Akira

Rating:
Summary: This DVD is about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E
Review: I recall the first thing I said after i saw Tokyo explode for the first time, in the legendary words of Keanu Reeves: "Whoa".

The film is amazing, and it is the same movie you are familiarized with, but the DVD edition is a rebirth of epic proportions. The animation looks even MORE stunning then it looked before, now with amazing coloring and incredibly high quality visuals. The new THX-ed soundtrack finally lets you hear the music properly with the dignity it deserves, and the new English dubbing is accurate to the bone compared to the original japanese dubbing.

All the above goes for whoever got to see this movie before.

If you hadn't previously seen the movie - I suggest you go click the "Add To Shopping Cart" button immediately. This movie is a must-see, let alone the DVD Edition is a must-own, The masterpiece which tells the tale of post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo cannot be missed by anyone who's into Animated features.

...Unless you prefer watching Disney. Maybe I'm misjudging here. It takes a lot of character to stand a movie like this.

Rating:
Summary: The Finest Animated Film Ever... Better than it was before.
Review: For the sake of brevity, I'll begin with a single thought and then dwell upon the advantages of the new edition.

First: 'Akira' is the finest piece of animation on either side of the pacific. Its gritty realism, fluid motion, excellent sense of style and pace puts Western animation to shame. Perhaps the best part is that, unlike Disney, 'Akira' assumes from the start that its audience is composed of intelligent adults. It refuses to insult the viewer's intelligence with trite characters, hackneyed plots, or pop-culture humor. The first, brutal, ten minutes of the film let the audience know that it refuses to seek out the lowest common demoninator. No other anime film, much less western animation, has equalled it's unflinching love-it-or-hate-it style.

That said, allow me to point out the two major advantages of the new film:

First, the new translation is a joy to watch. Scenes that were awkward and ill-considered before make much more sense, and lines that were out-of-place now fit the characters and pacing seamlessly. We get a much better sense of Kaneda, Kei, and Ryu's characters, a better understanding of the Colonel's motivations, a few new jokes, and (most importantly) important scenes that didn't make sense in the first version are suddenly clear as day.

Second, the animation is sharp and crystal-clear. To make a long description short: I have never before watched a DVD film and conciously realized that the animation was better than the video version. In the first thirty seconds of the film (the first Akira explosion) I was stunned at the minute clarity of the animation... a clarity the film never loses as it goes on.

There is no guarantee that the viewer will enjoy the film, though. Fans of traditional anime will find that it refuses to play by the same set of rules, and fans of Disney will be downright horrified. But if you have the proper mindset to appreciate it's complex, nuanced plot and Kubrick-style hardball storytelling, you will be richly rewarded.

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece? Not really....
Review: To be honest, I think this is seriously over-rated. Perhaps I just expected too much from it, but I didn't really enjoy it that much. Once I got into it I started to enjoy it, but I still wouldn't call it a masterpiece. The animation was good, as was the overall picture quality but I just couldn't see what the fuss was about. I'm just glad I didn't pay the extra for the Limited Edition Tin.

Rating:
Summary: Should buy the DVD
Review: First of all, a bit of practical advice - buy the DVD, not the VHS. This is because of the incredible palette of colors in the movie and the overall use of dark colors to set the mood, which come out much better on a DVD. The only reason I gave this movie 4 stars instead of 5 is some plot holes. I don't mean an inconclusive ending, I mean simple plot holes which pop up every now and then, such as, why do the children act as children and are afriad of blood (in the nightmare scene), when they should be about 40 years old? All sort of small things. But they can really be ignored, since they get forgotten in the intensity of the plot. I guess I'll have to read the manga one day. That being said, I think this movie is magnificent in all respects - scope, quality of animation, music (very original!), intensity of plots, characterization, directing - everything. It's one of those movies which can be enjoyed even by non-anime viewers. I would really recommend it to every fan of either SF or anime. A word of advice - this perhaps is not the best movie to introduce you to anime, since it will cause you to suffer from the so called "akira syndrome" - you'll expect every movie after it to be as good, which is actually the other way around - most other animes aren't as good.

