Spriggan

Rating:
Summary: Positively awful!
Review: I've seen my share of anime over the years, and this was quite possibly the worst of the lot. An almost criminal waste of quality animation on what must be the most ill-conceived storyline and characterization ever to inflict itself upon unsuspecting audiences. How Mr. Otomo could have allowed himself to be involved in this production is simply beyond me. Thank God it was never released to the movie-going public in the States. It's not even fit for the arthaus/independent film circuit. If you want interesting characters or involving plotlines, check out Akira or Ghost in the Shell. Spriggan is best left on the shelf to gather dust.

Rating:
Summary: ...Nothing Amazing...
Review: If you're an action loving okatu, then this movie is the thing for you. However, if your're looking for a good intellectual movie you have to THINK about, don't even give this movie a second look, (I suggest Jin-Roh the Wolf Brigade).

The animation isn't wonderful, but it's decent, near the end of the movie, it's not hand drawn like the beginning, and looks better.

If you're turned off by the religion, don't worry, there is very little reference to it.

Over all the villans and heros are unoriginal, and can be boring at times, except Jean...but the story and animation aren't the worst things ever, much like the characthers, so it deserves a decent rating.

Basically, don't expect this anime to have you thinking and marveling at it weeks later.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good but not Great
Review: I waited with salivating anticipation for Spriggan to come to America. When it finally arrived, I bought it without pause. I am not dissapointed.

Spriggan has an okay story and very good action. It is also dubbed very well and the animation, while not world altering, is more than enough to get the idea across. But Spriggan also is not all that it could be.

When I watched it, I liked the action sequences but I felt that much of it was more borrowed from other anime than origional. The hero is not unlike Jubei in Ninja Scroll or even the hero in Fist of the North Star. However, unlike these other characters, this guy is not well defined or fleshed out. The main villians also fall into some of the more stereotypical designs. If you are a Anime fan, you will find yourself recognizing many of them.

The ending battle was very good but also anti-climatic. I guess I wanted a little more out of the final conclusion. I half expected the main Spriggan (the hero) to whip out some even more hidden powers like Dragon Ball Z or even Neon Genesis Evangelion ( he does have hidden powers by the way...Just not what I expected). "Sigh" that might not have worked but I still looked forward to it.

Overall, if you collect Anime, you should buy this movie. But if you are looking for something epic and endlessly re-watchable, you might look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Akira meets MGS.
Review: Ominae Yu: 17 yrs old #1 ranked Spriggan- a member of an elite corps of biologically engineered warriors created by the secret organization ARCAM- a secret organization formed to protect the newly discovered Noah's Ark and its hidden powers from the Generals of Pentagon- who seeks to obtain its massive power to..??

I rented Spriggan with no expectation what-so-ever (didn't even bother to read the summary), and after watching it TWICE, this is one of the most entertaining anime I've seen so far. Its got the fancy weapons and gadgets, fast paced adrenalin pumping action, and did I mention how much fun I had watching this anime??

I would've wished to see this in threater since the Art is top quality (ok.. so the chase scene was little choppy but that wasn't that bad and everything else is superb!) and the music score reminds you of the excellence of Akira.

Folks, fast paced action anime such as Spriggan does not require long and slow paced character developement or complicated plot, because this ISN'T ANIME SERIES!! Its a FAST PACED ACTION ANIME MOVIE!! It was first published as a manga known as "Striker" just as many other Jap. anime which made to the big screen with a BANG! Spriggan does wondeful job of directing its viewers along the storyline as it pumps you with outstanding action sequences. The voice acting is SUPERB as the little Col. MacDougall's evil laughter is simply gripping (dub wasn't so bad either). It also does a wonderful job of framing the main character as an ArchAngel who's fighting for his identity with his past and how/what he is/was (unlike Trigun).

Folks, if we start asking about ridiculous questions about certain characters of movie that has VERY little to do with the main structure of the film, all your doing is blemishing the fun for yourself (just like many reviewers in here). Sometimes, the're no reason to complicate yourself on something so simple and fun. I mean, if your writing more than two bad reviews about this movie than obviously, there's more to it.. also, is Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Ninja Scroll are the only anime you people (some reviewers) ever saw?? Those are the only anime that you can make idiotic comparison of???

I recommend Spriggan for those who enjoy quality anime. If you read my other reviews (if not, just click) I'm very hard to please, but after watching Spriggan twice, I'm actually considering to buy this for my collection!

