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Robotic_Castro
Reviews
Escaflowne (2000)
I've never been so disappointed
First off, let me say that my opinion of this movie is highly biased. Tenkuu no Escaflowne is far and away my favorite anime series. This movie, correctly titled Escaflowne: A Girl in Gaea, has been called a retelling of the story. More accurately it should be called a butchery of the story. While containing vaguely similarly named characters, everything else about the movie is completely different. While the tv series conveys themes of hope, determination, and the power of love and friendship, A Girl in Gaea is tainted with depression, angst, hate, and needless violence. Unbelievably, it is an even worse bastardization of the Escaflowne story than the reprehensible dub release that aired on the Fox Kids' programming block. In effect, the film makers took a wonderful series and turned it into Ninja Scroll. Even a score by my favorite composer, Yoko Kanno, wasn't enough to save this movie.
There may be some redeeming qualities to this movie if you enjoy dark, violent fare. It's not as stupid or low calibre as Ninja Scroll, but the depressive, hate-filled undertones make up for it. If you're a pure fan of the series, avoid it at all costs.
1/10 (probably biased)
Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro (1979)
Just another so-so Lupin movie
I was very intrigued going into this movie. I'm a lover of director Hayao Miyazaki's work for Studio Ghibli and a fan of the Lupin III series as well, but I was very skeptical on how well they could combine. Miyazaki's work is about beautiful animation, endearing characters, and patient study of behavior and nature(though not so much in Mononoke Hime). Lupin is fast paced, mindlessly fun, full of slapstick humour and crazy gadgets. Obviously both styles can't coexist fully, but can they share the stage successfully? The answer is: not quite. For the most part, this movie is standard Lupin fare. Miyazaki's influence can be seen in some of the early panoramic shots, in the slightly higher quality of animation, and in the development of the film's love story. Unfortunately, all of these elements detract from the things that make Lupin so great. The pacing is just a little too slow and the movie is at least 20-30 minutes too long. While Lupin is the star, it would be nice to see a little more of Jigen, Fujiko, and my favorite, Goemon, and a little less of the uncharismatic daughter of the Count. Zenigata is the only supporting character to get any significant screen time, but is not at his best since he spends the majority of the movie cooperating with Lupin rather than chasing him. Despite this criticism, this Cagliostro has the standard feel of any Lupin III movie. If you like Cagliostro, you'll like the other Lupin movies. If you're a fan of the series but haven't seen Cagliostro yet, you will probably enjoy it, though it may not be your favorite.
In short, Castle of Cagliostro is a little too ambitious, and loses some of the fast-paced, fun feel that is so integral to the Lupin series(remember that Lupin III was a tv series before it became a popular movie franchise). In the end, Cagliostro, like most Lupin movies, is good, but not great.
For greatest enjoyment, I highly recommend viewing any Lupin III movie in a theater/large group setting if possible. The zany nature of the humour does not lend itself well to private viewings.
6.5/10
Jûbê ninpûchô (1993)
Anime's Darkest Hour and Thirty-four Minutes
If this movie is worth seeing at all, it's to give you a perspective on how low-brow the majority of denizens of this horrible, horrible world are. Ninja Scroll neatly embodies all the worst things about anime, and through its popularity is greatly responsible for the negative stereotypes about anime held by the US mass media.
Ninja Scroll belongs to the 'ultraviolent' class of anime, in which it is common for a sword wound to gush approximately 150 gallons of blood. In order for a body to hold this much blood, it must be stored in an extremely high pressure gaseous state, because whenever someone is cut they emit an 8 foot high geyser of blood. Of course ridiculous gore isn't enough to please Ninja Scroll's upscale cadre of fans, so the "film"-makers cleverly added copious amounts of sex to keep their attention. And while many anime movies include so-called "fan service", Ninja Scroll uses less subtlety than a 1970's french porno movie directed by Larry Flynt and Wilt Chamberlain. Now you may be thinking, "Superfluous sex and violence? How can this movie possibly go wrong?" so let me continue to the discussion of the plot and acting.
