Forum - View topicREVIEW: Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai
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xScar
 Posts: 288 |
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Gah, you are so completely right. I.G + Oshii = win -- usually. Before the movie actually made its way out on DVD/BD in Japan a few months ago, I was expecting something epic. A Musashi movie being animated by I.G could be nothing less than amazing, or so I though. Plus I had been on a recent Vagabond high, so I was really pumped up to check the film out. The whole doc is just -off-. I could never really get into the groove of it, and like you said Tim, it might just be because I'm America and have not grown up hearing the tales of Musashi over and over again. The music is also whack. Going off with the classic Japanese music with long streams of that drawn-out lines of lyrics. Just really seemed funky. The movie would have been amazing if they just told a story about him, using the animation style that those few cut scenes of his battles use, but I guess Oshii just wanted to put his views out in a movie format like he's use to rather than a book. |
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Reaper gI
Posts: 299 Location: UK |
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It just felt like some cheap, made to be shown to a class of secondary schoolers for a history lesson, documentary.
I'm sure it would be great if I was interested in the history of Musashi otherwise erm... well at least I managed to stay awake*. It feels intentionaly overly clean, the fights have nearly no violence in them or blood. The comedy elements from our presenter again seem overly PG. It just feels like this is purely an educational film of the most boring and tedious kind. It had opertunity to keep your attention using action which it didn't use and instead just kept changing styles. *NB I watched this at like 3-4 AM or something, my attention to detail may have faded slightly. |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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That's disappointing. I was looking forward to this. I guess it's still worth seeing but probably won't live up to my initial high expectations.
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Pandadice
 Posts: 182 |
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Yeah, I had a feeling it being done by I.G. could end up questionable.. Studio 4°C should've done it in the same way they did Hijikata Toshizo.. That would've been incredible
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Brack
 Posts: 292 Location: UK |
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The problem is definitely in the execution rather than the concept.
Bob Godfrey's Oscar-winning Great is probably the closest thing to it - it too uses mixed media animation, tongue in cheek narrators and song to tell the life story of a historical figure (Isambard Kingdom Brunel in this case), but it did it to much better effect. The narrators are the big weak point in Musashi, there's nothing wrong with the vocal performances, or indeed the script for them, but the execution of the CG animation for them is glaringly sub-par. It's still definitely worth seeing if you have interest in the subject matter or in animated documentaries, but it's not likely to convert anyone outside those interest groups. |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Otaku no Video wasn't a documentary; it was a plain narrative with fake interviews dispersed throughout.
I think you meant to say the former. |
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Daimao Raki
 Posts: 593 Location: Dark Side of the Moon |
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I'd buy this.
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KanjiiZ
 Posts: 661 Location: Central Coast |
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Where and when can I buy this? The way the review was written it sounds like an anime for me.
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xScar
Posts: 288 |
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Only in Japan and HK at the moment, I suppose. Manga UK is supposed to be releasing it later this year, but no date has been set for a release. |
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LauraOrganaSolo
 Posts: 110 |
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Although this just about had me at "Musashi," reading this really got my attention:
I love jidaigeki and samurai culture, as it were, but the way the narration sounds with inopportune slapstick kind of puts me off. I'd like to give it a chance either way though. Thanks for the review of this very niche-sounding title. |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2316 Location: Online Terminal |
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Unless there are two women having an awkwardly-staged hatchet fight, I'm going to pass.
(Why yes, I watched the original movies. Why do you ask?) |
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Sam Murai
 Posts: 1051 |
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That certainly sounds like a funky mix, and one straight up Oshii's experimental alley. Too bad it sounds like it suffers from the same lack of cohesion and execution that seem to accompany his more recent work. I still look forward to seeing it, though, despite the mixed review and the increased dread of watching an ill-formed experimental film. Those types can be a real gamble: when they click, they're often memorable, and when they don't, they're often miserable. Not to mention, experiences vary...
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albanian
 Posts: 133 Location: UK |
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It was released last week. My copy from Manga UK is currently sitting on my desk waiting for the next window in my viewing schedule. |
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Alessa_SH1
 Posts: 78 Location: 界王神界 |
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Nah the old man and his grand daughter always interrupting the segments of miyamoto with their stupid comedy felt distracting at times, just didn't fit with what they were saying about miyamoto at that moment...
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