Rating:
Summary: This is no "Dragon Ball Z"...
Review: "Akira" has a special place in my teenage years, seeing as it was my introduction to adult Japanese animation. While re-watching the film on the new special edition DVD, I remember why I enjoyed it in the first place. While it's not a word-by-word translation of the comic from which it was based (if it was, we would be talking about "Akira" the trilogy, not "Akira" the movie), it's a solid piece of animation that holds up to today's computer generated epics. Seeing the detailed animation (particularly with the Tetsuo "monster", still an image that's hard to shake out of my system) and realizing it's only been 13 or so years since it's been released is quite amazing, as how it was all done with traditional cel animation. The picture and sound on this transfer was incredible, and I found the "capsule option" for reading the Japanese text helpful (being as how I'm not fluent in Japanese to begin with). I'm still wading through the extra features on this special edition (particularly the production materials, which has an IMMENSE amount of stills and images from the movie and comic) and I've had this thing for some time now. Anyway, this should be a part of any hard core Anime lovers' collection, and is definitely one of the best animated features of our time.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Restoration
Review: Akira is a very hard movie to follow, but is considered the classic anime because of its impact on the release of anime in the US and its animation quality, which was quite outstanding for the time.

This rerelease makes the classic that much better, with a new translation making the plot much easier to follow, although you still shouldn't expect to understand it after the first viewing. On the visual side, the cleaning up of the film is a must for any DVD, but what really makes this film shine is the color enhancement. The original release suffers from that washed out 80s color look, and this rerelease lets you see the film in beautifully vibrant colors that once again put the animation close to on par with the best modern accomplishments.

This special edition comes with a fairly interesting second disk. It comes with three documentaries from the 80s, which are simply voiced over or subtitled, but still very interesting to a fan, and a short new documentary about the making of the rerelease. The glossary provides some good back story, which is quite helpful for a movie as compressed as this one, although it is a tedious way to read it. The image gallery is huge, but mostly black and white production sketches. This isn't an extravaganza of features like the ones you see on Pixar DVDs or New Line Platinums, but for a fan it is worth the extra 11 bucks, plus you get a cool tin case (and it's a very nice case, not like the cheap sleeve on the T2 Ultimate Edition).

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I ordered The Black Tin Box Edition the day I got my DVD player. It wasn't due for release for another two months, but something about that movie said "buy me".

When you're right, you're right...

Two discs -- the Movie (excellent), and the accompanying documentaries (excellent).

"Akira" is blow-out anime on a grand and epic scale. It's all here, and it *isn't* like Disney. Motorcycle chases, fist fights, carnage, and the destruction of Tokyo (twice). Mitsuo Iwata gets it *all right*. If this was Disney they'd have to stop for a song, but Akira doesn't even stop for gas. Beautiful imagery, and astounding craftsmanship.

And this was before the world went digital.

As for the accompanying materials (Production Report etc.) It's all here! I never thought I would do this, but I found myself examining the STILL FRAMES and STORY BOARDS! On my 20" TV!

The power of DVD over VHS is a dramatic improvment in resolution, color fidelity, and sound. And AKIRA reissued takes advantage of all these.

However,

One thing that makes me crazy about DVD -- the PUSH tab to release the disc from the case. It's like unwrapping a shrink-wrapped CD, or VHS tape -- they're all different and they never work right. Akira's PUSH tabs are particularly bothersome.

Can someone fix THAT?

