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Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $23.96
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfect Blue is the Perfect Movie
Review: Ive seen the dubbed version only,so I cant say a thing about the subtitled, but the dubbing was great,clear and totally understandable.The animation is what you would expect for a film of its age.The story is the best part of this movie.Perfect Blue is the japanese equivalent,if not superior,to Phsyco.I can only tell you one thing other than what the intro has.If you have a short attention span,or cant take confusion,do not watch this movie.IT WILL MESS WITH YOUR HEAD.I doubt even horror/thriller enthusiasts could predict this outcome as her "lives" become entangled. this movie contains one of the single goriest scenes I have seen in a movie,and Ive seen alot.I just want to say one more thing,watch this movie late at night with all the lights off by yourself.....its breathtakng as you try to figure out what the heck is going on......beware the boombox in the elevator.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not quite perfect, but very good.
Review: First, the bad news. Perfect Blue is not the "savior" of anime that Princess Mononoke should have been. It is not in the same league as the latter, or of Ghost in the Shell or Akira, or any other 5-star animes. It is not, contrary to what I've been told, a good place for anime "newbies" to jump in, especially if they are of the mentality that all animes are full of violence and nudity.

Nor is it particularly well-drawn. At times the imagery is very nicely done -- subtle shading and great detail, but at other times it is flat and lifeless. The opening few minutes are a perfect example of this -- fortunately, the animation quality for the most part improves later on.

That said, where Perfect Blue really shines is its story. It has been inevitably compared to Hitchcock and Fight Club, both with good reason. This is a plus for fans of either, but a negative for those who prefer to have plots handed to them on a silver platter. While the ending won't go down in history ala The Usual Suspects, it's still an interesting twist.

The voice acting is mostly good, with a few rough spots. The English dub is not bad -- not nearly as good as Princess Mononoke, or even the new Akira dub, but light-years ahead of the atrocious Ghost in the Shell dub. The dub's translation (judging from the literal subtitles) is relatively close, and (with the exception of Mima's mother, who speaks like an American Southerner but thankfully has a very short role in the film) well-cast. Neither language tracks suffer from over-the-top emotions like so many other dubbed movies are known to do, but only at a few points could the acting be considered truly excellent.

Overall Perfect Blue is a good story-driven anime, and moreover a good movie. But don't make the mistake of showing it to an anime non-fan expecting to "convert" them over, so to speak.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Over-hyped
Review: Despite what some reviewers say, the storyline is pretty predictable. Even worse, the main character is never fleshed out enough to make her psycho-drama truly compelling.

On the plus side, the animation is interesting, offering some realistic scenes of Akihabara, Shinjuku, and other Tokyo neighborhoods.

But for those who put this film in the same league as 'Princess Mononoke', 'Lain', 'Ghost in the Shell', 'Akira', or even 'Jin Roh'....well,I'd have to strongly disagree.

Worth renting, but not buying.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WOW!!
Review: AMAZING is the best way to rate this movie. If you like animes that grab you from the start and don't let go, this is one to pick up. Hitchcock himself would be impressed. The story line has no weaknesses and the animation....what can I say? Incredible. Well worth the price.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible -- unless you have a weak stomach...
Review: The "Not For Sale To Persons Under 18" most likely tipped you off to this movie's rather "adult" nature (though this is _not_ pornographic, to make that clear). If, however, you are over 18 and have a strong stomach, you owe it to yourself to try this movie out.

Since "Perfect Blue" is a psycho-thriller whose suspense hinges on the various plot twists, I won't go into details about plot but will instead focus on the effect this movie had on me.

It has a horrifying momentum which pulled me in from the strangely happy yet unnerving opening scene all the way to the end of the credits; the combination of oddly off-kilter character animations, almost no music, and bewilderingly rapid cuts from one time to another and from nightmare to reality, "Perfect Blue" kept me constantly guessing, constantly a little confused, and always completely riveted -- at one point I'd been staring at the TV for so long that my eyes were getting irritated from not blinking. The storyline is at first intriguing, then fascinating, then deeply, deeply disturbing -- and this is also the first movie I've watched in a very long time where the climax came as a complete surprise, yet a second viewing showed me exactly where the clues had lain -- very well-constructed. (This is also the first movie to make me think, Gee, I'm glad _I'm_ not a Japanese pop idol~!) The combination of its metaphysical (I think?) themes and frighteningly skewed real-world Japanese setting reminded me of an anime combination of the PSX games Silent Hill and Persona.

