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Neon Genesis Evangelion - Death & Rebirth

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Death & Rebirth

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Bad, i've seen better
Review: Lets get things started eh? If you haven't seen the series, GET IT. It is a epic journey through a biblical time. If you are too poor or you don't want to waste your money, but still want to see the series, get it. Basically it is a pointless journey that hits all the highlights of the series. Rebirth is just the first 30 minutes of the End, so just get that IS YOU HAVE THE SERIES.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Lireal
Review: I think this DVD is wonderful. Very very good.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Evangelion, Cliff Notes Style
Review: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth is not a must have for those who are fans of the series. I suspect that a lot of the confusion around this DVD has to do with Manga Entertainments production of it.

"Death" is essentially the first half of the DVD which is a fairly fast paced review of the entire series, but put to a very compelling setting. "Death" from what it seems is intended to "refresh" your memory of the series before taking on "Rebirth". Oddly though, "Rebirth" is the 40 minutes of "End of Evangelion".

So if you purchase both DVDs you will realize that there is this very large overlap between them. I'm not certain what Manga Entertainment was doing, however their production of Death & Rebirth seems to be sub-par, though the title screen on the DVD is haunting with the flashes of imagery and sound from the series.

Manga's bizarre production values aside, the story presented in "Death" seems intended to set you up for "End of Evangelion". "Death" is a whirlwind of plot moments from the TV series along with additional moments that seem to at detail and heighten your understanding of the TV series. "Death" is a good refresher. After watching it, it leaves you of that sense of "What's next?" and wanting more.

This DVD is really for Evangelion fans who want to round out their collection, and is only recommended for such people. If money is a bit short, I recommend that you get "End of Evangelion" instead as "Death & Rebirth" are not necessary in order to appreciate "End of Evangelion".

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Confusing Mix
Review: This is a really confusing film to write a review for. It is divided into two halves, Death and Rebirth. Death is simply a collage of images that seem to be taken from the TV series (which I havn't seen, I was hoping this was like the Gundam I, II, and III compelation movies). There isn't really a plot, it's like animated cliff notes. Rebirth, however, follows a coherint storyline which is quite good.
I'm not a fan of anime in general, I wathed this because I read the entire contents of a web site (yes, I do have a life, I'm just not living it) and it fits the dictionary definition of science fiction. So, I will compare it to other works in that genre.
On an intellectual and moral issues scale, it strikes right below Star Trek and Gundam (the original, not the Wing stuff) and right above Star Wars. The characters are right up with the greats, although you can probably imagine Shinji going to the Toshi station to pick up some power converters. As for the fight scenes, they dont quite match the battles of Hoth or A Bau Qu.
I'd say 14 and up, you'll like it if you enjoy anime or Sci-Fi/Fantasy. But if you want real jems from those geners check out Gundam III, The Two Towers, and Nemisis!
(Note: It would be futile, of course, to compare any of the afforementioned to the Lord Of The Rings Books)

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Interesting, but mostly nothing new.
Review: Gainax's NEON GENESIS EVANGELION has captured a large size of the Anime market in terms of sales and fans, but the last two episodes of the 26-part apocalyptic tale caused controversy from both critics and audiences alike. Apparently director and creator Hideaki Anno (GUNBUSTER, NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER, HIS & HER CIRCUMSTANCES) wasn't so thrilled either, so he decided to remake the ending as a movie -- two movies to be exact.

The first of these movies, entitled DEATH AND REBIRTH, is actually two movies in one. The first section of the "feature", DEATH (running for about three-quarters of the 110 minute film), is basically a recap of the first 24 episodes -- all out of order and interspersed with additional footage and/or scenes of the protagonists (including lonely Shinji Ikari, enigmatic Rei Ayanami, and bitchy Asuka Langley Sohryu) at violin lessons. I did find this somewhat interesting, poetic, and artistic to look at -- the tricks they performed with the credits in particular are really impressive -- but what "new" scenes included are scattered and few, and the material isn't really much more than stuff that we've already seen.

Following the "movie", which concludes with the death of the "final" angel, Kaworu, (yes, the infamous one-minute pause in-between his final sentence to Shinji and his death is included), is a brief intermission which eventually leads into the second "part" of the movie. REBIRTH is the first 20 or so minutes of the "remakes" of the last two episodes. I could talk about them here, but these 20 minutes are actually identical to those of the second EVANGELION movie, END OF EVANGELION, the supposedly "final" entry in this confusing, labyrinthian tale.

In other words, DEATH & REBIRTH doesn't really feel like a great purchase if you've already seen the show. I should have listened to those who warned me in advance. EVANGELION completists may find it to be rewarding, but I was a little disappointed with it, especially since I was expecting more.

On an even more ironic note, the DVD presentation feels uneven. The video quality is decent throughout, and the interactive menus are beautifully constructed. The MOKUJI interactive feature is also said to be helpful, but I haven't checked it out yet.

The audio seems to be one of the unfortunately weaker aspects of the DVD. The English dub can be heard in either 5.1 or 2.0 sound, but the Japanese track is in 2.0. And the dub feels unpolished. It benefits strongly from having most (if not all) of the actors from the original EVA dub return to once again lend their voices to this dysfunctional cast of characters, but at the beginning, they sound a little out of it, and the new actors, although decent for the most part, don't seem to suit the characters well. In addition, the pronunciations are slightly different from ADV's release of the series -- mainly that of EVA. On top of that, the dub feels poorly mixed -- the music, dialogue, and sound effects are not as vibrant or equalized as on the Japanese language track.

