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Revolutionary Girl Utena - The Movie

Revolutionary Girl Utena - The Movie

List Price: $29.99
Your Price: $26.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Through Rose Tinted Glasses
Review: You step through a wire framed gate and cast your eyes upon the 'impossible'. Moving sidewalks, gothic architecture, and the faint smell of roses greet you, and upon entrance you are immiedately drawn into it's spell.
Utena is not meant to be taken literally. If you take everything said at it's face value, then this will be a shallow expierence for you.
This movie is a cinematography masterpiece. Angles make you think one way, only to have a turn of the camera and see its true appearence. This is not odd, for in Utena, everything is not as it seems.
Utena goes into Ohtori, and, after a brief encounter with her old lover Touga, finds herself dueling for the chance to be a 'prince' to Anthy, a 'Rose Bride'.
From the instant Anthy and Utena meet, you can tell that fate had a part in bringing them together. Their personalities supplement each other, with Anthy bringing out a little bit in Utena and visa versa.
Utena herself is a teenager, and like teenagers, confused about life. She is drawn in an internal struggle of past and present, duty and selfishness, right and wrong. She becomes aware of things only to have another curveball hit her. In Japan, this movie was title the 'Adolence of Utena' so these themes make perfect sense. If only companies would keep the original titles, which are usually a key metaphor for the movie. (Cowboy Bebop - Knocking on Heaven's Door has been shortened to Cowboy Bebop - the Movie as well)
As Utena slowly comes to term with her reality, the movie takes a bizzare turn in which she becomes a car. This may be wierd to some viewers, but again, the whole ending sequence is a metaphor for something big. The script masterfully hints at this throughout the movie.
Bad things do lessen this release and keep it from being perfect. The Dub. It's not that the voices are bad, it's just that they don't suit the characters. Utena doesn't sound as innocent and naive as the Japanese version, and Anthy doesn't near reach that level of mysterious irony displayed in the Japanese Sub. Watch the subtitled version to gain the full effect.
Someone in another review mentioned that the last line "Let's go to the outside world" made no sense. That person missed the entire essence of the movie. Utena and Anthy are trapped in Ohtori, a surreal dream of the sort, by their own inner restraints and seeing things through 'rose tinted glasses'. Only by letting go can they leave, and that in itself is another challenge.
One last thing to mention is the supreme quality of animation and one scene in particular that sticks in my mind. While Masami Okui croons out the poetic lyrics of 'Toki ni ai' Utena and Anthy dance upon water and a waterfall of roses, which in my opinion, is worth buying this DVD to see that scene alone.
Hold up you hand, how many fingers do you see? If you answered five, then Utena may not be for you. If you said ten, then this movie is perfect.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Poor
Review: The movie was really bad if you got the english dubbed anyway. It was very confusing and totally unlike the book at all. It didn't explain anything. Like for instance, near the end of the movie they say, "let's go to the outside world!" when you didn't even know that they were on an Inside. Most of the movie was music and the plotline was very well written. Also there was a lot of nude scenes. Maybe it's cause I only got to read the first book so I don't understand it all 'cause we don't have the show in America, but I didn't like the movie very much so I sold it to someone on the second day after I watched it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: There more going on then I noticed
Review: I watched and rewatched this movie, and to give a simple response would be, HUH? There are many jokes going on that refer to stuff I don't know. It is a movie that need to be discused in a poetry class, because everything seem to have a second meaning. I believe it is a movie that is design to make you think, but it didn't seem to work with me, I felt LAIN, Ghost in the Shell, and Akira are better movies to make you think.