Rating:
Summary: A totally solid movie and DVD set!
Review: It's rare to come across a true DVD package loaded with all the respectable materials constituting it as a true DVD "Special Edition." Akira has it all! What's more is, it hasn't lost it's edge as a true sci-fi epic even though it was made in 1987. Most sci-fi movies tend to lose their bearing after about 10 years once technology and "time" catches up with it. Akira is timeless and it's amazing it's taken this long for this movie to make a DVD appearance considering it's been on DVD in Japan for many years already. It's interesting to see the opinions of those who are making comments about the new soundtrack and dubbing. I come from the school of seeing Akira for the first time on this DVD, so, my opinion is limited to just this release. I can't imagine why people are so critical about voice dubbing! Are they high? These people are not even commenting on the story, the animation or the characters for that matter-much less the DVD. If they really take a hard look, it doesn't matter what kind of dubbing they use. The story is what is important and Akira is foundationalized in great animation, outstanding direction, superb music with the movie still holding up as a superior product even to todays high tech CGI Hollywood fluff.

The story is quite good actually, Tetuso plays a rebel biker who is caught up in a government conspiracy that could cost him his life or perhaps his "mind." With the help of his rebel gang friends and three spaced out children, Tetsuo must be saved from the brink of madness known as "Akira"-a biogenetic monster that if unleashed will destroy mankinds existence and reverse the creation of the universe. Can Tetsuo be saved? You gotta buy the DVD to find out!

Like I said before, this DVD is the bomb! Outstanding visuals and a great story with plenty of extras that has lasted 20+ years has gotta tell you something about why this movies popularity has lasted longer than any other Anime film. It's the kind of movie that belongs in every movie historians encyclopedia of great sci-fi adventures! Cheers!

Rating:
Summary: Dubbing? Puh-leeeeze...
Review: I am the biggest AKIRA fan you will find. WAAAAY back in 1989, before hardly anyone in America had heard of this masterpiece of animation, I got a bootleg Japanese VHS and even without subtitles or a dub, clearly saw a great and supermely visual film. So cinematically strong was the evidence, that I actually followed the plot from the pictures alone. Then the 1991 dub came along, and while I was happy to have knowledge of what the dialogue meant, I instantly could tell how laughably bad the voice acting was in comparison to the original. I was thankful when Streamline Pictures released a subtitled VHS a few years later, and not only were my beloved Japanese voice actors restored but the plot made more sense.

So, these complaints about the "new Pioneer dub" to me are laughable. Both the NEW and the OLD dub are equally frought with the same basic problem: they disgrace the integrity of the film. The ONLY way to watch ANY foreign film is with the original voice acting and with SUBTITLES (thankfully the wonderful DVD format, and Pioneer, gave us that choice). The reason I detract a star from this review of this well-mastered DVD with very nice extras is simply this: Pioneer screwed up. What they should have done is remixed ALL AUDIO in Dolby Digital 5.1, then done the IMO useless dub (if they felt they had to). That way, as with Princess Mononoke (where the fans were heard about the integrity of the original film), we could enjoy AKIRA as it should be seen, with optimal fidelity through modern home-theater technology. It's a shame that Pioneer felt only the inevitably inferior dub mix was worthy of reworking. However, I am happy to add this to my collection and savor its nearly unequalled artistry. AKIRA is one of the few instances where an artist's vision translated into an animated work of art worthy of its origin, and the beauty of it still stuns me to this day.

Rating:
Summary: Akira........ A true masterpiece
Review: The DVD edition of Akira has been going through much controversy, concerning whether some of the changes that they have made to the DVD edition were actually wise choices to make. After much review, I actually have found the DVD edition to not only to have the regular advantages that most DVDs have, (better sound and picture quality, never wears the movie down, extras) but also had a new dubbing script, which was actually a change for the better..... Because now the accuracy of dubbing to mouth movements (something foreign films are famous for) is actually stunningly better than the usual dubbing I see from anime flicks such as the old Akira. Putting all advantages about the DVD format aside, Akira is probably one of the best Anime movies and interpretations of a manga that have ever been done. A stunning classic, and not only because it's a classic, but because it is a movie that you'll want to watch over and over again (as I did). Be careful, however, to keep it away from the kids and if you can't stomach a ton a blood and violence, this movie just isn't the right thing for you. Overall, this movie is one that is more than worth it to watch, and buy. I can't say enough good things about this movie, so what are you waiting for, click the buy button!