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Appleseed (Limited Collector's Edition with Metal Case & Action Figure) Actors: Ai Kobayashi, Jûrôta Kosugi, Yuki Matsuoka Director: Shinji Aramaki Number of Items: 1 Format: Animated, Color, Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Studio: Geneon Entertainment Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-05-10 Buy from Amazon |
 "Awesome!!!"I caught the last half of this movie while waiting for another at an anime festival. I didn't really understand much, but the first thing I really liked was the animation. It's not top-notch, but I don't care. It is, after all, an anime, which means that everyone doesn't have to look real...so people...stop complaining about the fifty strands of Deunan's hair--it rocks! I didn't understand why the movie was rated R until I saw the beginning. It's basically a chase scene, and a bunch of robots squeeze off these soldier dude's heads. I couldn't bring myself to watch that part, so I just skip the first chapter. And then there are a few other times where people get shot and there's a pool of blood under them, but that's about it. I haven't watched the Japanese version yet, but I do have to say that I do not mind the English. They had to make the english dialogue fit the mouth movements, so the words don't always exactly match up with the mouth, but I don't think that it's that bad. The voiceovers match a whole lot better than some other anime that Geneon has edited. I wouldn't say that they were the best voiceovers ever, but they're tolerable. I gave this movie five stars for the the excellent (yet somewhat predictable) story line and graphics. I think that giving this movie four stars just because the character movement is somewhat flowy is too much of an insult---the animation is just fine!!!  "A secret history"Based on the comic book series by Masamune Shirow, APPLESEED takes place on a future Earth following a massive world war. A small zone of peace and civilization exists in Olympus, a city overseen by the supercomputer Gaia. Balance is kept via the coexistence of humans and bioroids, artificial beings with suppressed emotions (who are thus less likely to lead to dissent and more war.) But as it is human nature to fear other races, many fear a time when bioroids will control humans. It is up to skilled warrior Deunan Knute to unlock the secret from her past that will prevent a new conflict from breaking out. This version of APPLESEED is entirely computer generated, to varying degrees of success. The outdoor night scenes look spectacular, while day and indoor scenes look rather artificial. At first I thought the human characters were hand drawn, but they too are rendered, though not as fully as those in 2001's FINAL FANTASY movie. They appear flat and doll-like next to the scenery and mechanical constructs, with their hair curiously molded. It might have been better if they had been done the old-fashioned way after all. The film is presented on DVD in three 5.1 soundtracks: English Dolby Digital, Japanese Dolby Digital, and Japanese DTS. I'm not set up for DTS yet so I watched it with the second option, and it sounded fantastic. This is a movie you'll want to show off your surround sound system with. Extras on the standard DVD edition include a director and producer commentary, previews for other Geneon releases, and staff biographies. You can also jump directly to the musical sequences within the film; featured artists (with biographies) include Boom Boom Satellites, Paul Oakenfold, Ryuichi Sakamoto and others. There is also an advert for the CD soundtrack, and DVD credits, but it's reaching a bit to call these extras. This film has been rated R by the MPAA which I think is harsh. Except for a little bloody violence in the opening sequence, there's nothing in APPLESEED that wouldn't be appropriate for younger viewers, although the story may fly over their heads. If you're going to watch it around kids, you might want to just jump past the first chapter. Or not. Despite the ambitious nature of the production, I found it left me a bit cold overall. This may be stating the obvious, since most of the characters we meet are artificial, but there is very little emotion or humanity in the story. I didn't care much about any of them. The story isn't very involving, and Deunan's ties with Olympus' origins felt contrived. It's worth renting if you're a CG enthusiast, but I can't give this a strong recommendation otherwise.  "Horrible Remake"I now know that anyone who has seen the first movie in 1988 is dying to find out how to get a hold of the molester for his crimes committed to this Remake. It is astonishing how the creators of this flop have never seen the first movie. This remake does not hold true to the nature of Appleseed. It ruins anyhope for a 2nd film and any potential Appleseed may have had. True fans Everywhere are questioning wheather or not they should erase this traumatic event from there lives. I have never been so horrified to see something massacered in such a manner. They have destroyed Appleseed and everthing it stands for! "Ugh"Talk talk talk talk talk... the characters explain what has happened in the past and hardly any of them DO anything in this film. They're all jsut dealing with some boring stuff from the past. Lots of poor animation, with surfaces clipping each other, and about the only secondary action in the film- the stringy ugly hair. "Deunan!" How many times will the two main characters call out each others' names in this film? As if this carried any information- espeically in the middle of a fight! "Deunan!" "Deunan!" Deunan's eyes are weepy and wet in this film about half the time... boo hoo hoo... over what!?!? She cries at the drop of a hat! "Deunan!" And she's supposed to be some tough soldier- half her mates get killed int he first 5 minutes- yet someone she's just met (Mihuni or whatever her name is) is important enough for her to risk her own life? There's no character development at ALL in this film to explain that! "Deunan!" The scenes are overwrought with so many stupid pauses wher everyone tries to look cool and japanese... I'm so sick of that. And they point their guns at each other threateningly as if that was a threat that stops someone from shooting you!?!?- when you point a gun, you PULL THE TRIGGER- threat over! If the guy pointing a gun at you doens't pull the trigger first, he's dead. OVER! "DEUNAN!!!!!!!" Anime is brain rot goop! "Amazing!"Honestly.. I've read the other reviews and i agree with most of them except the ones that complain about the animations. This was a great movie in my opinion and I know that the animation wasn't perfect, but compared to alot of others it was spectacular and I suggest this film to anyone that enjoys anime. SEE IT! |
