Returner

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie!!!
Review: Ok, i'll start off like this...if your reading the other reviews, hopefully you checked mine out at some point so you can get a better concept of this movie.
FIRST: The common statement is "this" movie copies such movies as Matrix, Terminator etc. Not true, a movie isn't ever usually COPYING a movie in the first place...they just get ideas from one thing or another. With that said, Matrix and such movies get there ideas from Anime and such...not the other way around. So when you read the smart reviews by others which say this is one of the best all around asian movies (yes it actually has an interesting story and plot to it) they're right!
SECOND: If your into heroic movies, if you enjoy watching the characters who are what you wish you can be and are into...this is the movie for you.
THIRD: This movie really is great all around. The actors are as good as it gets. When you see them, you feel for them and pretty much like them instantly. They play there characters perfectly. I know as everyone mentions, the idea of going back in time isn't original and a couple of other things...but the ideas in the movie are perfect and what should be used. When i compare it to something, i think of Dragon Ball Z (when Trunks comes back in time to help Prevent a future problem) If you know what im talking about, its that concept. Which i think is great to see in a movie like this one. Im into Martial Arts, so at first i thought it was gonna be a cool action fighting movie...it really isn't that. Its an awesome movie that involves the look and feel from Anime (sense of humor, the heart of hero's, the looks) and the movie has very impressive special effects (not the types you see in many asian movies) and when there are battles, it involves Martial Arts...but it isn't a fight'em up movie. I did watch it in english and i thought it was really good, but it is true that sometimes movies can look and be abit cheesy when dubbed in english..i didn't think so with this, but either way you can change it to whatever you want on DVD.
All in all, if you like Anime, Sci Fi, asian movies or anything thats really good...check this movie out!!!

Rating:
Summary: Watchable But Cheesy
Review: * I got into the mood to watch a cheesy B-movie and, having seen
previews for the Japanese live-action film RETURNER on an anime DVD,
thought it might do the job.

At the beginning of RETURNER, a Japanese soldier of fortune named
Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is engaged in a crusade against his
arch-enemy, a brutal agent of the Chinese Triad gangs named Mizoguchi
(Goro Kishitani), when the fight is interrupted by the arrival of a
time-traveler from the future named Milly (Anne Suzuki). Miyamoto,
not surprisingly, finds it hard to believe that she's been sent back
in time from the future to head off an alien invasion, due to begin in
a few days. He gradually comes over to her side, however, and the two
cooperate to rescue a stranded alien from Mizoguchi.

I have to admit that if I wanted an amusing cheesy B-movie, RETURNER
fit the bill. The production values are good, the acting ranges from
OK to good -- Takeshi Kaneshiro is a very appealing actor, sort of
like a Japanese Keanu Reeves -- and it snaps along fairly nicely.
However, part of the amusement was at the cheesiness of the thing,
mostly in terms of the script. There was the usual sort of B-movie
silliness -- the bad guys catch the heroes and instead of killing them
on the spot, gloat and give the heroes time to pull something deadly
out of their sleeves. Doing this once would have been dumb, but the
bad guys keep doing it over and over, making me want to shout: "Just
shoot them! Just shoot them! Why is that so hard?!"

OK, I might put up with that, but I spent a good part of my time just
figuring out all the lifts in the script from other films -- THE
MATRIX, INDEPENDENCE DAY, and every time-travel movie I've ever seen.
"Oh no, they're throwing in a bit of ET! And adding a Transformer,
too!" They try to compensate by layering on the violence, but it
doesn't work. After seeing this movie I have to remind myself that I
have seen some brilliant anime (along with some really bad stuff as
well, of course) and know there are Japanese film-makers out there who
are capable of coming up with original ideas.

Well, I wanted to watch a cheesy B-movie, I got exactly what I wanted,
so I can't complain. However, I definitely got the craving for cheesy
B-movies out of my system for a good long while.

Rating:
Summary: -------WELL DONE FOR A JAPANESE SCI-FI--------------
Review: ----------------GREAT ACTION/ SCI-FI MOVIE-----------------------
ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE ACTION ARE TAKEN FROM MOVIES WHO DOESN'T NOW A DAYS. OVERALL THIS IS A MUST WATCH MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Slick Sci-Fi Flick!
Review: :)

I liked this movie. The effects were nice, not too in your face like Matrix and the "action" scenes were much better.

