, her acting career will not end.

Releases

The film was originally released in Japan on August 21, 2004. It was later released on DVD on April 28, 2005. The film was released in 160 theaters in the United States as a one-day showing on June 6, 2007 courtesy of Fathom Events. Fifty threaters in Canada would see a one-day showing on June 23, 2007. Madman Entertainment did a special one-day theater release in Australia on October 14, 2007. In 2007, the film was shown at the Fantasia Festival and in the British Museum.

The DVD release debuted at rank 25 on Nielsen Videoscan.

Instead of the OVA included with the Japanese release, the American release included a short featurette entitled World of Naruto, as well as a behind the scenes featurette afterwards with interviews with the main English cast and select members of the main Japanese cast. The OVA will, however, appear in the North American DVD release. The DVD was released on September 4, 2007. The film premiered on Cartoon Network on September 8, 2007. The film also played at Cineplex Odeon and Empire Theatres cinemas in Canada, distributed via Bell TV to play the film at all cinemas at the same time.

On November 13, 2007, a three-disc Deluxe Edition of the film was released. It has many extras and features that the standard DVD, released a few months earlier, did not include. It includes the ten-minute short "Konoha Annual Sports Festival" that was originally shown with the Japanese release of the film, the complete soundtrack to the movie, documentaries of the American voice recording of the movie, movie art postcards, and more.

Reception

Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies calls it "a good introduction to the main themes of the series, with ideas of persistence, determination, believing in yourself, and never giving up", and praises setting and backgrounds, "with the frozen Northern landscapes looking especially good".