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Vampire Hunter D Directors: Carl Macek, Toyoo Ashida Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Academy Ratio Format: Color, Animated, Dolby Audience Rating: Unrated Running Time: 80 minutes Studio: Urban Vision Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2000-10-17 Buy from Amazon |
 "A classic"I loved this movie when I saw it years ago, though since I have found a hard time getting hold of a copy recently. Vampire fans, anime fans, fantasy fans, action fans, a movie for everyone. I like this original version more than than new 2001 movie, though the 1985 animation is certainly not up to par. While time wise very short, it nevertheless contains a lot of action and plot. I can't comment on the subtitled vs. dubbed versions, not having seen it subtitled, but I'd like to think the voice acting is nicely in character. D is awesome btw. #1 reason to to buy.  "Beware the Eldest"This is the original Vampire Hunter D, done in 1985 under the direction of Toyoo Ishida. It tells a different story than the animation made in 2001 ('Bloodlust'), done by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, but shares the same world and main character. The beautiful character designs of Yoshitaka Amano originally done for the novel series by Hideyuki Kikuchi are the artistic core of both films. The story is set in 12,090 A.D., as millennia of rule by vampires slowly come to an end. While vampires are increasingly rarer, those that are left still rule the night, making use of their mutant and werewolf servants to help them gain access to human prey. They are the oldest, and the only threats to them come from the vampire hunters. One such hunter is D, a dunpeal (damphir) - the child of a vampire and a human. On a lonely night Doris Ran, a young farmer, waits on a road for D, willing to offer anything if the eerie killer can rescue her from the plans of Count Magnus Lee - who has selected her as a human consort. Bitten by the vampire, suspected by all the villagers, Doris has little chance for survival if D cannot stop the elder vampire's plans. Standing in D's way are Lee's own deluded childe Ramika and his servant, Ray Ginsay, who has the singular ability to bend time so that the attacker becomes the attacked. This struggle will take all of D's powers and cunning. The film makes an interesting contrast of D and his opponent Magnus Lee. Equal in heritage, Lee is the magically stronger, but half-human D can walk in the sunlight. Both are doomed to lonely lives. For Lee, there is no longer a society of vampires. For D, there are none like him; his powers are a curse that makes life as a human impossible. It is probably unfair to compare the two films, both have excellent stories and superb illustration, even though 15 years of technology separates them. Perhaps the 2001 version comes closer to Yoshitaka Amano's original artwork, but the older plot seems truer to what Hideyuki Kikuchi was doing. However, this is splitting hairs - they are each excellent examples of their genre. Whichever you see first, you will soon want to view the other as well.  "Boring like hell - slow like a snail."I am a casual anime fan. I like cartoons in general, and I love sci-fi. I've bought into `Vampire Hunter D' based on all those fantastic reviews. I was extremely disappointed. This is was the slowest anime I have ever watched. No thrills, no action, stupid dialogue, and no mystery at all. The story line was also very simple, and the heroes lacked dimensions. I bet the original comic book was much better than the movie. At least the graphics were true stills. "Not quite 5 stars, but great nonetheless"Maybe it's just because of the fact that I am a spoiled , nineties anime fan who is used to much more fluid animation and epic stories, but I just don't enjoy this as much as some people do. It clearly looks dated, is what I mean. That being said, it is a classic anime film and very engaging. D has got to be one of the coolest anime characters around. One of the gripes I had, though, was that the whole romance between him and the girl seems very forced and unrealistic. Now I know what you're going to say. "It's a vampire movie and you want realism!?" I just couldn't feel any chemistry between the characters and it seemed like the relationship was just thoughtlessly thrown in there. Besides that, this features very interesting characters and is not to be missed by an Anime fan. "Almost perfect score"Vampire Hunter D is an excellent anime movie! The artwork is beautiful and this sequel definitely surpasses the first. I will say that the story was good except for the ending..which could have been written better. Other than that...it is a must for any anime collecter. |
