Escaflowne - The Movie

Rating:
Summary: Am I missing something?
Review: ...Or were the producers?

As a bit of a disclaimer, I award this production the distinction of two stars (as opposed to one) solely for its music, and partially for its animation (it seemed to fluctuate between brilliant and mediocre, whereas the music was just brilliant).

And another disclaimer: I have no experience in the initial Escaflowne series, so this review will be focused on the movie alone.

That said ...what happened? Where were the characters? Where was the plot? Where were the motives? With all the liberal granting of wings, you'd think they'd taken a pair and flown into obscurity.

Yes, there were characters. Little bits of compiled animation cels, rather. There were two types of actual personalities: Those who had none, and those who were, shall we say, overly dynamic.

Excluding our [extremely abrasive] protagonists, nearly the entire cast falls into the former category - little Grecian sculptures granted movement and tongue. Maybe I'm a critic, but I somehow fail to sympathize with a character whose most impassioned line of the entire work is: "I'd hate to spill the blood of a woman".

As for the latter category, for those who received the rare benediction of a somewhat identifiable personality, it seemed as if that benevolence was immediately betrayed. Van is an angst-riddled, introverted, scampering desperado, yes? No - wait! No, he isn't! He's a kind-hearted jolly good fellow because the 'evil within [him] has been healed'. It has? Did I miss something? Wait a second ...here it is again! He has a heart of stone! He's instigating Armageddon! Oh, wait! No - he isn't! He's just an innocent bystander! No, wait! No - he isn't! He's counterattacking his wantonly sadistic brother! No, wait! He isn't! He loves his brother! Don't let his brother get hurt! Why is he bleeding? I love you, brother!

Don't even get me started (well, I've done that myself...) on the perils of creating an evil villain who has no viable cause for devilry other than his baby blue mullet.

Not only were the characters highly flawed, but the plot itself was fraught with cliché. In fact, I couldn't identify one iota of screenplay that in any way struck me as somehow original. Not to mention this, but whoever wrote aforementioned screenplay obviously has no knack for dramatic timing and, more imminently, character development. Give the girl a few harried seconds before she collapses - build up some tensions in discourses between characters before they fall in love. Give them a reason to love one another aside from a claim to being 'kindred spirits' - we are depressed and lack social capabilities and depth of personality, hence we are undeniably made for each other? Great logic, really. Fits right in.

(A few things that score a few 'good' points: Merle's tail expression, Dilandu's voice, small children of the village that was never identified, the brief 'Hyena race with barrels of gunpowder on their backs', 'forehead magic'.)

I do agree that this movie is well-fit for a good laugh - that's what we got out of it, to be sure. (Especially the Mecha battle - kind of like angular Pillsbury doughboys). If you enjoy henpecking, I'm sure you'll have an hour well-spent of predictable dialogue, cliched characters, struggles to define a plot which never is, and countless other confections that I have failed to mention in my review. Have a ball.

Otherwise, sample the soundtrack and leave the movie to rot amongst the scattered feathers.

Rating:
Summary: Great isn't good enough to describe this movie
Review: This is just the kind of movie you'd love to watch over and over again and you wouldn't even get bored. It's just marvelously well done and I personally would recommend this title to anybody who is a true fan of anime. The songs are amazing, the story is breath taking and the characters are the sweetest.

Rating:
Summary: Let's set some things straight
Review: Lots of things have been said about this movie, the animation's great, music's great etc. Technically, this is one of the best anime films ever made, for those reasons. The DVD edition is no exception to this. Packed with interviews on the extra's disc and the soundtrack, along with technical drawings leave any other extra discs that I can recall in the dust.

The story and characterization are the main points to make here. Let's be clear. This movie is about Van and Hitomi. All the other characters exist to move the plot along so we can see the development between these two. Some of the other characters do have some depth to them, but you have to think about it to understand that. The movie simply does not have time to spell out all the details that the TV series did.

Where this movie truly shines though, is in the emotions of the characters. These really transcend the movie, as everyone has at some point experianced the emotions that Van snd especially Hitomi feel.

Here's my advice on wheather you will like it or not.

First, watch it at least twice. I really didn't care for it the first time I watched it, I came back a week later and found that my view had changed.

Second, this has very little to do with the TV series plot, If you think you might enjoy a vastly different portrayal of the TV series, then this movie is for you. If you want more of the TV series, then don't give the movie a second glance.

Third, This is not an action oriented film, though it does have some great action scenes in it.