**Very Minor Spoilers** [Note: It's not possible to -spoil- Ninja Scroll] Ninja Scroll follows the basic plotline used by many serial comicbooks(or graphic novella if you prefer). Mysterious-Swordsman-Wanderer-Guy with fantastic skills and an unknown past appears and uses his fighting skills to beat Evil-Ugly-Brute-Guy. Mysterious-Ancient-Sage-Guy shows up and tells M-S-W-G that he needs defeat Super-Evil-Strong-Devil-Boss. M-S-W-G reluctantly agrees, and he and M-A-S-G go on their quest to defeat S-E-S-D-B, occasionally aided by Pointless-Ninja-Girl-Sex-Object. Along the way they meet many powerful hyphenated enemies serving S-E-S-D-B, who are defeated by M-S-W-G[note: from now on I'll just refer to him as Jubei{note-in-a-note: Jubei's character is supposedly 'based on' the famous Japanese warrior Yagyo Jubei, however their only connection is the name}]. I'm sure you can figure out the rest of the storyline by yourself. **End of Spoilers**
Although the enemies are all based on previous anime cliches(just how many guys with invisible razor strings are there in the world?) they still remain interesting foes for Jubei to face. The major problem is that there are just so many of these boss-type enemies that each of Jubei's showdowns with them last about 15 seconds or less after the enemy gets done introducing their special powers. Likewise, the story skips from fight to fight with little to no story/character building in between. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise, as the acting in this movie is abysmal. I've only seen the dubbed version of Ninja Scroll, so these comments do not reflect the original Japanese voice acting. Being that this movie was released in the US in 1995, it's not surprising that the voice acting is flat and lackluster. Only recently have we started seeing quality dubbed anime(like the excellent Sol Bianca: The Legacy). With a pure action movie such as Ninja Scroll, good voice acting is not expected, or really needed. However, there is little excuse for the poorly written english dialogue. Catering to its expected audience, the dub is full of stupid, unnecessary profanity, presumably to make it seem more edgy. It should be noted that with one exception, there are no profane words in Japanese, so a proper translation should only contain profanity to express extreme emotions. To round out my critique I should say that the animation quality is not as good as some movies released in the same time period(Ghost in the Shell), it is still pretty decent.
In closing, let me say that I'm constantly disgusted by the number of people who rate this Ninja Scroll as their favorite anime. As an anime fan you should probably watch this at least once, if only to see what the fuss is about. If you ARE a fan of Ninja Scroll and similar anime, let me give you this advice. Watch Berserk, then watch Rurouni Kenshin first OVA(Samurai X: Romantic Tales of the Meiji Era in the US), then watch Record of Lodoss War, then Vision of Escaflowne. By then you should be have been slowly weaned over from ultraviolent anime. If not, take my other advice and jump into a deep pit.
4/10 on quality 1/10 on principle
Ginga-tetsudô no yoru (1985)
Slow, Cryptic, Beautiful
The first time I watched this movie I had to see it in two parts because my friend got sick of it after the first half. This movie is definitely not for everyone. The pacing is extremely slow and thoughtful. If your not the sort of person who spends time contemplating the mysteries of life, you will not enjoy this movie. If you watch this movie, don't watch it by yourself. Find a friend who you think might enjoy it, and set aside a quite relaxed evening to watch it. You will want someone to talk it over with afterwards.
One thing that must be noted is the character design. You may be initially turned off by the extremely cute, childish-looking characters. It doesn't take long to realize that the film is much darker and deeper than it seems at first.
Something to think about when viewing this film: It's interesting to see the strong use of Christian imagery in this film. I can't help but feel that as a westerner I'm getting a different reaction than the primarily Buddhist original audience and perhaps losing a bit of the mysticism.
I would suggest this film to anyone who enjoys spending a quiet evening lost in thought.