Rating:
Summary: Hoorah!
Review: Very nice action sequences (though not enough of them to carry the movie)... if Spriggan were released in the U.S. at the same time it was in Japan, the animation would've blown the U.S. audiences away, but today it is just on par. I'd say watch this before you buy it and maybe save yourself a little cash. Considering the hype, this movie is grossly overrated.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Cool
Review: Pretty cool anime. I just picked up while i was out yesterday. Really nice animation with a pretty good hollywood storyline. If you threw metal gear solid (1st one), and the fifth element together you get this hot anime. Action sequences are awesome and the characters are really cool. Yu is one of best heros i've seen since Jubei from ninja scroll (which i may note is a really excellent anime).All in all if you can find it for under 20 bucks, pick it up.

Rating:
Summary: Animated Action Movie
Review: This anime is exactly like your typical action movie, only animated. It's got your stereotypical characters - super soldier, psychic kid, evil government branch, old scientist dude and some French guy. There are many explosions! It is very well animated and fun to watch, but the plot will leave you a little confused on the details and has a high corniness quotient. The ending especially was like a string of cliches, while at the same time not making a lot of sense.

The one feature that makes it stand out is the dub sounds great! I hardly ever watch dubs because they usually do not begin to compare to the Japanese version, but all the actors in the Spriggan dub did a wonderful job!! The voices fit the characters (perhaps better than the originals), and the acting was on the mark.

I do have a complaint about the DVD menus, which is the text is so small I had a difficult time reading it. My tv is of a decent size, so I have no idea why they chose to make the writing so tiny. Besides that, the extras were ok, but there wasn't much of them.

This was fun to watch once, but I doubt I will watch it again. It's a nice rental. If you enjoy action movies even if they are a little cliched, you will probably have fun watching this.

Rating:
Summary: One word: Incredible
Review: I managed to get a copy of this film when I attended an Anime convention this past weekend; it was worth the effort. This is a gorgeous, action-packed film that has all the right Anime elements. If you are a fan of Japanimation like "Ghost In The Shell", then you MUST see this movie. The story centers around a secret organization and one of their top super-powered agents, a "Spriggan", who tries to stop another secret organization from exploiting the hidden power behind Noah's Ark.

This is a great looking movie, the blending of CGI and cell animation was done so one style did'nt overpower the other. I'm glad that the hype this film received was well deserved. It is one of those films that had me glued to my TV from start to finish.

Buy this film.

Rating:
Summary: Santa Claus doesn't exist.
Review: I purchased the much anticipated Spriggan yesterday. I must say I wasn't this excited about a anime since the release of Ghost In The Shell. I first got a taste of the Spriggan film as a preview on an Arc The Lad DVD. After that I did some net research and became even more excited. This looked to be the holy grail of action animes. If felt like they where finally gonna make a Metal Gear Solid like anime without it being a total rip off. 10 minutes into the film I realized three things. This is nonsense, I'm too old, and I'm too old for this nonsense.

The anime is about a 17 year old, do all, end all super op/soldier that goes by the name Yu and is as about as deep as shag carpet. His voice acting is so stupid Keanu Reeves would catch an upset stomach from Yu speaking a single sentence. Yu suffers the same problem most anime and live action film heros suffer in today's action cinema. You don't ever fear for his life. And neither does he. He holds a cavalier attitude about everything, even the death of his schoolmates. Whatever happened to the underdog? Whatever happened to going into a battle with no chance of winning and pulling it off at the end? This guy is already a superhuman soldier with reflexes that would make a ninja flinch. Does he need a suit to boost his strength 30%?

The plot is garbage. They intoduce the Arc at the begining abandon it's importance until the end and then make it so ridiculous you don't even wanna hear about it anymore. People attack Yu for no apparent reason. Obviously they know he's a Spriggan. So they send their worst henchman first. I guess just to test him or something. Then they introduce the French Spriggan Jean. I guess there is a Spriggan for every major country, since they don't even bother to explain what "Spriggan" is you just don't know. They seem to be protectors. Why they are protecting this, I don't know. Why they even include Yu and Jean makes no sense. It seems if they would have just left Yu alone the operation would have went on without a hitch.

That brings me to the Machine Corps, the group of antagonists supported by the Pentagon. Why, I don't know. They want the Arc to take over the world. But it seems that the Machine Corp could do it by themsleves. They all are unoriginal, and uninspired. The main bad guy is Colonel MacDougall a small child with incredible telekenetic powers. He's ripped straight from Akira which real hurts Spriggan's identity as it's own film. They other baddie, the General looks stupid and serves no purpose in the story except for Yu's back story. I still don't believe a gattling gun as an arm is that effective. The last little guy uses wires to cut people into ribbons. Which is cool, but since you know he's never going to catch Jean and Yu in it it's really just their to look cool. He's fast when he wants to be, I guess he's so shook by a Spriggan he forgets all his superhuman powers.

