View Larger Image

Escaflowne - The Movie Actor: Kazuki Akane Number of Items: 1 Format: Animated, Color, Widescreen, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: Bandai Entertainment Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2004-03-02 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 152 Average rating: 4.0 "OK" I thought the story was OK, but the part with Dalandai was absolutely gross. It was to bloody and graphic for my liking. My friend was pretty disapointed by it and she saw the series. I loved the artwork though, it was like being in a dream. Compared to Endless Waltz and Princess Mononke, this movie doesn't even compare. "compact escaflowne" As you are reading this review you've probably seen Escaflowne the series. If so, you may be wondering if Escaflowne the Movie will be a continuation of the tv series. It is not. Escaflowne the Movie is like compact version of the series. At an hour and thirty minutes it is far too short for my liking but it does get the job done. Several changes have been made to the plot, Hitomi is now a highschool senior suffering from depression. Van is older as well, he is a hardened warrior of the White Dragon Clan. The other characters that were in the tv series make appearances as well, but usually extremely brief ones. By now you may be asking what were the Escaflowne people doing making this movie? Well, they were making a reinterpretation of the series. To be honest with you the movie really is a good one. The artwork is so detailed, I don't think ANY anime could do better. The world of Gaia has a decidedly tribal flavor and action is abundant. The movie is quite a bit rushed, and you don't see as much of the other characters as you might like. At first it may seem that the story of Escaflowne has been mangled, but again I say that it is only reinterpreted. Watching this film, I was led to another Gaia and introduced to old characters with a new flair. The themes that the movie tackles are very different from the ones in the series, and in the end, watching Escaflowne the Movie makes you wonder about this alternate world of Gaia and makes you delve into the characters creating them as you would see them. If you are an Escaflowne fan, you may not like this movie. But I do urge you to give it a chance. Go into it with an open mind and you may just find that it is thoroughly enjoyable, providing luscious artwork and a beautiful score as the series did, as well as its new take on Escaflowne. "I expected so much more..." Well, I'm writing this review without looking at any other reviews first - just the overall ranking - because I flat don't agree with it. The TV series had a wonderful whimsical, intriguing, mystical feel with the giant magical mecha suits, its odd combination of magic and technology, and the girl lost in a strange world storyline, but this movie gives us a fakey angsty twist on the main character that I found completely pointless and rather annoying. It did nothing for the main storyline and made her seem rather pathetic, in the end, rather than heroic. There wasn't enough motivation given for any kind of change in her character and it all came off as rather flat. Hitomi deserved better treatment than that. The visuals are also extremely dark, if beautifully designed, and the battles can get a little confusing because of it (but Van's initial attack on the airship carrying Escaflowne... wow! Brutal and savage and incredibly rendered in near-monochromatic silhouette... oh yes, kiddies, swords are NOT toys...) but I was vastly disappointed to find that most of the main characters had been reduced to mere leather-clad charactures of themselves or given inconsequential cameos. (Dryden? Allen? Gaddes? Naria & Eriya? Cripes... was *that* Millerna?! Somehow I don't think she's studying to be a doctor anymore... *sigh*) The re-design of Escaflowne itself was interesting (as was the twist on how the suit bonded to Van... blood... *shiver*), but not much more than that. Besides, it was just too dark most of the time to see it very well... and I prefer the suit's original incarnation and it's old flying dragon-form to the new design. Dilandau's obsessiveness was nicely highlighted as was Van's pain at the choices necessary in the end, but overall I was highly disappointed with the movie. I expected something with at least a little of the charm and pagentry, heroism and melancholy of the series and got a grim, battle-heavy, dark, angst-fest instead. (Oh, poor Folken!) Some of the fight scenes are cool, but, unfortunately, they don't have as intriguing a story around them to make them have a real point. Why do we really care about the final duel here? And that's one of the best scenes in the series... the final duel between Dilandau and Van... with Allen stepping in... everything had built to that point. This movie takes the barest, barest essentials of the plot of what is a rather complex series and crams it into a single movie. It just loses too much for me, and I felt they could have handled the condensing with more care - or picked a sub-plot from the series to expand into something more true to the source rather than this odd re-hash of the whole thing. I've already bought it - and Van's first fight is incredible to watch - so I'll keep it, but frankly the TV series itself is far better. I recommend you pick that up instead. (And you'll even get used to the ski-jump noses after a while too... *grin* They grow on 'ya.) "Lovely, smashing, super!" Hi there from merry ol' England! My beloved country suffers from a serious lack of quality anime (unless you like tripe like Urotsukidoji et al), so thank Merle for the internet! Import is so marvellous! Anyways, to my review of the movie. Personally, I adore the tv series, though I never really adjusted to the overly-cartoony character designs myself. I also think this movie is absolutely fabulous - not a sequel or 'clip show a