Rating: 
Summary: Just buy the first.
Review: Armitage III: Poly-Matrix is one of my favorite Anime's of all time. It just had that warm cozzy feeling to it like a good fire. It was widescreen. The English acting was superb (too bad about the lack of Japanese, but you can't always have everything.) The story was excellent and well developed. Well, the second one is a bit like being backstabbed by your best friend. Dual Matrix takes place a bit later. Armitage's Daughter is 8 years old now, so a bit of time has passed. To sum up the entire plot in a single sentence, our happy couple with/child travel to Earth, child is kidnapped, rest of movie deals with recovery of child. The characters look fairly similar from the first movie. Personalities are different though. Take Armitage for example. In the first movie she takes the bad guys head on and wins during most fights. Count how many times she retreats in the second. It seems like her new favorite attack method is the retreat. The second movie feels a lot less cinematic, perhaps it's just the 4:3 aspect ratio (the first was 1.85:1), or it could be the lower quality English voice actors (Watch this SUBBED, trust me.) Or, you know what? It could be the "made-for-TV" feeling story behind it. It just doesn't seem like the effort was given to make this a real success. It feels like an after-thought of the first. As if they were thinking "Well, the first one sold okay, come over next weekend and we'll create a second." If you haven't seen Armitage III: Poly-Matrix, it's a must see.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Exactly what I expected, and I am happy because of it.
Review: Armitage the Third was one of my more favorite Anime's. I'm not a big anime addict, but the Anime that i do add to my library i make sure are some of the best. So when i heard that the sequel for Armitage was out i bought it without even a first thought. There was fighting, drama, a funny deally with the noses and some computer animation, and this really weird and escentric tech kind of guy. Genre: Action Anime, contains violence and emotional content. Nothing too much and definitely not too little.
Art Style: similar to the first. The art uses a lot of Computer animated cells and somme of the character arts are slightly different.
Graphic Content: profanity is light, violence is average compared to other anime. There is blood and brief nudity (both cheeks of our lovely heroine for all of two seconds). This anime i was glad for having bought. I really did like it. It didn't leave you with a Heartbreaking Fondness like NowThenHereThere nor did it leave you with doubt for your own humanity and soul like Ghost in the Shell. So for those who don't know the first one, this can be a little confusing. The first anime was a high action anime that involved Armitage, a police agent with a big kick butt atitude and her new partner who doesn't know the things he is getting into. Armitage is a robot... android, cyborg, this movie doesn't make the distiction. Watching Duel Matrix will spoil the ending of Polymatrix (the first film), or rather spoil the slight shock value the ending of Poly Matrix has. So i would recommend watching the first film before the second as it does contain events that require information acquired in the first film. For those that have seen the first film it was great to see Armitage get up in her suit and kick some butt and it was even more amazing to see her fighting against herself in the climax of the movie (that isn't a spoiler, don't worry). It was also good to see Ross, her husband, actuall doing some kick butt stuff too... but sometimes it did seem odd to see him doing some of the stuff he does after seeing how Armitage had trouble with it. When the movie starts you won't even recognize them... it took me a while to realize that Ross was picking up his and daughter from school. The cover to the DVD has armitage looking a little different than the cover of Poly Matrix, but it doesn't distract you or pull a Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal style swap with the main character. This film gets close to the philosophical meanings inside of Ghost in the Shell but remains distant away enough to avoid being a psychological/philosophical movie (though it does use the terminology 'ghost' kinda like it was used in Ghost in the Shell). There is a problem with the computer animation though. That can be very distracting. The panning action that the film uses can also make it look like a Pan and scan rendition. There are so many instances when you would just have wanted them to make the movie all animated, the computer animation just stands out too much sometimes, especially in the car chasing. But it doesn't remove from the movie's content at all. The