I phrase it as "action" because they stress it as just that in the movie. Takeshi Kaneshiro's character does a flip kick in the movie and it looks believable. I never compared this movie to that other one I mentioned until writing this review just now, how odd, hehe. Of all the things that make this movie better, it's plot is even better...in that same believability vein. This one doesn't stink "silly" like the other ;p.

It has a nice touch of everything. In a cold world of machines and gangs there are still those that will give of themselves for others. To me there was also this element of trust, from both main characters. Watch it and you'll see what I mean. That part I liked.

Handsome Takeshi Kaneshiro and super cutey Anne Suzuki...what more can you want? :)

Rating:
Summary: Cry all you want fanatics!
Review: Add elements of The Matrix, Independence Day, and The Terminator; now, subtract the suck from that equation and you get Returner. No one does wire work and fight choreography like the japanese and chinese. I wish the leech known as Hollywood would stop thinking they can do it even slightly well. Returner is fun and yes it may be unoriginal as most everyone has and will say of it's plot, but as a comic nerd I know how much of a rip off the Matrix is no matter how many droolians will nay say. Do yourself a favor: You like action, you like sci-fi; check Retuner out. Otherwise, watch some hollywood garbage and slowly die inside.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad at all.
Review: As anyone can see, this is the Terminator, the Matrix, Back to the Future, Independence Day, and a bit of Miyazaki Hayao all rolled into one, and none the worse for that. Some of the lines are bit saccharine to my taste, and to be sure, there is nothing arty about the film. But faced with a film of this nature, it is not a good idea to set up a counil of perfection. It is a hugely entertainintg work in its own right. I even think it is better than Independence Day or Armageddon.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the first Matrix!!!
Review: At first judgement at the box art, you would think that this was just another dumb "shoot-em-up" movie. A movie with a lot of silly action and no story-line.

FORTUNEATLY, The Returner is not that kind of movie. It has a very interesting storyline, with two surprising twists at the end that will really shock you. This is a very good quality movie.

And yes my review title is correct......its better than the first Matrix!!!

Rating:
Summary: Not only bullets and blood.....it has an interesting story
Review: At first judgement at the box art, you would think that this was just another dumb "shoot-em-up" movie. A movie with a lot of silly action and no story-line. FORTUNEATLY, The Returner is not that kind of movie. It has a very interesting storyline, with two surprising twists at the end that will really shock you. This is a very good quality movie. I may even dare to say that its better than the first Matrix movie. Yes I said it......its better than the first Matrix!!!

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good Flick!!!
Review: Despite all of the references to other movies. This is a really good film. It lacked alot of action, but the cinematagrophy and the villian made up for that. The bad guy in this movie has a sort of Joker from Batman appeal.

Rating:
Summary: Three and a Half Stars
Review: Go ahead and judge this movie by its cover. Looks like a lot of other recent sci-fi/action flicks, doesn't it? Guy in a trenchcoat, posing with a gun, lesser female character in the background, numbers rolling down behind them... Looks like the Matrix. Looks like Equlibrium. It isn't too far off.
Actually, "The Returner" borrows more from "The Terminator" trilogy than anything else. It actually borrows too much. The story is exactly the same. In "The Returner" a war is being waged in the future against a race of aliens, and a girl must travel back to the present time to stop the war from ever beginning. Sounds a lot like a certain series starring Arnold Schwarzenneger, does it not?
The girl even brings back a gadget from the future - a wristband - that allows a charcater wearing it to travel twenty times faster than everyone else for a brief period of time. This, as you might expect, allows for a few "Bullet-time" scenes, with enemies and bullets traveling in super slowmotion, while our heroes dodge the bullets with fancy acrobatic techniques. Seen it before, but it still looks cool.
"The Returner" is a special effects filled sci-fi/action flick, that gives viewers exactly what they'll expect. It has likable characters, an interesting ending, and is only slightly hurt by its lack of real originality.
Don'y go out of your way to see it, but if you are looking for a fun way to spend an hour and a half, this may be a great choice.