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Appleseed (Widescreen) (2004) Actors: Ai Kobayashi, Jûrôta Kosugi, Yuki Matsuoka Director: Shinji Aramaki Number of Items: 1 Format: Animated, Color, Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 105 minutes Studio: Geneon Entertainment Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-05-10 Buy from Amazon |
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From Amazon.com The 2004 Appleseed feature is a reworking of the earlier video based on the manga by Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell). In 2131, most of humanity has withdrawn to the glittering city of Olympus after a devastating war. When the curvaceous Deunan Knute comes to Olympus, she encounters her former comrade Briareos, now a cyborg, and the lovely android Hitomi. The fate of Hitomi, Olympus, and humanity rest on the lost "Appleseed" technology that Deunan's mother helped to develop. A standard series of chases, mecha battles, and confrontations leads to a predictable ending. When the original Appleseedappeared in 1988, it felt like a summary of anime's past, while Akira pointed the way to the future. This new version feels like a mishmash of Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Jin-Roh, Evangelion, and other, more exciting works. The motion-capture CG is typically weightless, and the mecha look oddly squat. (Rated R: violence) --Charles Solomon From Description Earth's last city, Olympus, rose from the ashes of a global war on the backs of Bioroids, artificial clones who make up half the city's population. Under the strict guidance of a supercomputer, humanity's last survivors enjoy an idyllic peace, but only on the surface Human terrorists within the military seek a return to power and clash with the government's ESWAT forces lead by the legendary soldier, Deunan Knute, and her boyfriend who is 75% machine. Retrieving the Appleseed will end the conflict, and Deunan alone holds its secret. The outstanding feature film based on the manga by SHIROW Masamune (Ghost In the Shell), directed by Shinji ARAMAKI (Bubblegum Crisis), and produced by SORI (Ping Pong) features a soundtrack by Boom Boom Satelites, Paul Oakenfold, Basement Jaxx and more and will be available from TOFU records. The DVD will feature high quality video encoded directly from the HD master in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen with 5.1 English Dolby Digital and DTS audio as well as the original Japanese 2.0 stereo and 5.1 DTS Dolby Digital soundtracks! This DVD also features commentary from both the director and the producer! |
 "Another Anime film with Robots, Big Breasts and the Meaning of Humanity."I saw a preview for Appleseed in Japan and waited for years for them to finally make a dvd with English subtitles. After watching the film, I was fairly disappointed. Don't get me wrong. I am an Animation fan and can appreciate just about everything that Anime artists have to offer. Appleseed however is unfortunately a let down. After a while you get tired of watching the same old clichÈs that seem to occur in most action oriented Japanese Animation....Female characters with unnaturally large breasts who carry guns and go from tough, soldier women to pathetic, weepy, overly sensitive girls (just what Japanese men dream about)......characters who seem to be evil or good at the beginning and then suddenly switch sides for unclear reasons and have you scratching your head long after the film is over and last but not least.....the unending, unanswerable "meaning of human existence" question that seems to be a repetitive theme in a lot of Anime. Please Anime writers, no one wants to hear cartoon characters argue for 20 minutes on the esscence of humanity. Yes, the visuals and the actual Animation is stunning. Truly incredible. The story line....well....lets put it this way, this film did NOT do well in Japan.....watch it and find out why...  "awesome and interesting combination"this was an action packed beautiful combination of cell shading and computer animation. the characters were done in cell shading while everything else is done with cgi. this created an interesting mix. the storyline is something that isn't totally original, but the animation made up for that. the humans are jealous of subordinate clones and try to destroy them because of their intolerance towards them. there is great usage of mech warrior suits in this movie, but it was pieced together well. i was impressed with this movie and i recommend this to any true fan of anime.  "Mediocrity incarnate"Appleseed, based upon a manga by legendary mangaka Shirow Masamune, is the latest of feature-length Japanese anime movies to be released in movie theaters across the U.S. Those of us here in North America must generally find our needs in regards to the anime market satiated through DVDs or less-than-legal downloads off of the internet, and thus it is a cause for celebration when news hits that such a movie is to hit mainstream movie theaters. Suffice it to say, if our hopes are to be excited in such a way, the movie itself must deliver. Unfortunately, Appleseed manages to disappoint in nearly all facets it attempts to conquer. A strained story tries to be deep yet ends up swimming in the kiddie pool, promising 3D visuals end up comparing more to Reboot, an aged show that used to play on Cartoon Network, than Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. In fact, from a visual standpoint, Appleseed has absolutely no excuse to fall flat. We've seen far better from previous films from Japan, some a few years old, yet it trips up on so many of its tangled wires. Some jagged, unpolished visuals would find themselves more at home as a PS2 cutscene than as a bigscreen feature film. Ironically, a recent PS2 game, Armored Core Nexus, has an intro sequence that features mechs that actually looks eons better than anything this movie presents. This is by no means an exaggeration. There are several sequences in the movie with grainy edges when there is no seemingly no excusable reason to have crisp, fine-tuned edges. In fact, during a dramatic scene in the movie, one can't help but notice slight texture slip-ups on regions of an outheld gun. And this is just the surface: the character models are clearly anime-inspired, and while they look plenty appealing when stationary, they begin to rip apart at the seams with movement. When talking, their mouths articulate about as well as a G.I.Joe being manipulated by a little kid. This clearly takes away from practically every dramatic shot in the entire movie, as your attention is focused away from the bland lines the characters are spouting and more towards their rubbery movements. The story supplementing these poor visuals follows suit. It's typical anime science-fiction drivel that can't compare to the greats. Its a story of a feud between humans and a new, peaceful race known as the Bio-roids contained within a new utopic city known as Olympus. While it certainly struggles with some deeper symbolism, particularly centered around Greek mythology, there's a surprising lack of substance to be had. You can't sympatheize with any of the characters, especially when they move about as gracefully as a Barbie, and in the end the plot is just a bit too distant to lend any sort of meaning to today's society. Stilted plot, bland characters, and mediocre visuals should be manageable so long as the action is entertaining. In that regard, Appleseed succeeds to a slight degree. There are a couple of action sequences that are simply bursting with energy, mostly the ones involving Mechs. Yet these sequences are really nothing special, especially when your lust for action is better fulfilled in several other mediums. The action isn't always a high-point, however, especially when it combines with the films other flaws. The climax of the movie is immensely dissapointing, with a premise so utterly overdone that you may find yourself in disbelief that the movie is actually presenting it and seriously at that. Oh, but it is. Suffice it to say, Appleseed should not be at the top of any moviegoers list. Particularly not that of anime fans, who have probably seen this exact premise thousands of times over. It may be suitable as a rental for the scant action sequences, but you'd be better off foregoing this in light of something more stellar, such as Ghost in the Shell 2 or Metropolis.  "Avoid at all costs! GAWD AWFUL ANIMATION!!!"Does anyone remember the old saturday morning cartoon REBOOT? The animation in that show actually TOPS the crap in this "movie" if you can call it that. The story is more of like a stealing of better anime films, and like I said, the animation SUCKS! Do not buy it! Do not rent it!The film's director needs to take a tip from Brad Bird and learn how to pull off realistic movements and facial animations. The Incredibles owns this crap, Ghost in the Shell 2 owns this crap, even REBOOT owns this crap!! Nuff'said. "Amazing action and cell/CG animation"This is an amazing looking movie. The combination of cell (flat/drawn-looking) human characters and CG backgrounds takes a little getting used to, but the overall effect is extremely impressive. I thought the action was very cool and creative. The story is pretty typical for the genre. Nothing deep here, but not actively bad. This is worth checking out even if you're not a fan of the genre if you want to see some impressive special effects. |