main focus of the movie is the relationship between mother and child, Armitage and Yoko, and well i won't ruin anything. You'll figure it out when you see it. The DVD is well putt together and it lacks some of the large intro int othe menu (for me at least). The making of Armitage is pretty good and if you know how you have more fun with it on a DVD-rom (though there is no DVD-Rom specific area). Like i usually tell anyone who isn't into anime, rent it first. Some anime you buy watch and then might not touch for a while, a really long while, like Annon Saga. Others, like Princess Mononoke, you might have a craving for once in a while. For me, this isn't one of the movies i'll be watching over and over and over, just bring out every now and then, here and there. :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Painful to watch
Review: Basically, it was a good idea. Good story line, great character art, but the entire movie is done in a CG system. Which actually isn't the problem. Series like Love Hina are also done entirely in CG. The problem is this is first generation stuff. Instead of having the smooth flow that new Anime series have, it looks like "Space Ghost Coast to Cost" quality animation. It just ends up looking very unnatural. It's hard to watch because the character art is so good, but the final product is so lacking, and disapointing to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Painful to watch
Review: Basically, it was a good idea. Good story line, great character art, but the entire movie is done in a CG system. Which actually isn't the problem. Series like Love Hina are also done entirely in CG. The problem is this is first generation stuff. Instead of having the smooth flow that new Anime series have, it looks like "Space Ghost Coast to Cost" quality animation. It just ends up looking very unnatural. It's hard to watch because the character art is so good, but the final product is so lacking, and disapointing to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: BEWARE! Senses may be pained.
Review: Being a big fan of the first Armitage movie Poly Matrix, I pre-ordered and awaited the release of the new one. Seeing as how the first one was a little rough on the edges (though still very well done to me), I did not have any giant expectations for the second one. And, I figured it would be somewhat different out of necessity. I was however, looking forward to a story similar to the quality of the first one, and put together in at least some reasonable fashion. I was looking for at least reasonable Anime. In my opinion, the recent release of Amritage Dual Matrix however is so utterly horrible it's hard to image anything like it being allowed off the studio floor. I've been into anime since around the early 80's or so and to me this is an awful blight on its achievements. First, the good points. Seeing as how they used new actors for the English voiceovers of the main characters, they were not that bad to me and sounded close enough to the originals. Also, the overall concept of the story is actually fair and intriguing in and of itself. The whole thing appears attractive to the unsuspecting buyer. The bad is, that the execution of the story is so horrendous that I'm glad it's only 90min. The complete lack of proper story development and basic writing skills when transferring from one scene to another in some places is horrendous. Basic necessary common character reactions to situations are even throw aside at times leaving the viewer to just scratch their head in some places at the shear absurdity. Character development is beyond shallow in places. The EXTREME over use of computer animation is so blatant it degrades the already painful watching experience to an even lower level. You can get the feeling in places that you are watching very early, bad, computer generated video game opening movies. If this is the future of anime, please, let it end now. I recommend, that if you're a big fan of the first Armitage, spare yourself, don't buy or even rent this thing. If I could give it less then one star I would. Enjoy the first Armitage for what it was without this awful experience. And hey, at least we have the wonderfully done Cowboy Bebop series!
Rating:
Summary: Reply to previous poster
Review: Everybody is entitled to their opinions and I respect it, but I just want to clear some misunderstanding from the previous review. Yes, the Armitage:Poly-matrix was edited from the OVA to make a single movie. But here is more fact that you might have not heard. Polymatrix movie had scenes edited out, but it also had several scenes added in (ala Macross Plus movie). Also they never recorded Japanese language for those extra scenes, so the Japanese language couldn't be included with the DVD.
