A wicked ice princess sets out to freeze and capture Earth for her planetary collection. But Sailor Moon and her tight-knit group of gal pals will have nothing of the sort. Paced more for the love story fan, this episode focuses on a handsome young astronomer, Kakeru, who discovers a mysterious crystal needed by Princess Snow Kaguya to carry out her plan. Soon after finding the crystal, Kakeru develops a deep friendship with Luna (Sailor Moon's cat), a friendship that eventually leads to the Sailors' discovery of the Earth's predicament and to each character's discovery of the tremendous powers of love and justice--all in about an hour.

Despite its slower pace, this feature incorporates all the positive qualities other Sailor Moon episodes share: sharp, eye-catching artwork; humorous but heartfelt communication among the girls; an understandable plot line; and plenty of flashy transforming. Further enhancements include an intelligent soundtrack (a nice balance of kooky sci-fi and seriously beautiful tunes) and the introduction of the "Outer Senshi." This slightly older, more mature group of young women--Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto--join our regular band of bubble-spraying, crescent-beaming skirt tossers to melt the ice princess once and for all. The dubbed movie (tagged with the new title of Hearts in Ice) is an edited version of the subtitled film. Some language and violence (a few frames) have been altered. Due to the inclusion of mild nudity (imagine a spinning, naked Barbie), parents may want to think twice before offering this movie to fans younger than 6. The DVD is of the uncut version but also has the English language dialogue. --Liane Thomas