Rating: 
Summary: A good movie for an Otaku, but not a "MUST HAVE"
Review: Ok, me being an Otaku myself (one who LOVES ANIME), I have to rate this four stars. The movie is like that Fox show called "John Doe". The plot is intresting at first, then just gets WAY too deep and confusing. It progresses to fast also, but that is because if they put all the graphic novels into one Akira DVD, it would be extreamly long. So they decided to skip about five books. If you do buy this, try watching it twice befor struggling to grasp the entire story. The running time is a little long, but overall, it is a great, classic, anime. A very solid addition to any Anime collection.
Rating: 
Summary: DTS Rocks, But Why On A Separate Disc?
Review: A DTS version of Akira was what SHOULD have been on the special edition in the first place! This is a total marketing gimmick from Pioneer. The Japanese Region 2 DTS edition came with all the extras of the special edition, for a limited time until switching to only 1 disc. The DTS track blows away the original stereo, but is it really worth buying the entire movie again? If only they put together a mail-in rebate it would have been worth the money. Collectors only.
Rating:
Summary: Some please release the original English Soundtrack!
Review: Let me begin by saying that Akira is an outstanding Movie! I first saw it back in the late 80's on VHS and was blown away. This movie is what got me interested in anime in the first place. It is like the godfather of anime (at least for the US). For some, I understand this is hard to believe but you have to realize that this movie was many many years ahead of its time when it was released (this being 2003). A testament to this fact can be seen in the awesome animation on the new DVD release. Believe me not much enhancement was needed. DVD just gave us better picture clarity and sound. Everything else was already there. All this being said, it is kind of unfair to us Akira fans who loved the original movie English soundtrack to have to experience a watered down politically correct new English dub version. The animation plus the original acting is what really made the movie the success it is thus creating the hype and fan following.It's unfortunate, that the new fan base kind of gets the "wimpy" dialogue version of this film. I can see why some may not like it. The new dialogue tremendously disappointed me. (I went out and bought the tin cover version on the first day it was released) In my opinion, important scenes as well as the dialogue tone and pronunciation of key words & character names changed the movie dramatically. Don't get me wrong, many people will still like it just for the visuals, but the kick _ _ _ part is kind of gone now (everyone's character seems a weaker now). All Pioneer had to do was include the original dialogue along with the new one (for the new generation). Another audio track on a DVD? Wow, how hard could that have been (I know, too easy -Makes too much since and would make everyone happy)? My advice is that if you really enjoy this movie and you haven't seen the original, then try to rent it somewhere. If you didn't like it the first time, then rent the original somewhere. (The difference is like night and day) If you haven't seen it yet, this good and bad since you have no standard to hold it up to but aren't really seeing the best version. Anyway rent the original at some point. I have honestly been searching for the original VHS. Personally, if I had a choice, I would take the original VHS dialogue vs. the DVD quality any day. Maybe someday in the future they will do another new release and will make everyone happy. P.S. For all you newbies that did not understand the movie - it's because you have to watch it about 3 times to start catching all the subtle details. I lost count of the number of times I have watched it and each time I still seem to get a new perspective on it. Oh what, you wanted a movie where you didn't have to use your brain right? Watch it once and put it on the shelf for years to collect dust? I can understand if you were turned off by the new dialogue, that's different, but if you can get past that, watch it again or rent the original. Who knows you may become a real fan too.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome, Awesome, Awesome
Review: This is the story of a Biker gang. They run across mutant freaks and one of them (Tetsuo) becomes jelous of Kenada. The military takes Tetsuo in and unleash his latent physic powers. Tetsuo goes on a rampage and Kenada must stop him. Truly a great anime movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Gives anime a bad name
Review: I know of no serious anime fan who actually likes this film. It's mindless eye candy for nasty-tempered fourteen-year olds who haven't seen much anime before. Sadly, there are a lot of people like that out there, which explains the film's popularity. The plot is an incoherent mess, moving from one visual set-piece to another with emphasis on violence and spectacle and not much else. I've heard that the original manga on which it is based is better, and that the reason the film makes so little sense is that it takes a multi-volume story and squashes it down into two hours. From a technical standpoint, the animation is beautiful (it's one of the few anime films to bother with lip sync), but who besides another animator is going to watch a film just to critique its technical quality? If you want to see some intelligent, lyrical anime films, I'd recommend Wings of Honneamise, Ghost in the Shell, Grave of the Fireflies, or the films of Hayao Miyazaki, especially Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. (I admit, you may want to see Akira just to know what all the drooling fanboys are talking about, but it really is an awful film.)
Rating:
Summary: The Anime Movie That Started It All
Review: First and foremost I'd like to state that Akira is not the movie to play as a way to kill time with youngters, this movie is far too graphic and violent for the 12 and under crowd. However it is what many people consider to be the best anime movie ever. Regardless of your or anyone's opinion this IS the movie that started a generation of anime. It was NOT Princess Mononoke (but that WAS a rather good movie nonetheless). The year was 1988 and Tokyo recovering from the devastation that was world war three, was destroyed by a powerful entity named Akira... A generation later in the depths of the old city of Neo Tokyo rival biker gangs run rampant in the streets. Among these gangs are two childhood friends Kenada and Tetsuo. In a battle with the rival gang the clowns, Tetsuo gets seperated from his friends and comes across a strange boy. The boy is in fact a secret military project and he has latent phsycic abililties. He injures Tetsuo, and afterwards Tetsuo is abducted by the military, he is subjected to tests that give him powers that rival Akira's (who has long since died) now Kenada must stop Tetsuo as he threatens the world and in higher perspectives the entire universe and the very fabric of time. In short this movie has great animation and characters although it may be hard to understand without subtitles as all anime movies are. The bikes in this movie are simply AWESOME and I definitaly recommend this movie to you.