In short if you are a DBZ anime type fan, this is not worth your time, but if you like to watch a movie and think about everything that has happened you may enjoy.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not what i was expecting...
Review: First of all the animation was flawless.Everything was beautifull, with alot of symbolism.However the story was a retelling of the originel in a sort of paralell universe.There are some new character designs but nothing over the top.I have seen the whole series of utena, which has homosexual parts on both sides, but nothing graphic.The movie throws all care out the window with Incest, child molestacion and clear homosexuality.It is not for children.
It youre looking for a movie with top of the art animation then this is for you, however if you where expecting the utena you know and love this may be a bit of a shock for you.
My advice is sitback and watch it with an open mind and make your owne decision about this piece of art.
P.S:In my opinion the child molesting scene was not necesary and although short it desturbed me, it ruined the movie for me.(But then again the series wasent all roses and joy either).Its bitter reality!(eek! i must stop writing these insane rambles)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: CHanges from the Series, but cool either way
Review: This is one of the best anim・movies I've ever seen. Though there is some changes from the series. Akio has a role that's really hard to understand, yet his role in the "Scandalacious Video Tape" is funny at first. Chu-Chu makes a short run in the wrong tape played by S-ko. Utena and Anthy's friendship has been changed to a lesbian relationship. But Utena's motivation is the same, she is saved by a prince after her parents die, and, unlike most girls who want to be princesses, she wants to be a prince. So she duels for the Rose Bride: Anthy Himemiya, whos powers can make her dream come true. Definitely get the Special Edition, that trivia game is awesome! Rated 13 Up: Homosexuality "Barbie Boobs", minor violence.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Well, I hate to say it, but I didn't like it
Review: I was really looking forward to this movie. I came on board by reading the manga of Revolutionary Girl. It looked interesting, exciting. But when I got this, I felt like I was looking at a Lesbian Pink Floyde movie. At the very best! I didn't understand it...though I am smart enough to be disatisfied by the molesting scene, the lesbian scenes, and the incest hints. I might be a fairly conservative person, but I have enjoyed abstractions and scandelous actions in Neon Genesis, Coybow Bebop, Series Experiement Lain, and several other titles that are for adult viewers. I really didn't like this movie. Maybe it was too condensed (as some viewers say that its the tv series smushed down to eighty some minutes). But the scandelous sections dont make up for that. I just didn't like the movie. It just didn't work very well.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A fan's view: Bravo to Ikuhara!
Review: "Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie" on DVD has to be one of the best anime DVD out in stores. The menu is simply elegant, and the opening, although it may make you think: "Wait, the agree with having Utena fans as young as my age, as the series is full of complicated topics which may be unsettling for most movie is starting already?!", it is an accomplishment. I do not children my age. The movie is beautiful and elegant, with skilled directing from one of the most talented directors, Kunihiko Ikuhara. (I felt that they should have kept the original name: "Adolescence of Utena," for "Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie" just takes away from the movie itself.) If you see this movie, watch the original version, and do the Japanese actors a favor as they showcase their hard work. The English version is decent, but not "extraordinary;" the main actor, Rachel Lillis, proves that she can do a rather well-done Utena, but the Japanese actress simply shines. The extras are wonderful, showing both the English and Japanese trailers to the movie. The game included in the extras is somewhat playful and entertaining, but quite confusing, as they do not tell you what to look for in the clips, making it hard to make correct answers. But, I'm sure that this is what is intended. I definately recommend this movie, even if you're not familiar with the TV series, you can still watch it, since it has a different storyline completely, but, if you want to have an understanding of the Utena world from the series, rent or buy The Rose Collections 1 and 2. These are rather expensive, but if you think about how many episodes are on the discs, they are worth the money.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Greatest Movie ever!
Review: This movie is the best anime movie I have ever seen! it's got a great storyline. Good animation and Music. I just love it. The Utena movie is a definite must have!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't forget the promise..."Someday, we'll shine together"
Review: Adolescent Apocoplypse of Utena (I believe that was the original Japense title; she's no longer a girl) is the fullfillment of that promise. This movie shines in so many ways. Oh, but wait, you probably don't know what promise I'm talking about because you haven't seen the whole Utena series. The only real problem is with the boneheads who decided to release the Utena movie before the TV series.

If you haven't seen the whole TV series you can't fully understand or appreciate the movie. Of course, the movies so weird that it probably won't make sense the first time you see it anyway. But that's what gives it so much rewatch value. If at all possible get a hold of the fansubs and watch the whole TV series before seeing the movie, because it's a continuation of the story, the final chapter. Of course, many won't be that patient so hopefully without spoiling anything here's a bit of background to put the movie in context.

Things don't go so well for Utena at the end of the TV series. The TV series was the story of an idealistic premodern girl growing up. Utena revolutinzed the world for everyone who came into contact with her, yet she didn't completely grow up or revolutinze the world for herself. The movie completes the story by showing Utena's revolution. She's grown up into an adolsecnt now, stuck in that limbo between childhood and adulthood. This is the story of Utena the adolescent growing up. In it we can find an allegory about the growing up of postmodern man.

Even if you don't want to dig into the deep (and I mean very deep) layers of symbolism and allegory the surface storytelling is still superb. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous and the many musical pieces are incredible and really enhance the action and mood.

Fans of the other characters may whine about their fave getting the short shrift. But it's an 80 min movie, they've got to keep the plot focused. So the only real characters are Utena and Anthy. The movie does it's job perfectly of being faithful to the themes in the TV series and exploring the relationship of these two. The others charcters are just props to assist the plot, as they should be in a movie where time is limited.

The Utena movie is truly a masterpiece and a great end to a great series. Hopefully software scultpor will hurry up and release the rest of this postmodern fairytale so more Westerners can appreciate it in it's entirety. Parents may have reservations about showing this movie to kids as it does contain full nudity (except the girls just don't have ertain.. um.. stuff), incest, murder, suicide, and lesbianism. Fans of Akio will also be livid over the fop who plays the role in this movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Visually Astounding
Review: Every frame of this film is art. From the beatiful backdrops to the phantasmagoric imagery, every scene is jaw-dropping. The story is fantastic as well. I cannot reccomend this film enough.


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