"TAMPOPO" may actually be the best looking dvd release so far from WELLSPRING!  Juzo Itami's great comedy deserves a grand treatment, and we're hopeful one day it will receive 16:9 enhancement, commentaries and more, but we're happy in the meanwhile with what's been achieved here!  The film is a sendup of American Westerns, starring Tsuotomu Yamazaki, as a truck driver with american western cowboy film ideals!  When his character befriends the young widow running a noodle restaurant, shades of various great films are paid homage to, including "SHANE" and many more.  It's a wonderful film!  The transfer is spectacular!  It's virtually flawless, with perfect fleshtones, contrast, and color values.  There are no artifacts or grain anywhere!  The sound is fine, although mono.