There is an audio commentary track by Amanda Winn Lee (the dub director and voice of Rei Ayanami) for people who are interested, me included. I have yet to hear the entire track, but what I heard so far did sound interesting, especially since I'm a bit more of a dub enthusiast.

The only real drawback of the DVD, however, is the mere fact that it's DOUBLE-SIDED. I hate it when DVDs are presented like this; it makes it easier to lay fingermarks or scratches on it when you don't want to. Plus, you have to FLIP the disk (thankfully not to see the entire movie) to get to the other features that "SIDE A" doesn't have. MANGA ENTERTAINMENT has received a lot of flak about their DVD releases lately, and it's unfortunate that this DVD suffered as a part of that trend. I will not go so far to slam-dunk this release, but I think it could have been much better.

All in all, DEATH & REBIRTH appears to be restricted for diehard EVA fans, enthusiasts, and completists only. For others, I wouldn't suggest this as a good introduction, as it will feel disjointed and confusing -- as if the show isn't already enough of that. I don't know what to think about my choice to purchase it, but I fall in the middle of regretting it and being glad that I did. I guess I'll never know what to think. Still, the cinematography is interesting and the music is beautiful.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: strange and not worth it
Review: I have only watched the first four episodes in the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. I remembered them being pretty interesting so I bought this movie hopeing to understand it better, and I have to say it was freaky and confusing! I realized that it was an intire review of the series and some parts look really awsome but when they show those "awsome" parts for ten seconds it ...! They show parts of really awsome mecha battles then they bust out with these interuptions of words like "anger, battles, hurt, fear" and all kinds of other stuff and they flash them so fast that you can bearly read them! They get really annoying when they show like fifteen of them for a ten second battle clip!! I dont recomend this movie because its just not worth your money and trouble. You should just buy the series! This movie skips back too fast and a movie isnt a movie when its made up of a bunch of clips that go back and fourth! The only good thing about this "movie" is the fact that they have all kinds of review clips from the series, but thats it and its not that great when its put all together!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Couple Of Reasons To Buy
Review: Fans of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" will most likely want to get this DVD though it is not needed. The "Death" part of this movie is a recap of the first 24 episodes of the TV series. Only the bare highlights are given in order to cram that much information into such a short amount of time that I don't think this would be helpful to those who have not already watched the series. However, the recap can be helpful to possibly answer a couple of questions or bring a small amount of clarity to what you've seen before. Some of the animation has been redone to make it better and some previously unseen footage from the show has been placed here.

The second part of the movie is called "Rebirth" and is simply the first part of "End of Evangelion" movie. So in a way, it's almost a waste and certainly is a tease of what's coming up.

There are two big reasons to own this DVD. First, fans of the series will want it to fill out their collection. Second (and the biggest reason) is the audio commentary from the director of the English dub (and English voice of Rei) as well as Jason Lee and one other guy involved in anime. Since they worked a long time getting the translation right, they are very familiar with the story and what is going on. So they are able to provide insights into the story as well as pointing out things you might miss. Jason Lee is very helpful since he knows a ton about Catholic dogma/beliefs/stories (which is the basis for the "Christian" themes in this movie) as well as other mythos. His comments help a ton in explaining things.

The original Japanese audio is included as well as English subtitles if you need that. There are other extras as well, but I haven't taken the time to examine them all.

Bottom line: Neon Genesis Evangelion is a great series, but this DVD is not a required purchase. However, I am happy with this DVD.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: neon genesis evangelion (death and rebirth)
Review: LET ME FIRST SAY I LOVE THE SERIES

BUT THIS DVD WAS THE WORST WASTE OF MONEY

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GET THE WHOLE BOX SET MUCH BETTER

THIS DVD IS JUST A BUNCH OF JUMBLED SHOTS PUT TOGETHER

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Do You Need to Get This?
Review: I am writing as a great fan of "Neon Genesis:Evangelion" who likes both the series ending and the move ending! My focus here is to provide a little guidence. This movie is essentially a great recap of Eva episodes and an intro to the main feature "The End of Evangelion". For those who have watched the entire series, it provides no new information. These are my recomendations:

Buy this if: 1)You must posess the whole series for any reason 2) You have the whole series but don't understand the ending. 3) You just feel that you couldn't focus on the theme of the series. 4)You are buying the series and want to capture a bargain.

DON'T buy this if: 1) You never heard of it before. Start from Episode One, you will never get it fron this. Believe me, you will enjoy it well! 2)You saw a couple of early episodes and want to catch up (it won't work) 3) You have the series memorized or at least well undertood and don't need additional focus.

My bottom line is that there is nothing *wrong* with this, but there is nothing new here either. "The End of Evangelion" is the definitive end of the series, this movie only serves to get you up to speed if you need it and contributes nothing new in it's own right.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: More like the Best of Evangellion
Review: This was released as the first ending to the series but all this DVD is the best of Neon Genesis. Basically they cram the entire series into an 90-120 minute DVD. There is no true ending aside from what came from the series. This is mostly for Fans of the series and actually should of been included in the box set. On the good side of things this would be a good idea to view before the DVD "End of Evangellion" which for all extensive purposes will make that one more entertaining without having to purchase the series in it's entirty. Overall this is only OK, just the best of nothing more.


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