Finally, the creators are not concerned with building an in depth world here, as that has been done with the TV series, and the movie can't hope to match that depth.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely NOT the TV Series
Review: The film is darker and more disturbing than the TV series (which is excellent in its own right). It has the same characters and settings, but a vastly different story. The artistry is fantastic, and the limited use of CG is not overbearing. The music is absolutely superb (we expect no less from Yoko Kanno) and the isolated soundtrack on the disc is a nice feature.
Loneliness, isolation, and despression are a strong themes in the movie and they are presented in a way that makes you think.

Rating:
Summary: if you believe Escaflowne is a good series, don't watch
Review: I have a true fondness of Escaflowne the tv series. The movie is a complete waste of time. I have not talked to a single person who has seen this and like it. The plot (what little there is) comes and goes with little regard for things such as coherency. Maybe the animation is well done, but the character design still includes deformed triangles for noses. This will be a horrible investment to anybody's anime collection, so don't buy.

Rating:
Summary: Its alright
Review: This is an action fantasy film, that tells the story of a depressed girl who has her wish granted to fade away and is taken to the magical world of Gaia. There she is believed to be the prophesied Wing Goddess who will either save Gaia or destroy it, with the help of the dragon armor Escaflowne. Battles ensue and 2 brothers square off where the outcome of Gaia is decided. The animation is very well done, except for human faces which look very flat. The direction of the battles is also well done and exciting. That's about it though. The story is not that interesting, or believable. By the time I got to the end of the film I really didn't care to see what happens. There are a lot of characters but we never really get to know any of them. Most scenes are not needed, or go unexplained or undeveloped. Only the beginning scene and final confrontation scene have any drama or interesting events. Because of that, and the battle scenes are done well, I can only give this 2 & 1/2 stars. Rent this, but don't buy; I hear the series which this film is based on is way better since there is more time for the story and characters to be developed and seen.

Rating:
Summary: Great- as far as I can tell..
Review: Ok, I ordered this from a local store in advance, TWO MONTHS(!) before it was released. I brought it home and I was watching it, completely intrigued by the beautiful animation, but then a bunch of green tiles filled my screen and I realized that I had been had.
Well, at least the first half of the movie looks very very good..
Hitomi isn't so ditsy here, which is a bit relieving. I enjoyed her voice better in the movie than in the series. Brian Drummond plays Allen, and he does the perfect job. Allen looks really hot in the movie too. The animation took my breath away, and I was gasping in amazement a lot. I love Dilandau, so when I saw how cool he was drawn, and that he has actual powers, I was going, "thank you thank you thank you...." But really, the fact that they went a more 'realistic' route with this, makes it altogether different from the series. It's familiar characters in a new world.(new to us.)
And if there's some younger folk in the home, please be careful watching this one-especially the beginning scene when Van slashes his way through that ship.
Van is cooler too, because he is really good at fighting. In the series, he was more of a young kid who couldn't do hand to hand combat very well, he depended on Escaflowne. But I think that fans of Van, will be very pleasantly surprised.
That's all for now. When I see the whole movie someday, I will write a real review... ehhehehhe..

Rating:
Summary: Boring Movie, Great Extras
Review: This movie was quite boring. In the interviews the director and cast said the movie is a total retelling of the story of Escaflowne compared to the TV series. ... Every concept and sequence throughout the movie was predictable if you have seen any fantasy film.

The only good stuff about the set is the second and third disks. The second disk holds all of the interviews of cast and crew of the movie. You learn many aspects on what was going on during the production of the film and TV series. The third disk is the soundtrack for the movie. I have listened to the soundtrack. The CD has beautiful music. The best two songs are "You're not alone" and one other I cannot think of right now. All in all a very good music score.

Rating:
Summary: You may Esca-my-flowne again and again
Review: Great Story. Great Artwork. Great Soundtrack. Great voice cast (Japanese voice that is...). Buy it, this one is well worth it. If only they would come out with a Cowboy Beboop version just like this one in the US. That would cause a BIG ruckus.

Rating:
Summary: What Can I Say?
Review: I'm not exactly the person who really enjoys seeing blood a lot in movies, with the exception of a really well-done movie such as Saving Private Ryan. This movie was not a really well-done movie. But it definitely wasn't a bad one.

The storyline, unfortunately, is not original. We have a main male (Van) who has magical powers, a main female (Hitomi) who has hidden magic, and off to defeat a villian aiming for world domination. The storyline is very unoriginal and overdone in Japanese anime. However, the storyline has a few twists and turns you can't overlook, and the wide emphasis on culture adds some points onto the movie.

The animation can be sometimes horrible. Although most of the backgrounds, armors, and soldiers look very good, the characters can look very ugly. Again, there are some exceptions to how the characters look. Sometimes they can look good, sometimes ugly.

The music didn't sound bad, but it wasn't anything you can keep in your mind. It was something that keeps you going in the movie, then you forget all about it when you finish watching the movie.

Typically, it's an okay movie, and I give it a three.