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Memories Directors: Kôji Morimoto, Tensai Okamura, Katsuhiro Ôtomo Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Studio: Columbia Tristar Hom Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2004-02-24 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 18 Average rating: 5.0 "What's not to love?" From Katsuhiro Otomo (and others) comes three completely different stories. Each of them interesting and original in itself. MAGNETIC ROSE is about a couple of astronauts who investigate an old space station. It has the atmospheric mood of a traditional ghost story but is set in a science fiction like reality. This one immeadiately became one of my favorite pieces of animation that I have ever seen. Glorious hand drawn traditional animation with minimal but beatifully incorporated cgi elements where necesary. STINK BOMB is more of a funny story but definately a good one. A boy accidentaly swallows a pill that turns him into a biochemical weapon. As he unwillingly and unknowingly goes on a path of destruction through Tokyo the army deplores increasingly aggresive and desperate means to stop him, and as the story gradually grows in scope the viewer doesn't know wether to laugh at the silliness of it all or shudder at the realistic horror of biochemical warfare and it's consequences. CANNON FODDER the final entry is probably my least favorite, although it does have a unique look and a refreshingly original story flow as the entire movie unfolds with very few and almost seemless cuts. The camera simply travels around from place to place never stopping, as we follow the lives of a family in a weird alternative reality (or possibly a grim future) where the inhabitans of a city full of giant cannons spend their entire existance firing shells at an unseen enemy. These are sort of like the short animations from projects such as "Animatrix" and "Heavy Metal" from the 80'ies only better. Each of them adds something new and brings a fresh idea forwards and it is a gem in any collection of anime. Here's hoping more projects like this one will see the light of day in the near future. "A Review of the Video Quality !" I think many people have written about the virtues of the films, I would like to comment on the digital mastering,This has been a favourite movie of mine for some time and I have been waiting for a R1 release the Japanese version was far too expensive.I was expecting a remastering job of the Quality that was done on Akira, and I expected the result to be breathtaking,(especially on Magnetic Rose)I opened the package put the disc in ,and to my disdain ,the video looks like a rather clean laserdisc print, there is no evidence of 720\480 resolution of dvd it looked more like 352/480 of half d1 resolution.most of the time the lines on the characters facial detail , in mid shots are all smudgy ,overall it has a washed out look ,no deep blacks either,I am appalled ,one of the most beautiful films had to get a shoddy transfer like this.I have seen it on a 36 inch widescreen hdtv in 480p mode through a progressive scan player.this confirms my suspicion that the japanese directors are not approving the final transfers for the r1 discs, A similiar case was the movie Jin-roh, Another case of a beautiful film done to death by a smudgy low res transfer. "Fantastic animated anthology from Japan!" From the makers behind " Metropolis", " Akira", " Steamboy" and " Perfect Blue" Katsuhiro Otomo, Koji Morimoto and Tensai Okamura comes a stunning collection of three fantasy tales beyond your imagination. The first tale deals with space travelers who discover a spaceship inhabited by a former Opera singer and is controlled by a super computer. The second deals with a pharmaceutical company who accidently takes pills that give him the most retretched stench in the whole world causing people to drop like flies and the last tale is WWII inspired on cannon makers. Beautifully animated and visionary anime tales with twists in the ends and originallity. Although the one Powerpuff Girl episode where Buttercup is stinking up a town is probably inspired by the second tale in the movie. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys anime, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Robot Carnival, Metropolis, Fantasia, Heavy Metal, and Cowboy Bebop. "Light On Substance But Big On Style" * MEMORIES is a collection of three relatively short Japanese animation pieces by Katsuhiro Otomo, of AKIRA fame. In the first piece, MAGNETIC ROSE, a space salvage crew hears a rescue call from a dangerous space sargasso, with the rescue signal broadcasting Puccini's MADAME BUTTERFLY. In the second, STINK BOMB (which I think might have been better rendered as STINK BUG) a bumbling biotechnology worker with a cold takes the wrong pill, with apocalyptic results. The third, CANNON FODDER, is a portrait of a fairy-tale society dedicated totally to war, sort of like Imperial Germany on acid. As far as the scriptwriting goes, these stories are fairly lightweight. I read a much shorter manga (comic) version of MAGNETIC ROSE, and all the elaborations of the video version didn't really add much to the story, which is strictly an OUTER LIMITS sort of thing. STINK BOMB is just a bit of deliberate silliness, and CANNON FODDER really doesn't have a story at all -- it's just a "day in the life" narrative, much along the lines of traditional "experimental" animation. The entire video runs about 114 minutes and drags a bit; I think it would have been more effective if it had been cut to about 90 or even 75, and it would have lost nothing. However, the production values for MEMORIES are outstanding. Even STINK BOMB, the most conventional of the three, is meticulously detailed, and MAGNETIC ROSE is technically outstanding and lushly drawn from beginning to end. The quirky CANNON FODDER is a particular exercise in mad ingenuity and I thought it the most interesting of the set. I suspect that it might have been done with some "message" in mind, but I found it instead to be something like an elaborate clockwork toy. So, in sum, if you're after a great story, you won't like MEMORIES, but if you're taken in with artwork and design this is a good buy. Probably not a good choice for younger watchers, though -- there's nothing much objectionable in it, but the stories will likely bore them. "5 Stars for Magnetic Rose alone..." WOW. This is some good stuff, and it should be since it was produced by Mr. Otomo, the same person who created Akira (the reason I am an Anime fan now). The animation is of "Macross Plus" quality, or better. Magnetic Rose, the first of the three short films, features some truly jaw-dropping visuals. Stink Bomb, the second film telling the story of a guy with terminal BO, had me laughing out loud while admiring the great artwork. The third film is just plain amazing, buy this DVD and see for yourself.