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Akira Actors: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Widescreen, Animated Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 124 minutes Studio: Pioneer Video Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2001-07-24 Buy from Amazon |
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From Amazon.com essential video Artist-writer Katsuhiro Ôtomo began telling the story of Akira as a comic book series in 1982 but took a break from 1986 to 1988 to write, direct, supervise, and design this animated film version. Set in 2019, the film richly imagines the new metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, which is designed from huge buildings down to the smallest details of passing vehicles or police uniforms. Two disaffected orphan teenagers--slight, resentful Tetsuo and confident, breezy Kanada--run with a biker gang, but trouble grows when Tetsuo start to resent the way Kanada always has to rescue him. Meanwhile, a group of scientists, military men, and politicians wonder what to do with a collection of withered children who possess enormous psychic powers, especially the mysterious, rarely seen Akira, whose awakening might well have caused the end of the old world. Tetsuo is visited by the children, who trigger the growth of psychic and physical powers that might make him a superman or a supermonster. As befits a distillation of 1,318 pages of the story so far, Akira is overstuffed with character, incident, and detail. However, it piles up astonishing set pieces: the chases and shootouts (amazingly kinetic, amazingly bloody) benefit from minute cartoon detail that extends to the surprised or shocked faces of the tiniest extra; the Tetsuo monster alternately looks like a billion-gallon scrotal sac or a Tex Avery mutation of the monster from The Quatermass Experiment; and the finale--which combines flashbacks to more innocent days with a destruction of Neo City and the creation of a new universe--is one of the most mind-bending in all sci-fi cinema. --Kim Newman From Amazon.com After Tokyo was destroyed in a mysterious blast in 1988, the elaborate city of Neo-Tokyo was built on its ruins. By 2019, Neo-Tokyo has been divided between a powerful and wealthy upper class and the violent punks and motorcycle gangs who haunt its slums. When the members of one gang attempt to strike back at the arrogant lords of the city, they unleash a wider and more destructive conflict than they anticipated. Neo-Tokyo is destroyed in another conflagration, but a new city will arise on its ruins, like a phoenix from its ashes. It's not always easy to tell the thuggish characters in Akira apart, but the emphasis is on expertly cut motorcycle chases and violent gun battles, rather than nuanced performances. The striking, dystopic designs reflect the influence of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, an interesting example of cultural cross-pollination. Akira defines anime for many Americans and is the object of an extremely loyal cult following. Uninitiated viewers may find the two-hour length of this animated epic a bit daunting and choose to watch it in sections. --Charles Solomon From Description In 1988, the landmark Anime film AKIRA, by director Katsuhiro Otomo, defined the cutting edge of Anime around the world. By today's standards, Akira remains the pinnacle of cel animation and retains the explosive impact of its highly detailed animation and its intensely violent saga of power and corruption. Neo-Tokyo has risen from the ashes of World War III to become a dark and dangerous megalopolis infested with gangs and terrorists. The government seethes with corruption and only maintains a token control over the powerful military that prevents total chaos and hides the secrets of the past. Childhood friends Tetsuo and Kaneda plunge into Neo-Tokyo's darkest secret when their motorcycle gang encounters a military operation to retrieve an escaped experimental subject. Tetsuo, captured by the military, is subjected to experiments that make him a powerful psychic, but, unfortunately for Neo-Tokyo, Tetsuo's powers rage out of control and he lashes out at the world that has oppressed him! Nothing can stop the destructive forces that Tetsuo wields except possibly the last boy to destroy Tokyo. 11537 + Sticker and Insert as Follows (15,000 units only) Sticker: Akira Tattoo Included Insert: Akira Tattoo |
 "A landmark in animation"Akira is not just an animated movie; it's a work of art and a work of love. It's a feature movie that just happens to be animated. The scope of its story is immense and the philosophical issues actually challenge the audience's intelligence in an age when everything is dumbed down for cheap laughs and comfortable feelings. Akira is truly a landmark. "AKIRA IS AN CLASSIC"There are so many great things in the movie but now I am only going to list one of the many great things in this movie. THE BACKGROUND !!!!!!!!!!! It was so well illustrated. You can also select a mode wich allows you to view the Japanese.  "Akira (Special Edition)"Eventhough,the art of anime had advanced considerably. This landmark Anime film still entertains. However,the DVD,I received had periods where it seemed to halt momentarily. But,it didn't take away from the films enjoyment.  "Old but a great intro to Anime"Well for starters, I have to explain this, Akira was originally released in 1985 and you can really see the dating in the movie. However, this doesn't stop this cult classic from being the amazing anime that it is. For anyone who is into anime, the name Akira should stand clearly in their heads, as it was the first true anime to explode into western civilization. The movie starts off with an introduction to the characters, Kaneda, Tetsuo and the rest of their gang who fall into a fight with the Clown gang, a rival motorcycle gang. The introduction jumps back and forth between the gang war and a man trying to save what looks like a young boy with blue skin. Then the two connect and the story really gets good. Tetsuo has an accident while trying to avoid hitting this blue kid and is taken away by the military for observation. The story revolves around an almost apocalyptic event caused by a child named Akira, after his accident Tetsuo has an incredulous transformation into Akira and becomes hell bent on making Akira a part of him. To say anymore would tell the story of the movie and I couldn't ruin it for anyone who really wants to watch it, however I can say this, for anyone who thinks that they would like to get into anime features, this movie is a gateway to the anime