la 'Death & Rebirth', but a total re-interpretation of the esca-verse using many of the characters and plot elements, but little else. This cleverly avoids any real comparisons with the series, and helps to overcome the problem of attempting to compress 9 hours or so into a 96 minute movie - a common enough practice in anime, but one which is rarely successful in producing anything more than a refresher for those who have already watched the full series (Again, this brings to my mind 'Death & Rebirth', which made very little sense to the non-anime fans I have tried to show it to!) With this in mind, full marks to the creators for the courage they have shown in 're-imagining' an already successful franchise. The film is simply gorgeous, even watched on my mediocre 4:3 television managing to look incredible to all who I have inflicted it upon! In fact, this movie gains the impressive accolade of converting more non-otaku to the joys of anime than any other show I have attempted to gain believers with (including such gems as 'End of Evangelion', 'X - the movie', 'Perfect Blue', 'Macross Plus' and 'Ghost in the Shell'). All have found it an exhilarating experience indeed, and some even (shock, horror) requested to view it again! My only dislike personally is the anamorphic presentation, which made it impossible to 'get the full picture' until I watched it on the PC which allowed me full control over the aspect ratio. Give me black bars over cropping any day! The sound is fantastic, Kanno Yokos' music equally so, my special edition version having the added bonus of the soundtrack on cd - the only way to obtain it officially other than importing it from Japan at horrendous cost! The extras disc, though interesting enough, does not really bear up to repeated viewings, though I don't care as I am too busy rewatching the main feature. My sister watched the film, despite hating my 'cartoons', on the strength of the theme tune, Sakamoto Maayas' 'Yubiwa (The Ring)' alone! Whether or not you are a fan of the original, I beg you to suspend your inhibitions and preconceptions and view this film on its own merits - if you can catch it at the theatre, all the better. Just forget 'Vision of Escaflowne' altogether for 96 minutes or so, that cannot be so hard, can it? One phrase to sum up the Esca movie experience? 'QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY'. P.S. The English dub could be better, but I have heard far worse. At least the release is Bandai, so is mercifully free from the 'dulcit' tones of Tiffany Grant... "The next episode?" Truthfully, I was dissapointed. This doesn't work well as a stand alone film. It seems like it's more of a 1st 3 episodes of an entirely new series feature. They attempt to tell the Escaflowne story over again, instead of directly connecting it with the TV series, and this hurts it considerably. In the begining your introduced to Van in a wildy entertaining fashion. He sky dives, with no parachute onto an enemy ship, and slices up the entire crew in what has to be called one of the best action sequences in a anime ever, you'll want to watch it again at least 2 times. The animation is beautiful throughout the film, but it espcially shines during the action. Then the movie slows to a crawl, your introduced to the puesdo-suicidal Hitomi Kanzaki and her best friend. Hitomi's problems seem to be unfounded. In that there are no roots for her depression. She just is. This part of the film totally destroys the monumental momentum the opening sequence creates. Finally she is transported to the world of Escaflowne. She meets Van and his crew. And her connection with the Escaflowne is established. Take a good look at the cool looking giant mecha-like knight armor because you won't see it for at least another hour. The film goes into Hitomi's interaction with the crew, and a few less important discoveries, more pacing, and less core story telling. Finally an action sequence breaks out when the Black Dragon Clan attacks. This is a lenghty event that you will enjoy. Van faces off with Dilandau, in a cool display of supernatural powers. After that Van is injured and then the momentum created is shut down. Hitomi takes him to a village, and then they finally meet up with Van's crew. This takes up about a half hour of the movie, and it seems to be more of a filler episode for a series than scenes in a film. The film finally crawls to the climax. Van and his Escaflowne face off with Dilandau and the Black Dragon's Escaflowne. The fight is well animated, and the action is intense. My problem with this is they seem to be paying homage to or, just maybe ripping off the way the Evangelion look and fight in Neon Genesis Evangelion, even the animation looks similar. This is a far cry from what the Escaflowne are in the TV series. They are much smaller, and are controlled mechanically, with strings and levers. In the movie they are controlled in an almost organic manner, in which the pilot is connected to the mech in a more physical and painful way. Something else that seems to be an Evangelion concept. Van's Escaflowne even goes into some dark true form causing him to go beserker. Just like Shinji and Eva-01. The ending is the most dissapointing part of the anime. Lord Folkon and Van do not have the world-ending fight you would expect. He meets with a rather weak end. That begs the question, how was Folkon the head honcho if he was that easily defeated. Loose ends and holes in the story are not tied up. And the pacing of the film forces them into this anti-climatic sequence. All in all, maybe you will enjoy it if you haven't seen any of the TV series. If you have seen the TV series, you'll most likely be dissapointed. If this was the 1st 3 episodes of the Escaflowne series it would be more acceptable, but as a film this fails. If you are a fan of Escaflowne, this is just for the collection. If you're not that into the series, rent it.