Akira [Blu-ray]
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Movie Reviews of Akira [Blu-ray]
Movie Review: The ultimate anime hits Blu!
Summary: 5 Stars
In an alternate 1988 where World War III occur in Tokyo, 30 years later in 2019 as it's now dubbed Neo-Tokyo where technology roams, politicians runs the city and anti-government terrorists are hidden. A gang of bikers lead by Kaneda just had their usual battle against a rival gang called "The Clowns" until one of the good biker members named Tetsuo Shima gets into an accident, he is taken away by soldiers to a special hospital. Tetsuo goes through experimentation of a project called "The Akira Project" that gives him unique powers of ESP/telekinesis for it leaves some of his friends mainly Keneda who just fell for a girl terrorist named Keye worried. Tetsuo goes berserk with his powers as he terrorizes the city through a rampage of destruction until he can find the source of his powers known as Akira.
A brilliant, beautifully animated and visually stunning Science Fiction action thriller from Japan that is considered the ultimate anime movie ever and it is. Katsuhiro Otomo who created the manga comics in 1982 has written, produced and directed this masterpiece of cinema for it was unleashed in Japan back in 1988 to become one of the highest grossing movies in the countries history. In 1989 when it hit the United States by Streamline Pictures (An MGM company) in theaters it became a sleeper hit mainly in arthouse theaters in the cities then it took the world by storm re-establishing and making Japanimation popular. Although it's not quite as excellent as the Manga that spawned this movie, it's still a masterpiece of animation and Science Fiction that offers a complex storyline, awesome characterization, action (complete with gore), a memorable music score and it's also about questioning the existence of humanity or what if we messed with something that wasn't meant to be opened. This movie was praised and favored by many Hollywood filmmakers such as James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, The Wachowski Brothers, Michael Bay, Jonathan Mostow, Ridley and Tony Scott, Christopher Nolan and so much more as it's an influential work of art that still has it's audience today.
I remembered when i was 14 years old in May of 1996 after reading an amazing article on Japanese animation in Newsweek that stated everything from Akira, Ghost in The Shell, Totoro, Ninja Scroll, Grave of the Fireflies and others. I soon became interested as i rented this from one of the local movie rental stores and loved it! I had my share of previous experiences in anime since i was a kid with Voltron, Jack and The Beanstalk, Unico and more but Vampire Hunter D in 1993 on TBS was awesome as was Robot Carnival. This movie made me a bigger anime fan that i am today and became my favorite animated movie.
This Blu-Ray offers perfected sound and picture quality that is high definition heaven with extras being teasers and trailers with storyboards. The 2-Disc DVD set has great extras like behind the scenes documentary, still galleries, sound clip and interviews.
Get this for your high-def animation collection today as well as the DVD if you can find it.
Movie Review: Blu-Ray will be amazing, but with drawbacks.
Summary: 5 Stars
Akira is a groundbreaking movie that turned the anime genre upside down back in the late 80's. When it came to the United States it changed everything and created the fan base we all see now for Japanese animation. Akira had a lot of different themes going on that just seemed to fit right in the way they put it together. You had the dystopic Neo-Tokyo, rife with violent street gangs and militants. You had these near-omnipotent people that came from the result of the "Akira Project". You have high tech vehicles and weapons, political intrigue, and a pretty deep metaphysical element all in one movie.
The animation is still the benchmark to rate what follows with it's high detail and frame rate as well as matching dialog to animation. After all this time there are still movies and animes that come out that don't measure up. The English dialog from the original release was a bit quirky and had it's fair share of mispronunciations and stereotyping. While the newer English dub fixed most of that I feel it's a more dry version and lost a lot of the emotion the original was able to put out.
Now there is plenty to get hyped up about for this blu-ray release. For one it's going to be a completely updated remaster. Even though the Special Edition DVD was printed from a 1080p high definition master they decided to go further and use the latest technology to get the detail and color that is closest to the original cels. Sound good? But wait, there's more. The soundtrack is also getting a major remastering too. Shoji Yamashiro himself has been working on it and the result is a 192k/24bit 5.1 PCM uncompressed audio track that retains all the warmth and power of the original score. The English dub will be in Dolby TrueHD and the Japanese dub will be in Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital and two channel PCM. Wow.
Now with all that awesome remastered video and audio goodness there comes a price. No more will you get the Akira Production Report; the awesome making of documentary that was on the Special Edition DVD. Actually you won't be getting ANY of the special features found from that disk. There just isn't any more room after all that uncompressed audio! Also I don't think you will get the original English dub here either, which is a shame considering the format (the Geneon Signature Series is still the only DVD where you can get that). You will however get trailers, TV spots and a ton of production drawings though.