The Armitage:Dual Matrix is Uncut and have both original Japanese and English language. And Pioneer had stated that they WILL release the individual Armitage:Poly Matrix OVAs later with Original Japanese Language and Uncut. As for Green Legend, this was one of the first DVDs that Pioneer made, when DVD was still in its infancy, and nobody really knew what to expect from its format. Now Pioneer had never done that since, and made quality releases with menu in all of them. As for Akira, I never listen to English when watching anime but I know where you are coming from. It would have been nice to include the former English version, but that could have been difficult with licensing issue, disc space, etc. Now I am one of those people who think that Pioneer doesn't listen to their fans, but in this case Pioneer did great job Remastering this release. They have cleaned up the video and remastered the audio with better translations. Also the extras are the best and most extensive for Anime releases. I know several people who didn't like the former English too, this is just matter of opinion, and I think Pioneer tried to release the best product possible with this release. As a person who owns over 400 anime DVD releases, I don't think its fair to judge the company with only two purchases. I think Pioneer is greedy and don't listen to fans, but they do make quality releases. My only complaints, Make the DVDs with Higher episode counts and Make the BOXES Separately!!!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: awesome and first rate movie
Review: Few truly excellent anime movies exist. This is one of them.
Great plot, fantastic art, stylistic combat, and something that
is rare in the mainstream movies--emotion. Mother-daughter relationship and the pervasive sense of loss in Asian culture are the two themes. Cannot miss with this film. Top ten definitely.
Rating:
Summary: Oh My Gawd
Review: Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot, you gotta get this! the only reason it didn't get five stars is because i was cheap... and didn't get the disc set with the extra features. Naomi show and prove when her fam is on the line, and IMO its worth is when she says "Do Poor Quality Knock-Offs Like You Really Think You Can Trash The Original"
Rating:
Summary: Definetely worth watching...
Review: I actually wandered one day into my local Best Buy and saw that this double-disc set was on sale, so I decided to take a risk and buy something I had never heard of before. After having watched Poly Matrix, I was completely satisfied and eager to watch the 2nd film... Armitage is a character that many people i'm sure can relate to; she often feels rejected and hated just because she is different and doesn't fit into the societal norm. The story itself keeps the viewer interested and moves quickly in order to keep everything flowing. Now the 4-star i'm giving Armitage doesn't necessarily mean it's not "great." I consider the almighty 5-star to be near impossible to acquire mainly because I don't think there's a perfect anything. Anyways, yes, buy this and enjoy it; you won't be sorry :)
Rating:
Summary: a new Armitage chapter...
Review: I am a big fan of the first movie, "Armitage III PolyMatrix" and I was very excited when I took home the sequel to add to my collection. It has a different feel from the first movie. But I wasn't disappointed. The first was a masterpiece, it had that blade runner feel, cyber punk spirit, great story, and the voice acting was wonderful! Also, the characters stay in my mind from the first film. All the thirds had hopes and dreams and lives that were shattered and it was very touching, seeing the human vs. machine dillema. In the second film, Naomi Armitage is voiced by Juliette Lewis, who I think did an ok job but I missed Elizabeth Berkley's voice. Ross Syllibus is no longer voiced by Keifer Sutherland either, although I think his replacement made a good effort to keep him the same. Not just the voices, though, these two have changed a lot. For one thing, Ross comes across as more passive than he was in the first film. He doesn't stand up and put his two cents in when you expect him to. I remembered him being tougher. Armitage is pretty much the same except when she's fighting the replicas of herself she has a downright hard time keeping up with them. She still kicks butt throughout the movie, don't get me wrong, but she just seems slowed down. Maybe parenthood has tamed Naomi & Ross a bit, and made them act older and wiser. Armitage blows no bubbles in this movie if you know what I mean; she seems much more mature. It's interesting watching how Armitage reacts to her daughter and how her daughter reacts to her near the end. (I won't spoil anything) The story I thought could have been a bit more involved. The minor characters were pretty shallow. Demetrius, the main villain, who creates the replicas of Armitage seemed to be a bit on the weak side and could have had more evil motives and actual plans carried out. The replicas were a little annoying with their continous laughing, but were at least scary despite their silly rollerskating battle attire. The music I particularly liked and it was rather haunting. The dvd has lots of neat features including the trailer, a featurette, and soundtrack mode. I got the deluxe set with the figurine and lunchbox, it's really great. Even if it didn't quite measure up to PolyMatrix, DualMatrix is still a good (but not great) movie, it's just a new chapter in Armitage's story.
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