Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite Holy
Review: "Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust" should be recognized for its attempt to revive a long lost cult classic in Anime. Stylistically, the movie is stunning - the scenary of the world is beautifully painted for its audience. The musical backgrounds, the character illustrations and the basic mood of a desolate fantasy-science fiction world are inspiring and breath taking. However, the writers of this sequel to the original masterpiece have forgotten what made the original so immaculate - even without the improvements in animation.

The original "Vampire Hunter D" is a must see for all fans of Japanese Anime. It was a pioneer that successfully created a drama within a warped sci-fi motif. Earth has become a futuristic wasteland, full of technology and magic. Mankind work their days on medieval farmlands while fending off against mutants, demons, werewolves and vampires. The story begins with the non-stereotypical damsel in distress, Doris, a short skirt wearing farmer who fights off monsters using an electric whip. She has been ravished by the anceint Vampire, Count Magnus Lee, who wishes to take her as his bride. To escape her and her brother's fate at the Count's hands she hires the mysterious Vampire Hunter D to her aid. Perhaps the storyline does not seem very complex, but in contrast to "Bloodlust", there was a great deal of mystery that the audience invests in. The entire character of D, was slowly raveled out, behind his cold and calculated postierior. One had to wonder if he was even a good guy. As the movie progressed, we find out that he is half human and half vampire, has a talking hand and has a torn personality - craving a normal human life, yet also undergoing his lone responsibilities at the immortal son of Dracula. The movie concluded with his victory, though he must leave Doris, despite their obvious attraction to each other. Thus you have the tormented hero, who must walk his path alone until the end of eternity.

Now that you have the background - you'd think that the sequel would be able to provide us more of an insight to the Vampire Hunter D and his true purpose. But all we get is the emotionally inept super human, who with ease, slashes and fights his way through to another inevitable confrontation with a member of the Vampire Nobility. There are no secrets left to uncover, no new information of his creation. "Bloodlust" certainly is action packed - as D races against a miss-matched group of vigilante bounty hunters for the return of a stolen maiden by a Vampire Aristocrat. The action however, feels more like a well-choreographed John Carpenter movie, rather than the exciting, gorey and unpredictable fight scenes from the first movie. The villians of "Bloodlust" are also less diverse the second time around - where in the orginal, an entire bestiary of mythological and fantastic proprotions was at the mercy of D's blade. Now, the story is too calculated and D is too indestructible and emotionally dry for us to really care how many creatures he hacks up. As for our heroine, we are greated with the one-dimensional character, Liela - who offers no worthy romance plot. Although she has the most scenes and plot development out of the Markus Brothers (the bounty hunters and competitors of D), her one personality attribute outside of being the "tough-chick" is her fear of dying alone and being forgotten. This one detail allows for some kind of bonding between her and D, but the script only allowed this to be skimmed at the surface. She is otherwise just the "tough-chick", who shoots a lot of guns and never has to reapply lipstick. I miss Doris - although it is obvious her character had died of old age centuries ago.

Still, "Bloodlust" offers a few great scenes and is full of action. Its bonuses, and there are some, rely more on what can be shown, not told. This time around, we get a lot more landscapes and some very detailed artistry. There are also small references throughout the movie that detail D's legacy, but nothing in this movie that links him to being the son of Dracula. So, in my opinion, you are better off renting this than making a full purchase. If you haven't watched the original, make sure to see it first and know how "Bloodlust" should have been created.

Rating:
Summary: Excels from the original on a few points
Review: Now, the original will always be a classic. Unfortunately, even though this film is good, it will always be the film that came AFTER "Vampire Hunter D." The influence and popularity of the original cannot be denied, even by people who think otherwise, however that does not mean this movie is in no way bad.

For one, it excels in characters. The enemies and heroes are more fleshed out, and some of the heroes (the Marcus Bros. specifically) make you wonder which one is worse. Meier Link, especially, is a well developed character, and you begin to feel for him. I didn't experience such feelings in the original.