world. If you like the style and flow of this movie make sure to check out also, Ninja Scroll, Princess Mononoke, and Ghost in the Shell. There are of course several other animes to watch after this but, as said before, Akira is the door to the anime realm. "Modern Art as Film"In recent TIME magazine article movie critic Richard Corliss listed both of Otomo's major movies Steamboy and Akira as among the top five animes available on DVD. My interest in Akira arose from my viewing of his newest movie Steamboy and all I heard about Akira being THE anime movie. The one thing that stands out about Otomo is his ability to create two movies with 180 degree difference in ambiance that deal with the same underlying issue of the consequences of man trying to invent breakthrough technologies when his fallen state prevents the proper use of this technology and the catastrophic consequences of this failure. The main plot of Akira, if you can call it that, centers around two members of a biker gang, Kaneda the leader of the gang and the younger brother type figure Tetsuo, that run rampant on the streets of dystopic post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo. Neo-Tokyo borrows heavily from Ridley Scott's vision of LA in Blade Runner with magnificent sky scrapers and neon but on the ground level is a city clearly in chaos with a seedy underbelly. Neo-Tokyo is run by corrupt politicians and is the subject of terrorist attacks from groups claiming to be fighting inequality and poverty caused by some "tax reform". The only thing keeping a resemblance of order in Neo-Tokyo is the military lead by Colonel Shikishima who exhibits the militaristic traits of pre-World War II Japan. The only sign of spiritual life in the city is a cult movement proclaiming the current order will be destroyed by the re-appearance of a messiah like figure named Akira. Tetsuo gets involved in an accident when a bizarre blue skin withered child appears. The military swoops in to take the child and Tetsuo away. Tetsuo is sent to a military hospital where his inactive psychic powers are awoken by medical experiments. He meets two other blue skin children who also have psychic powers. These children are analogous to the pre-cogs characters in the Phillip Dick short story adopted by Steven Spielberg in Minority Report. Tetsuo uses his new power to escape from the hospital and starts to go on a bloody gory rampage through neo-Tokyo acting out on his resentment of life and him playing second fiddle to Kaneda. Kaneda along with the Colonel, the three pre-cog children, and a female terrorist name Kai try to stop Tetsuo before he awakens Akira and destroys Neo-Tokyo. The ending has to be seen to be believed. Akira has been elevated as a cult classic in the US. Akira is considered the movie that propelled anime to the popularity it currently enjoys in the US. This movie represented a radical departure from the cartoonish TV shows like Speed Racer and Astroboy that were the only exposure Americans had to that time to anime. What propelled Akira's popularity was its kinetic often violent and bloody energy, mind bending plot, dystopic atmosphere, fluid animation, and tackling of metaphysical issue. There are some scenes in Akira that seem to be straight from the mind of a Salvador Dali in its surrealism. One thing to always keep mind is all the action one sees was done using hand drawn animation. Akira's has been a major influence in more mainstream movies, for example the Matrix trilogy. Otomo's vision of Neo-Tokyo is amazing but after experiencing Ridley Scott's vision of LA I did not have the same sense of awe and curiosity. Almost all the characters in Akira are derivatives of some anti-hero and the high level of disturbing violence and surreal images in this movie taxes you. The experiments that led to Tetsuo becoming a psychic monster and the creation of Akira was an attempt to harness "the power of god." I was reminded of Dune where the Bene Gesserit through selective breeding created the Kwisatz Haderach. Otomo spells out in the movie that the energy and knowledge from the moment of creation is genetically hard wired in every living being and this power can be unleashed with the use of science. Such Gnostic type theology is very unnerving to someone raised in a Catholic tradition although I can understand Otomo being Japanese sees nature and divinity much more tightly integrated than someone raised in the Western tradition. Another philosophical statement Otomo was trying to make was the cyclic nature of history with periods of destruction followed by reconstruction and renewal. Once again such a view of history is very different from the linear tradition in the Judeo-Christian West. The main overriding message Otomo delivers is how scientific advancement inevitably falls into the wrong hands sometimes by the scientists themselves who do not consider the ethical impact of what they are doing. The result of this human failure is wonton destruction. Of course, this suspicion of science is seared into the Japanese psyche from the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. Otomo argues that the only way to avoid the destructive consequences of technological advancement is to retain a child-like innocence. Otomo seems to subscribe to the 60s statement about not trusting anybody over 30. Does Akira deserve its place as a cult classic? Yes. This is one of the most original animation films in history. Did I find this movie an emotionally pleasing experience? No. My reactions to Akira is analogous to how I feel about modern art. With its kinetic energy and surreal images Akira can be considered a piece of modern art on film. The last time I was back in my hometown in the New York metro area, my mom and I went to the recently re-opened Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). As I walked around the galleries, on an intellectual level I can understand why the pieces displayed are important, how they represent feelings of angst in a world ravaged by two world wars, the elevation of materialism over the spiritual, the subconscious over the rational and how they represent a break with the past. But try as I may, I cannot connect to these pieces and Akira on an emotional level. Maybe you can call me a reactionary but when I experience the fine arts I want to be uplifted or be part of the world envisioned in the art. Otomo's Steamboy in its romanticism and nostalgic Victorian setting does that for me but the violent tormented Neo-Tokyo does not. There is enough angst in today's fast paced world where I have no desire to experience more of it in the fine arts. |
