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 "Great isn't good enough to describe this movie" This is just the kind of movie you'd love to watch over and over again and you wouldn't even get bored. It's just marvelously well done and I personally would recommend this title to anybody who is a true fan of anime. The songs are amazing, the story is breath taking and the characters are the sweetest. "Definitely NOT the TV Series" The film is darker and more disturbing than the TV series (which is excellent in its own right). It has the same characters and settings, but a vastly different story. The artistry is fantastic, and the limited use of CG is not overbearing. The music is absolutely superb (we expect no less from Yoko Kanno) and the isolated soundtrack on the disc is a nice feature. Loneliness, isolation, and despression are a strong themes in the movie and they are presented in a way that makes you think. "Great isn't good enough to describe this movie" This is just the kind of movie you'd love to watch over and over again and you wouldn't even get bored. It's just marvelously well done and I personally would recommend this title to anybody who is a true fan of anime. The songs are amazing, the story is breath taking and the characters are the sweetest. "Let's set some things straight" Lots of things have been said about this movie, the animation's great, music's great etc. Technically, this is one of the best anime films ever made, for those reasons. The DVD edition is no exception to this. Packed with interviews on the extra's disc and the soundtrack, along with technical drawings leave any other extra discs that I can recall in the dust. The story and characterization are the main points to make here. Let's be clear. This movie is about Van and Hitomi. All the other characters exist to move the plot along so we can see the development between these two. Some of the other characters do have some depth to them, but you have to think about it to understand that. The movie simply does not have time to spell out all the details that the TV series did. Where this movie truly shines though, is in the emotions of the characters. These really transcend the movie, as everyone has at some point experianced the emotions that Van snd especially Hitomi feel. Here's my advice on wheather you will like it or not. First, watch it at least twice. I really didn't care for it the first time I watched it, I came back a week later and found that my view had changed. Second, this has very little to do with the TV series plot, If you think you might enjoy a vastly different portrayal of the TV series, then this movie is for you. If you want more of the TV series, then don't give the movie a second glance. Third, This is not an action oriented film, though it does have some great action scenes in it. Finally, the creators are not concerned with building an in depth world here, as that has been done with the TV series, and the movie can't hope to match that depth. "Am I missing something?" ...Or were the producers? As a bit of a disclaimer, I award this production the distinction of two stars (as opposed to one) solely for its music, and partially for its animation (it seemed to fluctuate between brilliant and mediocre, whereas the music was just brilliant). And another disclaimer: I have no experience in the initial Escaflowne series, so this review will be focused on the movie alone. That said ...what happened? Where were the characters? Where was the plot? Where were the motives? With all the liberal granting of wings, you'd think they'd taken a pair and flown into obscurity. Yes, there were characters. Little bits of compiled animation cels, rather. There were two types of actual personalities: Those who had none, and those who were, shall we say, overly dynamic. Excluding our [extremely abrasive] protagonists, nearly the entire cast falls into the former category - little Grecian sculptures granted movement and tongue. Maybe I'm a critic, but I somehow fail to sympathize with a character whose most impassioned line of the entire work is: "I'd hate to spill the blood of a woman". As for the latter category, for those who received the rare benediction of a somewhat identifiable personality, it seemed as if that benevolence was immediately betrayed. Van is an angst-riddled, introverted, scampering desperado, yes? No - wait! No, he isn't! He's a kind-hearted jolly good fellow because the 'evil within [him] has been healed'. It has? Did I miss something? Wait a second ...here it is again! He has a heart of stone! He's instigating Armageddon! Oh, wait! No - he isn't! He's just an innocent bystander! No, wait! No - he isn't! He's counterattacking his wantonly sadistic brother! No, wait! He isn't! He loves his brother! Don't let his brother get hurt! Why is he bleeding? I love you, brother! Don't even get me started (well, I've done that myself...) on the perils of creating an evil villain who has no viable cause for devilry other than his baby blue mullet. Not only were the characters highly flawed, but the plot itself was fraught with cliché. In fact, I couldn't identify one iota of screenplay that in any way struck me as somehow original. Not to mention this, but whoever wrote aforementioned screenplay obviously has no knack for dramatic timing and, more imminently, character development. Give the girl a few harried seconds before she collapses - build up some tensions in discourses between characters before they fall in love. Give them a reason to love one another aside from a claim to being 'kindred spirits' - we are depressed and lack social capabilities and depth of personality, hence we are undeniably made for each other? Great logic, really. Fits right in. (A few things that score a few 'good' points: Merle's tail expression, Dilandu's voice, small children of the village that was never identified, the brief 'Hyena race with barrels of gunpowder on their backs', 'forehead magic'.) I do agree that this movie is well-fit for a good laugh - that's what we got out of it, to be sure. (Especially the Mecha battle - kind of like angular Pillsbury doughboys). If you enjoy henpecking, I'm sure you'll have an hour well-spent of predictable dialogue, cliched characters, struggles to define a plot which never is, and countless other confections that I have failed to mention in my review. Have a ball. Otherwise, sample the soundtrack and leave the movie to rot amongst the scattered feathers.