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Parasite Eve Director: Masayuki Ochiai Number of Items: 1 Format: Color Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 120 minutes Studio: A.D. Vision Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2001-08-14 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 22 Average rating: 3.5 "awesome dvd" ok this movie is worth buying, great storyline, decent special effects, if you tired of watching the same ole horrow movies and want to watch something diffent then this will not dissapoint. BUY IT "Parasite Eve" First let me tell you what this movie is not: It is not based on the games. It is not an action movie. It is not a horror movie. It is not a big budget special effects extravaganza. It is not anime. It isn't really a sci-fi movie either. Now what it is: It is an excellent adaptation of a Japanese suspense/psychological thriller novel with subtitles. It has decent cinematography, excellent soundtrack and fairly good acting (for the most part). The story, while sometimes hard to follow for people unaccustomed to watching subtitled movies might be a little hard to follow at first, but there are only a handful of main characters that you have to keep track of so it isn't impossible. If you aren't a foreign film buff, you might want to rent it, but if you enjoy foreign films (and don't mind subtitles), and Japanese drama/suspense in particular, then this is one you might want to add to your collection. If you are expecting an action packed, special effects laden, guns-a-blazing, people-dying-every-few-seconds movie based on the videogames ... look elsewhere. This isn't for you. This is a movie you have to watch and pay attention to to enjoy, and is probably better suited to adults for a number of reasons, most notably that younger people used to big budget Hollywood productions might find it slow moving and boring. I didn't. "Interesting medical/sci-fi drama" Toshiaki Nagashima's opening lecture on mitochondria sets the premise of the movie. Basically, within a cell, mitochondria has its own DNA, and is critical in creating energy. Nagashima further states that mitochondria entered man as a parasite but became vital to humans and lived symbiotically. Nagashima's studies involve growing healthy mitochondria, insert them in cells diseased by cirrhosis or diabetes, and curing said cells. He is assisted in this by Sawako Asakura, a lab assistant working on her dissertation, on lab rats, and both are encouraged upon discovering that the livers of some rats have improved. However, the question arises, do mitochondria have an agenda of their own, despite the fact that they don't have enough DNA to be independent? And as a grade-schooler asks Asakura after she tells his class there are many helpful organisms inside the body, "Won't they try to control us when we get big?" The day of Nagashima's lecture also happens to be his first-year anniversary. However, he never gets to celebrate it. His timid and loving wife Kiyomi becomes involved in an accident that renders her brain-dead. He is totally shattered, insisting that she is still alive. Enter Dr. Yoshizawa, a surgeon who is desperately seeking a kidney donor to help a 12-year old girl, Mariko. Her body rejected the previous donor's kidney, but this time, Kiyomi's data is assessed, with positive compatibility results. Toshiaki finally agrees, on the condition that Yoshizawa gives him Kiyomi's liver. Yoshizawa is perplexed by this agreement, but eager to succeed with Mariko, agrees. The mystery begins when Mariko's new kidney begins acting strangely and she becomes alarmed by ominous liquid-like sounds burbling. And at first, Toshiaki's culturing his dead wife's cells seem like the act of someone who has snapped, but the further the film progresses, we see how much Kiyomi meant to Toshiaki. Unfortunately, things take a weird turn when Toshiaki examines one of Kiyomi's cell cultures. Hiroshi Mikami does great as a typical research scientist, forgetful and absent-minded at times, and the haunted look on his face in reaction to his wife's death, and his obsession in keeping her alive, is some pretty good acting. Riona Hazuki projects a fragile and gentle beauty as Kiyomi, especially in the scenes before her death and in the flashbacks we see when Toshiaki first meets her and is smitten. The title Parasite Eve has to due with Nagashima's lecture that we all get mitochondria from our mothers, and one can see "the mother of us all, the 'Eve' of mythology." Biology majors and students interested in biology may be interested in this not bad medical/sci-fi drama, which is leisurely-paced during the first half, but becomes more uptempo during the more suspenseful second half. "Parasite Eve Review" I am a long time fan of the game. If you pay attention to the dialogues in the game, then the movie should make sense to you. The movie is just the basis of the game...some will disagree that they are not related but the game takes place after the movie. With that said, I will go on with my review of the movie. I watched it for the first time tonight and I thought that it was a little weird. The storyline was a little hard to follow towards the end. Let me explain. There are several storylines to begin with. A sick child, her doctor, a scientist, and his wife. The wife is in a crash. She dies. Her mitochondria is very..."active". Her organs are placed in the sick child...blah blah blah. The childs mitochondria begin to reproduce. And she is going to have a mitochondria baby even though she is like 12. Confused yet? Figured you were. And believe me it doesn't get any better. I'm still trying to figure out the ending myself. Bottom line. The movie is ok. Not real scary so if that is what you want or expect then this is NOT the movie for you. The CGI is ok...compared with American CGI...mind you this is a Japanese film. There are subtitles and the parts are played very well. So, if you wanted to know the story behind the game...or if you read the book and thought it was great then this movie is the perfect choice. Happy viewing! "Definitely not a waste, but a minor letdown" This film actually serves as a prequel to the game "Parasite Eve", as the events that occur herein are referenced in the game, and the movie had been released prior to the game. However, whereas Parasite Eve contained a lot of action/thriller elements mixed with horror, the movie is mostly drama with some slight thriller and horror dusted over it. If you want to see where the Parasite Eve games come from, I'd suggest either a rental or buying a used copy. But if you want something that's actually reminiscent of the games themselves, you'd do better to campaign for them to translate the game novelization that was released in Japan.