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Black Magic M-66 Director: Shirow Masamune Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Academy Ratio Format: Color, Animated, Dolby Audience Rating: Unrated Running Time: 60 minutes Studio: Palm Pictures/Manga Video Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2001-10-30 Buy from Amazon |
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From Amazon.com Masamune Shirow, who later wrote Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell, directed this short (48 minutes) OAV based on his early fanzine story. Tough-as-nails journalist Sybel eavesdrops on a secret military channel and discovers that a helicopter has crashed, releasing two prototype antipersonnel androids. The F6402, which resembles a cross between a Barbie doll and the Terminator cyborgs, has erroneously been sent after Ferris, the inventor's granddaughter. Sybel succeeds where the army fails: she locates Ferris and protects her from the murderous android. The silly story contains numerous plot holes (where does Sybel get the plane she pilots through the city?), and the ending, where the destruction of a skyscraper is falsely described in the press as a "terrorist attack," no longer plays. But viewers looking for fast-paced, violent action will find plenty in Black Magic. Unrated; suitable for ages 16 and up: Graphic violence, profanity, brief nudity, tobacco use. --Charles Solomon From Description Black Magic M-66 is the exciting futuristic adventure of Sybel, a freelance video journalist who becomes involved in a dangerous military fiasco when two top-secret military android assassins, known as M-66 units, are lost. One of the deadly M-66 units escapes with a mission to eliminate Ferris, the granddaughter of its creator. Time is running out as Sybel faces the deadly M-66 android in an epic battle to save Ferris. |
 "Birth of the Terminator"The government with the help of its engineers created the ultimate killing machine; two robots, virtually indestructible, armed with auto-defenses and very intelligent. Both robots were being shipped by secret plane, but a thunderstorm causes the plane to crash land. Both robots escape the wreckage undamaged, except that they are malfunctioning, they want to kill all humans. They end up wiping out a military platoon and killing more innocent people, until a news reporter gets involved to help stop the two robots. The character design are pudgy faced and a bit ugly, so are the robots, but the action sequences are very exciting. My biggest disappointment was the fact that BMM66 is way too short. The whole movie was so exciting that I wanted it to be longer. It is rumored that American director James Cameron, got the idea for his, Terminator movie from this anime. You too will notice the similarities when you see this anime. Violence and blood at mild levels, but nothing extreme- for teenagers and adults.  "a decent flick, albeit WAY too short..."To me, Black Magic M-66's biggest flaws come in the plot holes (sometimes laughable) and it's extremely short length. However, I can't say that I'd want the movie to run much longer than it does, because it seems like it paces itself well enough...it's just that the story is pretty cut-and-dry and the majority of the movie is a wild goose chase after an inventor's daughter (who is the one being targeted by the assassin-robot)...so, it ended when it should have, otherwise it could have become extremely tedious. The assassin-bot is definitely freaky as all hell,and there is a lot of good suspense in this flick, along with some occassional gore and some brief nudity. Overall, I must say that you should NOT spend the money on this DVD unless you're looking at it's historical significance in anime...find a dog-eared VHS copy, or, if a friend has a copy then duplicate it. To me, this flick doesn't feel essential for most of the casual anime-viewers out there...hardcore fans however -- enjoy.  "Masamune Shirow's Golden Touch"Masamune Shirow scores another home run in Black Magic: M66. This is one of his earlier and sometimes lesser known works, done in collaboration with Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Blood: The Last Vampire). Shirow is probably better known in the U.S. for Ghost in the Shell, Dominion Tank Police, and both versions of Appleseed. All of these were Manga before being brought over to the video media, and all of Shirow's titles make you think, with deep reaching social issues that transcend the animated action. Black Magic: Mario M66 is the story of a journalist who falls into the middle of a top-secret Government experiment with robotic assassins. One robot malfunctions and goes rogue - and sets off to assassinate it's pre-programmed target. In this case, the daughter of the scientist who designed the assassins. Over the next 50 minutes, the journalist must protect the girl and uncover the secret of the assassins. Black Magic follows Shirow's tradition of creating a strong female lead character who takes charge of the situation and does her best to save the day. Shirow's women usually breach the gender gap as Law Enforcement officers, Government agents, soldiers, and in this case a hard-nosed news woman who won't take no for an answer. Black Magic is an excellent, if short, example of Japanese Animation. I highly recommend it's addition to your collection. "Combat, androids and great artwork."In Black Magic, the anime, two military android assassins are lost. This wouldn't be so bad, but for the fact they are still carrying mission information used for testing. Their target is their creator's granddaughter. Sybel, a freelance reporter, becomes involved in the deadly cat and mouse game between the robots and the military. Has the voices of Steven Blum and Beau Billingslea as many of the military, along with lots of violence, nudity and strong language. Not really anything like the manga, but still fun to watch. "WHY??????!!??"Why do people compare a FILM, (yes F.I.L.M) to manga? a book for God sakes????? a film is someone's vision of a book etc.....so, I think that this film is VERY well executed. No, not everyone will like it but its a fun film. I don't compare movies to books its like comparing Fine Red wine to Fine white wine, both are incredible but not everyone has the same taste. so , judge a film on its OWN merit not against the book!!! nuff said, this is a Great film and still maintains originality, yes its about cyborgs but still holds it's own. the only reason I give it a 4 out of 5 is the length of the film, it should have been longer. At least give this a rental. It's worth it if you dig good animation with a fun story. |
