Escaflowne - The Movie (Ultimate Edition 3-Disc Set)
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List Price: $54.98
Features
• Animated
• Box set
• Color
• Dolby
• DTS Surround Sound
• DVD-Video
• Letterboxed
• Limited Edition
• Widescreen
• NTSC
In Theaters : 2000
DVD Release : 23 July, 2002 |
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Escaflowne - The Movie (Ultimate Edition 3-Disc Set) description
Escaflowne is a sprawling adventure saga that infuses sword-and-sorcery and mecha elements into the popular "magical girl" anime genre. The girl is Hitomi Kanzaki (voice by Kelly Sheridan), a withdrawn teenager who wishes she could just leave everything behind and vanish. When she's magically transported to the alternate world of Gaia, she gets her wish--in spades. The dashing Van (Kirby Morrow) of the White Dragon Clan is pitted against his twisted brother Folken (Paul Dobson), the leader of the Black Dragon Clan, in a succession war that threatens the very existence of Gaia. Hitomi is hailed as the long-awaited "Wing Goddess," and her power over the invincible dragon-mecha suit Escaflowne confirms her status. Although the tangled story line has been pared down, the feature remains a reworking of the 26-part TV series The Vision of Escaflowne, which aired briefly on Fox Kids and is available on DVD. Fans of the television series will find that many of the familiar characters have been redesigned and reduced to minor roles, among them Allen, Princess Millerna, Dryden, Merle, Naria, and Eriya. Some of the story's more outré elements have been dropped, but there are still more prophecies, conflicts, and relationships than the filmmakers can resolve satisfactorily in 96 minutes, despite a pat happy ending. Escaflowne boasts some impressive action sequences, which Kazuki Akane directs with panache. The film opens with a spectacular sword fight, as Van single-handedly dispatches the guards on an enemy airship to capture Escaflowne. MPAA rating: PG-13. Contains considerable violence. --Charles Solomon |
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Escaflowne - The Movie (Ultimate Edition 3-Disc Set) Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
A good showing, despite a few negative reviews on this site.
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So, okay, it seems a few people here don't "get" anime and some of the rules, or lack thereof.
Whereas in the "western" audience, there is a certain expectation of continuity or similarity with respect to "plot" or "world," it seems that manga and/or anime is not necessarily bound to this convention. IE, similar or the same characters may be put into a similarly named world in different series. However, it's not always the case that continuity from one series spills over into the next. One might think of anime an an infinite number of "alternate realities." IE, the people and names may be the same, but the overall history and current events may be wholly different.
That said, anime movies are sometimes (but not always) a "re-imagining" or "alternate reality" of what is contained in a given "series" or "complete collection." For example [[ASIN:B000IMVE3M Magic Knight Rayearth: TV Series Season One and Two]] vs. [[ASIN:B00008V2V3 Rayearth]]. Both are based on the same world and concept, but take it in rather different directions with different themes and execution.
So, in saying that a movie is disappointing because it doesn't follow the same continuity as the main series, one is only showing one's ignorance of how anime works. Personally, I think the movie stands on its own just as well as any other anime movie (regardless of whether it's attached to a specific "series" or not).
I specifically watched the movie FIRST in order to not be tainted ni my expectations of what the movie should be. At least partly because others had mentioned online that the movie is significantly different from the series. Being something of a recent anime fan, I'm not off-put by the dissimilarity, as I understand there are differences between eastern "anime" and western "cartoons" or "animated series."
That said, the movie is considerably darker than series. There may be some reliance on viewers having seen the series. But it provides as much "back story" as many other anime movies (IE, very little). This isn't entirely unexpected to the seasoned anime watcher (which I'm slowly becoming).
The visuals are decent, on par with stuff from the same period. The story is interesting, if about as believable as many other animes (marginally). I might have preferred a bit more, and might have been rather reminded of "Magic Knight Rayearth" in some of the themes. But overall, I wasn't disappointed.
That said, if you go into watching it with the expectation of it being exactly the same as or a continuation of the series, you're both short changing yourself and the film. Give it a chance on its own merits, with the understanding that it's its own work. Loosely based off the original mangas (japanese comics), but not "the same as" the series (different continuity, look, feel and themes). Call them "separate but equal" if you will.
Overall, I was pleased with it. |
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Escaflowne - The Movie (Ultimate Edition 3-Disc Set) dvd movie.