As I mention in the beginning of this review, however, this movie also happens to have some extremely disturbing moments. It has the distinction of being the first movie _ever_ to make me clamp my hand over my mouth and feel horrified and revolted (and I've seen Showgirls). Though as a whole it isn't particularly violent -- this isn't one of those movies with blood, guts, and exploding heads in every scene -- the few violent or otherwise twisted scenes are very, very violent and twisted. You are warned -- "Perfect Blue" pulls no punches.

As I say, though, if you can stand the violent and twisted aspects of it, this is an amazing movie. Definitely recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Visually and psychologically a near masterpeice.
Review: This is a beautiful DVD. The quality is mind blowing. The animation will literally make you forget your watching an anime. The characters motions, reactions, voices, and motives are so life like it's incredible. The story is easy to follow, only when the writers aren't trying to blur the line between the two worlds. The main character is convincing, you grow to care about her as the movie goes on. You will feel this, when the moch rap scene occurs, it's so very emotional, it envokes anger. The ending is unexpected, and leaves nothing to be desired. This is way above the plain of traditional anime. Story telling at it's very finest, and the best part about it, it's a story that hasn't been told before. Don't get me wrong, I like swords and sorcery, mechs and techs, but sometimes you want a new spin on the genre. This offers that. Put aginst modern day thrillers this excels and matches the likes of Seven, Silence of the Lambs, and Six Sense, really. This is worth every penny and more, easily one of the best animes in recent history.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: good but
Review: don't be fooled by the title, this is a straight forward thriler with the usual nudity found in almost al the japsnese animation its about a stalker whno flows a teenage pop star and gets mad when she changes careers to become anctress and stop singing you might to check this title out if you like these kinds of storys.
if not it's still worth checking it out but i don't think you would want to watch it a secind time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Intense, intelligent psychothriller- in anime!!
Review: This is a very well-done, well-plotted psychological thriller, and indeed it would be even if it didn't have the added bonus of being animated (!!). For anybody willing to spend any amount of time thinking about the plot of a movie, I highly recommend Perfect Blue. It's VERY scary, and a thouroughly engrossing movie. True, there are some confusing scenes, and if you easily get lost on plotlines, this is not for you. It takes a lot of thought. In some scenes you aren't even sure what's happening in real life (which I thought was kinda neat!). If you prefer your anime with subtitles (as I do), rest assured that the dub is all right (as in, no glaringly bad voice-overs, etc.). In any case, give it a shot. It's well worth it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: PERFECT BLUE is perfect anime.
Review: I've seen quite a few anime films and most of them are the same so i have to say that this movie was a breath of fresh air. I went to see it in limited release and after seeing it i thought" Whoa!". The plot concerns a young pop star named Mima who is leaving her singing trio named Cham to pursue acting. When she is given a role in a soap opera she is given a scene to do in it where she has to be violently raped (think Jodie Foster's rape in THE ACCUSED) and soon after she is being menaced by an obsessed fan who is infuriated by the way she is trashing her wholesome image. Soon after she starts to descend into a psychological state where she can't tell what is real or unreal and many of the people around her are violently murdered. Typically in an anime film the dubbing is poor but the dubbing here is great. The direction is very stylish and you really have to pay attention because the director really puts you into Mima's mind so that soon after you can't tell what is real or not. The animation is top notch and the suspense in this movie is constant and it keeps you on edge. This movie is not like an anime movie at all, you could easily mistake for a live action movie. This is one of the few movies where when it declares that it is a psychological thriller it turns out to be that. The violence is very startling, even if it is animated. I recommend this to anyone who loves a good psychological mystery. I look forward to more anime movies of this kind.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A So-So movie...
Review: If you're into psycho-thriller animes, I'd suggest Kite more than this. But it's your money..


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