Also, it excels in storyline. It annoys the hell out of me when people say otherwise, because I don't think they really know what they are talking about (some people, I've noticed, have a habit of simply summing things up with "good animation, bad storyline" and failing to elaborate). The original had the usual plot of "girl in trouble, save her." This goes for the same fling, but...wait...girl REALLY in trouble? Or girl NOT in trouble? There is also the addition of an evil Countess, and even though some have said she is just thrown in there, if you really study the film and understand the characters you'll realize she's there the whole way through. So if you like action films that aren't just blood and guts, then you should definately watch this film.

I guess I can't really say much else, but "oh well, whats the sound of one hand yapping?"

Rating:
Summary: Japanese Anime at its Best
Review: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is far superior to its predecessor in both story line and animation. The artwork is suberb, although gory, but gory is what is expected from D. Also, an interest to American viewers, the dialogue is in sync! The animation and voices were done in the west, quite a departure from most Japanese anime. Although the price is a bit sketchy, I would recommend this to any fan of Japanese anime.

Rating:
Summary: Great Anime
Review: This is simply a great anime and a great vampire movie. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is comparable to akira and ninja scroll and people should shut up about the lack of japanese track because get this, there never was a japanese language track. they animated it in japan, then it was shipped to america where it recieved the ORIGINAL voice track in ENGLISH. the basic argument for watching anime in japanese is that something was lost in translation... well this was never translated so nothing was lost.

Rating:
Summary: No Japanese Language Track!
Review: Ignoring the film, I'm commenting on the DVD presentation. It's not available with any kind of subtitles, and the only language track is in English. Maybe I'm a bit of a snob, but I hate watching foreign films dubbed. Couldn't they have spent a few extra bucks and thrown the original laguage track on here?

Rating:
Summary: Good movie.
Review: I'm not a huge anime expert or anything, but I own a fair set of movies and series dvds.

I like Bloodlust. It's a standard-length movie, lasting only a few hours, but it's easy to get into. It's got decent music and nice artwork. The characters are really interesting, but I won't reveal anything since the movie is so short.

Overall, it may or may not be worth your money. This the only English release anime dvd that I own, mostly because it costs a lot less for the Japanese version from places like animetoysonline.com. I like it and consider it worthwhile, because the english cast is pretty good and the dubbing is very well done. It never looks like a godzilla movie.

Rating:
Summary: A very good vampire movie
Review: I picked this up because I'm a horror fan - and was very pleased. It's actually a sequel, but can stand alone.

Our hero, D, is a half-human son of the Big Bat himself who hunts dad's kind accompanied by a possessed, sentient left hand (yes, you read that right!). His latest mission - rescue Charlotte Elbourne, the daughter of a billionaire, from the vampire Meier Link.

For extra insurance, Elbourne has also hired a tight-knit family of vampire hunters named the Markus brothers - Borgoff, the head of the family; Kyle, the clan jokemeister; Nolt, the brawn of the operation and Grove, a frail but strong-willed young invalid who can launch a ridiculously powerful attack from the astral plane - but only briefly and in the most dire straits, as the resulting effects on his health are horrible (flatlining semi-regularly is NOT a good thing...)

Also working with the Markus' is the story's heroine - Leila, a tough-acting young huntress with a soft side that she generally only shows openly to Grove (whether he's her best friend or actually in love with her is subject to your speculation). It's Leila who meets D and finds that he's actually quite a good sort. The twist comes when D discovers that Charlotte doesn't actually want to be rescued...

From there, matters become more desperate as all parties converge on the castle of Carmilla the Bloody Countess - the most notorious vampiress who ever existed. Chaos and the climax ensue.

The artwork is a gorgeous feast - the only complaint might be that some of D's horseback scenes are slightly stilted (less than a minute combined). The resolution of the Meier-Charlotte subplot is a bit over the top, but other than that the story's fantastic. Finally, the characters are fascinating. Everything isn't black and white - Meier sometimes seems such a decent sort that you wish everyone would just leave him alone, and ALL the brothers enjoy what they do a bit too much. In the end, you care about what happens to everyone. It's D who's always the moral compass, always intent upon doing the right thing and even taking time to have a frank discussion with Charlotte to make sure she understands what she's really getting into or try to urge Leila, in his taciturn way, not to live by choice the hard life that he himself is trapped in.

