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Tokyo Godfathers

Tokyo Godfathers

List Price: $26.96
Your Price: $21.57
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Anime comes of age
Review: I consider this movie a breakthrough. It is the first I've seen that equals - or passes - good live-action movies for subtle development and interaction of characters.

It took the first 30-45 minutes to get going, but that time was used to establish the characters and the setting. Be patient - it's worth the wait. After that, the movie is really about families. I don't mean the "Leave it to Beaver" kind, with Mom, Dad, and their children by each other. I mean the real families these days, where the ideas of Mom and Dad need to flex and where the children are unrelated to one or both. I mean a real family with real problems, holding together because everyone is struggling to hold it together.

The animation is good and the character animation are very good, but excellence is the norm these days. The plot and story are what make this movie stand out. As an aside, I was interested to hear a few English words adopted into the Japanese idiom, "homeless" and "godfather" being the most obvious. I was also interested to see that the Spanish speech wasn't subtitled - English speakers will need to puzzle it through, same as the Japanese listeners did.

This isn't an "adult" movie, but there's not a lot here for kids. That's fine. Kids have their own movies, and we need ours.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A very nice surprise
Review: I rented this movie out of ceriosity. Hey, the animation looked good, but I've been disappointed by recent anime flicks I almost passed it by. This isn't a typical rehased story or vaporware plot. The characters are solid, flawed individuals, the story is comic, brutal, exciting and overall very heart warming. Highly recomended if you like quirky fun films.

The soundtrack is nice too. Not the best 5.1 surround, but it's there when it matters. The music is quirky and IMHO suites this film perfectly. Sorry, no english dub on this one. But an average dub job would ruin this great character film anyway.

Oh, and the preview for Otomo's "Steamboy" was a nice little bonus, too.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Real Kon Artist!
Review: Japanese animation director Satoshi Kon has done it again - making a film for adult sensibilities without resorting to excessive violence, profanity or pornography. And like his previous films, Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers is hard to place on a shelf. Is it anime? It doesn't subscribe to the formulas that Americans have ascribed to anime: no robots, spaceships or superheroes. Is it drama? Though the story has elements of drama, it's also remarkably comic and filled with moments of fantasy. Is it adventure? Well, yes, but how many mainstream adventure films feature a teenage runaway, a deadbeat father and a homeless transsexual as protagonists?

Tokyo Godfathers is a real joy - another hit for Kon, who continues to reward viewers and befuddle the folks who try to shelve films according to genre.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: John Ford & John Wayne
Review: John Ford made this movie twice (as Three Godfathers), once with Harry Carey in the silent days & again with John Wayne in 1948. It's also been done at least three other times as well. I love the Wayne version but this one is the best of the bunch. Funny, warm and ultimately gentle as three homeless people undertake a life changing mission involving a abandoned baby. The change from three bad men to three homeless people is an inspired one and gives the story & characters room to breath. Well worth your time.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: John Ford & John Wayne
Review: John Ford made this movie twice (as Three Godfathers), once with Harry Carey in the silent days & again with John Wayne in 1948. It's also been done at least three other times as well. I love the Wayne version but this one is the best of the bunch. Funny, warm and ultimately gentle as three homeless people undertake a life changing mission involving a abandoned baby. The change from three bad men to three homeless people is an inspired one and gives the story & characters room to breath. Well worth your time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pure Magic
Review: Satoshi Kon is earning a place for himself in the history books crafting one animated masterpiece after another. Tokyo Godfathers has scenes of sincere emotional weight and power. Bring some kleenex for this one I cried at least two times during this film...My wife cried about five times. This is one of the most magical and compassionately humanistic films I have ever seen live action, animated or otherwise. Wonderful music in this as well.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Classic modern Christmas Movie
Review: Satoshi Kon's third movie is about a homeless bum, transvestite and runaway finding an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve as they attempt to search for the baby's parents (in order to give them a piece of their mind). As the other reviews say, it's a really uplifting story about the spirit of Christmas, forgiveness, and destiny.

Unlike Kon's other two movies (PERFECT BLUE, MILLENNIUM ACTRESS) , this one is primarily a comedy and has a lot of funny moments and will get you shedding a tear or two. I didn't think this movie was as strong as his other two, but it's definitely a tearjerker if you watch it during the Holiday Season.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Satoshi Kon does it again!
Review: The third film from Satoshi Kon (Millenium Actress, Perfect Blue) rachets the state-of-the-art of anime film-making up another notch. This movie is simply amazing. Every nauance and detail of the characters is astounding. Most live-action films do not contain this kind of depth of character and story. And of course, this being a Kon film, just when you think you know what's going on, he twists it on it's ear, and it becomes a very different film from what you were expecting!

Get it! Get it! Get it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautiful and unexpected delight
Review: This is the kind of animated feature that puts the vast majority of live-action--and especially big-budget--movies to shame. There is little in this glowing, passionate story about three of Tokyo's homeless finding a baby on a trash heap one New Year's Eve that couldn't be done on film. But God is in the details, and as animation it pushes the boundaries of kitchen-sink reality outwards to make the film's themes that much bolder, broader, funnier and meaningful. Beautifully-drawn characters, deeply-felt themes of love and truth, superb performances (even with the subtitles), and melt-in-your-mouth animation show why Kon is considered to be a master of the craft.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow this movie has a mix of everything!
Review: This is what a masterpiece is al bout. Action, drama, comedy, and adventure. The 4 main elements of a movie and wow is it done well!!!!

The characters are the most realistic in any anime I have seen. I love how when the youngest is worried bout the other 2 bumbs and when she is relieved they are ok she saysuncle bag or geezer. But my personal favorite is the trans. I recommend this movie to every1. Also by the way this movie takes place on Christmas. So watch it wit the family on Christmas eve or somethin. It is everything!


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