Rating:
Summary: akira the anime king
Review: akira a violent but a anmie classic it has a story not like must anmies do. A story of friendship hatred @science .THE story a biker riding for fun until TETSUO gets hit by a kid then tested on by lab men.THEN he is sent to the hostpitle.THEN youll have to watch the rest by your self.WARING partens are EXTMELY !CAUTIONED.GRAPHIC VIOLENCE NUDITY DRUG CONTENT BLOOD ADULT LANGUAGE. ...
Rating:
Summary: "Akira," the landmark film in the history of anime
Review: At least until "Spirited Away" becomes available on DVD this week there is essentialy a tossup between "Akira" and "Princess Mononoke" as to which film should serve as the introduction of a neophyte to the wonderful world of anime. Either film would serve just fine and while I watched "Mononoke-hime" first, I would recommend "Akira" as the first choice. However, whichever way you go if this is your first anime film you need to be aware that all of these films set standards that will put most other films in the genre to shame. Katsuhiro Ôtomo's 1988 masterpiece is a cyperbunk epic about a group of teenage bikers in neo-Tokyo who get caught up in top secret experiments by the government. But what could be simply a collison between "The Wild One" and "Blade Runner" becomes much more in Ôtomo's hands. The notion that the film is "visually excessive" is a gross understatement; for those who have tolerated the minimalist animation and recurring film loops of animation on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, "Akira" is as far removed from cheap Saturday morning cartoons as you can get. As far as Ôtomo is concerned even when it comes to the faces in the background crowd, attention must be paid. The story is a distillation of years of Ôtomo's manga and why those who have actually read all of "Akira" books can bemoan that which has been ommitted in the same manner those who loved Frank Herbert's "Dune" lamented the David Lynch film, I think those of us who are completely ignorant of Ôtomo's epic can understand and enjoy the film version (due in large measure to a new and improved dub on the DVD). Obviously there is more depth to the story of "Akira," and many will no doubt be inspired to check out the American reprints of the manga to enjoy the story in its entirety, but Ôtomo has clearly taken pains to craft this "short" (124 minute) version for general consumption. A confrontation between rival biker gangs leads to an encounter with an odd looking child before all of them are whisked away by the military. We then learn about the legendary Akira, a psychic who destroyed Tokyo a generation earlier with a powerful mind blast. The government is try to understand and harness the power of these psychics and when they take Tetsuo, one of the bikers, to experiment on at their secret base it is up to Kaneda to rescue his friend (and impress the girl, Kel). Then Tetsuo not only gains godlike powers but goes insane and the future of everyone and everything is called into question. Ultimately, "Akira" triumphs because the story is as complex as the animation is detailed (160,000 cells). The characters might be the stereotypical conventions of the genre but Ôtomo brings nuances to all of them, sometimes through nothing more than the look on their face. "Grave of the Fireflies" is my favorite anime, but "Akira" is the most impressive I have seen to date." Even without Disc 2 in this Special Edition "Akira" rates five stars, but the extra material is extremely impressive, bearing witness to Ôtomo's obsession with cramming detail into every single frame (e.g., Hauryki-Ya, the biker's seedy bar hangout). "Akira Sound Clip" looks at the Taiko drum influenced soundtrack by Geinoh Yamashiro Gumi and there are other features, some of which were made for Japanese comic conventions, and most of which are treats for fans of Ôtomo and his film.
Rating:
Summary: The manga was better, but still worth it
Review: Don't get me wrong, I *adore* this DVD. The special features are fantastic, including things like a glossary for the vocabulary-challanged, like myself, and an interview with the guy who did the soundtrack (blanking on his name) which gives one a new appreciation for the music of Akira. Like we needed any more proof that it was a masterpiece. I probably would've given this a three, however, if it were just the movie. I saw the movie once about a year ago, and forgot most of it because I didn't understand what was going on half the time. (Although watching it in the middle of the night probably didn't help.) Then a friend handed me the manga (all six of them!) and I devoured them in three days. After that, I watched the movie again, but was somewhat disappointed, as the plotlines are subtly different between the two. But don't let me disuade you! The incredible animation and enthralling music *alone* are worth the buy. Add in the special features, and what is still a pretty damned good anime, dispite the flaws, and I don't think you could get a whole lot better.
Rating:
Summary: AKIRA - The Staple of ANIME movies
Review: I finally found a tin copy of the Akira movie and picked it up when I first laid eyes on it. There are to many things in the special features to mention of but the film itself was worth every penny. Watching Akira I felt like visiting a different world in a different time. The city is so big and the speed of the animation is like nothing I've ever seen before. Otomo who created most of the story explains his process with an hour long interview and an important lesson in doing dynamic storylines and transferring it to a film maker's order. This film in the Anime genre is a must buy or a must steal. Just see it for yourself!
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