As D hasn't had a family reunion with daddy dearest, one would imagine there has to be at least one more entry in the series. I'll be there.

Rating:
Summary: Bloodlusting for More
Review: Following in the footsteps of such invincible characters as Vash The Stampede (Trigun) and Alucard (Hellsing), comes D, a dunpeal (half vampire) bounty hunter. This is the second installment chronicling the adventures of D (the first being the original Vampire Hunter D). D is a killer of few words and even fewer friends, though he is not without a sense of honor and goodness. Initially, the plot is relatively mundane; Charlotte, your typical damsel in distress, is abducted by a powerful aristocratic vampire named Meyer. D is commissioned by Charlotte's family to bring back Charlotte, either dead or alive. At this point, this anime distinguishes itself from the pack when this seemingly predictable plot churns out a few signficant surprises that keeps the story running at a smooth, enthralling clip. As to what makes the movie so smooth and engrossing can be directly attributed to Vampire hunter D: Bloodlust's superb animation. I cannot reiterate enough how beautifully Bloodlust plays out on DVD. Bloodlust's rich deep colors and sharp angles are reminiscient of Batman: The Animated Series. This being a full-feature movie, each cell of animation is meticulously drawn out. Such attention to detail brings to life the story's dark, supernatural setting in addition to highlighting the "realistically" drawn style of the characters (no cartoony, big heads here). Overall, the story won't lull you into a preliminary coma, while the great action and animation are sure to impress. Be sure to watch the ending, as it is my favorite part in the entire movie. It serves to reinforce the existence of D as something timeless and more than merely mortal. People come and go, kingdoms rise and fall, but D will always be there, brooding and silent as usual.

Rating:
Summary: I am a Dunpeal. I don't get to have a life.
Review: I can say without I doubt that "Bloodlust" is absolutely the greatest piece of animated cinema I've ever seen. Every single detail is painstakingly thought out, from the boldest contrasts of light and shadow to the tiniest cracks in stone. In my opinion, this movie isn't just another slice of authentic Japanese anime: it is an epic dessert for the senses. Even though "Bloodlust" is technically the SECOND movie about Vampire Hunter D, it's grand visual scale easily stands on its own. The movie's story is constructed in such a manner that the Dunpeal Hunter is properly introduced to audiences for the very first time. And even though "Bloodlust" is mainly a part of the horror/action genre, the film's twisting plotline carefully juxtaposes elements of Science Fiction, Romance, and even American Westerns.
Set in the 22nd century, D is paid $20 million to rescue a young woman named Charlotte, who was snatched from her bedroom one night by a powerful vampire aristocrat named Meier Link. Dunpeal is a half-human, half-vampire who chose to resist his hunger for blood, and to dedicate his eternal life to killing all pure vampires (all the while dodging relentless persecution by the human race). Calm, silent and stolid, D is willing to travel to the ends of the earth to fulfill his duty; his presence is that of a compassionate yet terrifying knight on a black horse. Meanwhile, the Markus Brothers (a team of heavily armed Bounty Hunters) are competiting against D for the same exact prize. Among them is Leila, a strong and vengeful woman who dedicates her life to assasinating bloodsuckers (after her parents were tragically murdered by vampires years ago). Later on, it's learned that Meier Link and Charlotte are actually in love with one another, and that the two are unknowing pawns in an elaborate scheme orchestrated by Carmilla, the Bloody Countess.
What really makes "Bloodlust" stand out is its ability to breathe new life to the now exhausted cliches of all Vampire films. Despite being set in the distant future, numerous characters and elements are drawn from ancient folklore: Dunpeal himself is believed to be the only son of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mina. The Markus Brothers' advanced weapons include silver arrows, pinwheel blades that accurately decapitate zombies, and a gigantic wooden stake mounted on the end of a hammer. Even the wickedly vain Carmilla was heavily inspired by Elizabeth Bethory, a real 17th century Countess who butchered 600 young girls and bathed in their blood to preserve her youthful complexion. Best of all, this particular film is designed to make viewers ask themselves some questions: Who are the real monsters? Are the vampires to blame because of their voracious appetite for people's blood? Or what about the human race for its willingness to kill what it doesn't understand?

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: I can only sum up this movie in one word...WOW