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REVIEW: The Galaxy Railways DVD 1




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Whearn9999



Joined: 11 Jun 2005
Posts: 211
Location: Texas City TX
PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:03 am Reply with quote
I like this series so far. I think it has great potential. I really liked Galaxy Express 999 also, so I guess I fit the mold described in the review.

Oh, and regarding the opinion that trains in space is ludicrous,lets try to remember that this is a work of fiction. Therefore, anything's possible.
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Nagisa
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Joined: 19 Aug 2003
Posts: 6128
Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh
PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:37 am Reply with quote
Whearn9999 wrote:
Oh, and regarding the opinion that trains in space is ludicrous,lets try to remember that this is a work of fiction. Therefore, anything's possible.


Yeah, what's with the attacking of blatant creative decisions that Matsumoto's been employing since the very start? He never meant it to be practical in any sense of the word; just about the entire Matsumoto universe is intended to be escapist fantasy, not some Gasaraki or Macross Plus level exercise in "realistic" science fiction. Attacking Matsumoto for his choice to create an intentionally unrealistic and over-the-top take on science fiction & fantasy is about like attacking Lord of the Rings because Orcs & Elves aren't real.
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ChrisBeveridge



Joined: 13 Apr 2002
Posts: 162
PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 7:49 am Reply with quote
Nagisa wrote:
Whearn9999 wrote:
Oh, and regarding the opinion that trains in space is ludicrous,lets try to remember that this is a work of fiction. Therefore, anything's possible.


Yeah, what's with the attacking of blatant creative decisions that Matsumoto's been employing since the very start? He never meant it to be practical in any sense of the word; just about the entire Matsumoto universe is intended to be escapist fantasy, not some Gasaraki or Macross Plus level exercise in "realistic" science fiction. Attacking Matsumoto for his choice to create an intentionally unrealistic and over-the-top take on science fiction & fantasy is about like attacking Lord of the Rings because Orcs & Elves aren't real.


The interesting thing I found with it is that Matsumoto actually explains in the extras *why* he chose the train as his device for this kind of story way back when. I hadn't realized this with Matsumoto's works before since I'm not intimately familiar with all of them but have enjoyed a lot of what I've seen. When he talks about when he came to Tokyo after the war and saw all the devastation, seeing the trains come in again after several weeks/months and how it revitalized a devastated city inspired him as to the potential for what the rails can do.

Understanding that and his nostalgic reverence for them now some fifty years later provides a huge key to understanding why this works for him and for so many other people in the past and into the present.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 5:43 pm Reply with quote
Nagisa wrote:
Yeah, what's with the attacking of blatant creative decisions that Matsumoto's been employing since the very start? He never meant it to be practical in any sense of the word; just about the entire Matsumoto universe is intended to be escapist fantasy, not some Gasaraki or Macross Plus level exercise in "realistic" science fiction. Attacking Matsumoto for his choice to create an intentionally unrealistic and over-the-top take on science fiction & fantasy is about like attacking Lord of the Rings because Orcs & Elves aren't real.


I'm guessing you're a fan of his work?

I might buy the "escapist fantasy" excuse if the series had more of that spirit (as Galaxy Express 999 did), but what I have seen so far looks like a very standard, straigtforward, and quite serious sci-fi action-drama. (Well, except for the episode with the ghost train.) In such a series using spaceship designs which look like old-fashioned trains looks about as right to my eye as a 19th century stagecoach outfitted with a V8 engine would look in a movie like The Fast and the Furious.

And as for the analogy, Lord of the Rings is a fantasy movie, and Orcs and Elves are common fantasy elements. They're right for the setting. A steam engine flying around in space is not unless you're making a very whimsical production - and this series is anything but whimsical.

As I said in the review, though, how well this series goes over for individual viewers is going to depend heavily on what they think of Matsumoto's other works, since GR is very typical of his style. I have never been a fan of his work, and this one doesn't change my mind.
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