Escaflowne - The Movie

Escaflowne - The Movie
by Kazuki Akane

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Kelly Sheridan, Kirby Morrow, Venus Terzo
Director: Kazuki Akane
Composer: Yoko Kanno
Composer: Hajime Mizoguchi
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Japanese (Original Language)
Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-07-23
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Bandai

Movie Reviews of Escaflowne - The Movie

Movie Review: Crossover
Summary: 3 Stars

If you like animes that have crossed over the movies, then you'll love Escaflowne.

Upon watching the opening scenes of this movie, the feeling of the grassy-mountainous-hills of a foreign country, is immediate. The scene is interrupted though when a warlike airship appears, and the feeling of peace is completely lost.

This here sets up the main theme of the movie. War is ravishing the world of Gaia (or Gaea) and the fallen and now King, Van, is trying to regain is honor and slay his brother, who massacred the royal family, by using the legendary mecha called Escaflowne.

In enters the heroine, Hitomi. A normal Japanese high school student who has the same reoccurring childhood dream all of her life. Life goes normal for Hitomi until she starts hearing voices and is inevitably transported to Gaia. Upon arrival, Hitomi discovers that she is locked inside the cockpit of Escaflowne, which by now, Van has discovered and is calling for it's aid. When the cockpit opens, Van and Hitomi meet, and Van instantly deems her the Goddess of Wings. The Goddess of Wings, as explained later on, is seen as an omen. In Gaia, when the Goddess of Wings appears, she will us the power of Escaflowne to destroy the entire planet and then to start civilization all over once again.

Beautifully animated, Escaflowne is just one of those crossover movies that you don't want to miss. Just because its an anime, doesn't mean that it doesn't target situations in real life. War, revenge, honor, love, and hope are some of the themes that are depicted in this movie.

On the downside, you're kinda left in the dark. Literally and metaphorically. If you haven't watched the anime series, you're probably not going to have any idea to what the story is REALLY about. So if you want to know what is going on, what the story is about and who the characters are, you might want to look it up. And no doubt about it, the artwork and animation is wonderfully created, but I personally think that it's often too dark and the scenes are sometimes too dark and you can't tell what is what.

All in all though, I found that Escaflowne is one of those animes that was captured and reproduced very well as a movie. It's a must see.

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All Escaflowne - The Movie Movie Reviews

Summary of Escaflowne - The Movie

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 outr? 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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