Akira is one of those must have movie for any anime or science fiction fan. It has set the bar for tons of movies that came after it. It's too bad this Blu-Ray release didn't come with a second disk to make room for all of the special features found in the Special Edition DVD. It also would have been nice to do away with one of the inferior Japanese dubs and make room for the original English dub. That would have made this the ultimate release.
Movie Review: AKIRA receives a phenomenal upgrade on Blu-ray
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll join the chorus of others in saying that AKIRA was my first real foray into Japanese animation, and nothing else in that spectrum -- not even Miyazaki's works -- has quite captured my imagination with the same intensity as this film. Every single element is amplified to the maximum with the apocalyptic stakes of the story, the layered storytelling, and the ferocity of technique; AKIRA is ultra-violent, ultra-detailed, ultra-colorful, and ultra-LOUD. It is nothing less than an overwhelming experience.
Which is why this Blu-ray is such a marvel. I first encountered this film on its two-disc Pioneer release, and while I thought it looked good at the time, the Blu-ray blows it out of the water. I never realized that Otomo drew these characters with irises in their eyes! Fine detail is much improved, and the colors are saturated and vibrant. While as a traditionally-animated film it lacks that three-dimensional "pop" associated with the finest live-action transfers, the visual presentation on this disc is astounding and a tremendous upgrade over the DVD.
Unfortunately, my audio set-up doesn't support the 24-bit, 192 kHz Japanese TrueHD track that everyone is raving about, but even the Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital track roared on my system. My biggest pet peeve with the Pioneer set was that the original Japanese performances were only available in the stereo track (which is also provided here in PCM), so even with this "lesser" track I am quite pleased. I've not watched the film with the English TrueHD track as I find the English dub somewhat lacking.
My only real complaint is that almost none of the special features from that Pioneer set have been carried over to this release, including the making-of documentary, the piece on the unique musical score, or the interview with Otomo. All that is here are trailers and storyboards, so if you want these features, you'll have to either keep or procure a copy of the second disc of that Pioneer set. I've got mine temporarily in a paper sleeve and plan on purchasing a two-disc Blu-ray case in the future to keep it close at hand. This is really a small grievance, however, because the presentation quality of this newest release is so wonderful. It really is the best way to enjoy AKIRA, barring a theatrical presentation.
Absolutely worth the upgrade. A phenomenal presentation of a phenomenal film.
Movie Review: Dissappointed with the new Audio.
Summary: 5 Stars
For all people who remember when Akira came to the US on VHS and loved it back then, you may find yourself watching a completely different movie with the Blu-ray version. The animation is the same, but the character's voices have all been redubbed, and done wrong. Case in point, the test subjects are all over the age of 30 (seen in the flashbacks over 30 years ago as they knew Akira) yet they have been given weak childrens voices. None of the characterssound the same or even as you would expect thenm to.
To top it all off, the dialouge has been changed. This is a good and bad thing. Good because it makes for a more cohearant story, so first time viewers know what is happening without needing to watch it 2 or 3 times. Bad because it gets prety ridiculus sometimes and doesnt seem to follow the amimation of the mouths. Some of it just seems stupid. In the opening scene when the customer enters the bar, instead of asking for "Red Bennies, 3 of them." he instead requests 3 packs of peanuts.
All in all, I was not too pleased with the blu-ray edition because besides better audio (and the new voice track) there was no goodies we've come to expect on this platform. Commercials and trailers are not that "speacial" of a feature. I would rather just transfer the VHS to DVD and call it a day.
Movie Review: The Best Anime Movie Ever Made!
Summary: 5 Stars
For years,(ever seince I was born), i've heard alot of talk about a movie named Akira, and how it was one of the greatest movies ever created. However because of it's R rating, I never could watch it. Now old enough, I bought the Blu Ray version, and was blown away! The movie's animation is amazing!, featuring ground breaking high definition for an animated film. The plot itself is pretty good as well, with many likable characters. The action (even though very violent) was pretty good, and the movie keeps you at the edge of your seat until the very end. Again this film is R rated,because of Nudity, Strong Violence, Strong Language, and some gory scenes, so if you have kids, make sure they are nowhere near the television when this film is on, for it has images, and sequences that they might have heavy nightmares about....for a while. Even I was a little creeped out from some of those scenes. Overall, I gave this film a 5/5. If your looking for an epic,suspenceful,action packed movie,Then Akira is sure to please you. Just tuck the kids in before you watch it.