The action really isn't all that. I'm serious. It's all hype. The action sequences are few and far between. They're nothing new, and granted their animated well, with a fast pace, they somehow become tired after a minute or so. To say that these are the best action sequences in Anime history is just plain ignorance. If you say that you must not have seen a lot of animes. The action sequences in Batman: The animated series are better than Spriggan. Sriggan doesn't even begin to come close to animes like Akira(OH MY GOD, the motorcycle chase at the begining kills the whole Spriggan movie), Ghost In The Shell, Street Fighter Alpha:The Animation, Gun Smith Cats, Outlaw Star, any Gundam series, the DBZ movies and the TV series, Princess Mononoke, and Blue Sub 6 just to name a few.

In conclusion Animes don't have to make sense. You don't throw on your logic and reason cap when making an action anime, it's fanatasy. Few of the best animes make sense really. But you have to meet certain elements of story telling. And being an action movie doesn't mean your excused from that task. Spriggan doesn't even try. They open up so many doors it's overwhelming. Then they don't close not a one, and when their tired of telling the one they've opended they open another one, and this cycle continues until the whole thing is so stupid it's blinding. Don't buy or rent Srpiggan, don't even look at it. It's one of the worst Animes ever made.

Rating:
Summary: A hot pile of steaming garbage dipped in a platinum coating
Review: Garbage=Spriggan, Spriggan=garbage. Math is a beautiful thing.
Don't let these people lie to you. Spriggan is awful, and I mean god awful. ...The movie starts of with massive potential. The introduction of the "Spriggan" a do all, end all perfect soldier. The mystery that is the "Arc", apperently an alien space craft of some sort(that is not a spoiler, ain't no telling what the hell that thing is suppose to be), and some pretty average action sequences. The animation is good when in wants to be. Or when the animators think their doing something cool and decide to make it look better than say the simple act of someone turning around or a jeep driving along a road. It's like the animators said "Call me when your making the action sequences", I'll draw the in between stuff on my toiliet. And while were on the super-hyped, much talked about action sequences, their really not all that. They are certainly far from the best ever, certainly not out of all animes ever created. Their are better action sequences in Batman: The animated series. They just spent more money on Spriggan's overall apperence. Animes like Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie, Kite, Venus Wars, Ghost In The Shell, Blue Sub 6, Gunsmith Cats, and most all the DBZ movies offer much better action and they do it with less money.

This movie is nonsense, after the first 10 mins the movies falls into a downward spiral the creators apperenly pushed it in. The core group of antagonist(The Machine corps) are uninspired. I don't know who came first Vulcan Raven from MGS or the General from Spriggan. The main boss is stupid. Yet another madman(or kid) with no motive or purpose. He can't even convince me he's all that crazy. Maybe because of the piss poor voice acting. It's so easy to make a kid sound spooky in a movie like this. Yet with this voice I'm expecting him to pull a jar of Jif out of his pocket. Why the Pentagon got to be behind everybody's super evil, super soldier program? Just not original. The one thing your the most interested in is the "Spriggan" which they don't even try to explain. I guess there's one for every major country. I don't know. The main character Yu is terrible. No motive, no purpose, no conviction, lifeless ... hero. Then the introduction of the French Spriggan, nonsense. There's no reason for him to be in this movie. And they don't explain why he is here.

The end is horrid. It's so ... stupid I couldn't believe my eyes and ears. The last 20 mins of the movie they open up so many doors its ridiculous. This 'Cosmos' project stuff. Garbage. How the arc is where all life orginated. Garbage. Why do they even have to make the biblical reference to begin with. It's bad enough that thier disrespecting god, they decide to disrespect some of the best story telling in the history of mankind. They don't know what story the want to tell. So they make another one and then don't know how to tell that one, and the cycle continues until the story get's so dumb it's blinding. Apparently Macdougal, the doctors and Margaret have been in the arc before. Because the crack open everything without fail. They figure out it is space and time, and even find they self destruct sequence.

It's 2002, just looking good ain't gonna cut it. I understand you don't throw on your logic and reason hat when making an anime or manga, it's fanatasy. But there are certain elements of story telling you have to meet. And they don't even come close. Or try for that matter. This movie only looks good during the action and the action really isn't all it's cracked up to be.