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REVIEW: Appleseed Blu-Ray




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JuicyB



Joined: 08 Mar 2010
Posts: 278
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 12:25 am Reply with quote
I have to agree with the final score, this was a pretty lame movie in my opinion. The only good thing I have to say about it is that it was better than Ex Machina.
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hakojo



Joined: 18 Sep 2009
Posts: 208
Location: NE Ohio.
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 12:40 am Reply with quote
JuicyB wrote:
The only good thing I have to say about it is that it was better than Ex Machina.


Agreed. Ex Machina was a shiny disaster.

I think part of the reason that this movie (and its sequel) was so lackluster is because they downplayed Briareos so much and ruined the very fun, sweet dynamic between him and Deunan. That's why I preferred that OAV from the 80's to the modern movies - the story may have been just as cliche and overly dramatic, but at least that relationship was there, and, all things considered, pretty true to how it was portrayed in the manga. The 2000 films are about Deunan; the manga was about her and Briareos as an indivisible pair, and it was a lot easier to relate to.

Like the review said, though, without this, we never would have gotten Vexille, which I consider the strongest motion-capture CG movie Japan has produced to date (although admittedly that's not saying much.)

I'm also going to encourage anyone who hasn't seen this yet and plans on watching it dubbed to stick to the Animaze dub - the Ex Machina dub cast, save for Luci Christian, was thoroughly horrible.


Last edited by hakojo on Mon May 03, 2010 12:52 am; edited 1 time in total
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Otaku_X



Joined: 25 Nov 2008
Posts: 298
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 12:44 am Reply with quote
So, this has the same dub cast as Ex Machina? I'm not planning to watch it, I was just curious.
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_V_



Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Posts: 619
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 2:04 am Reply with quote
you know, I appreciate that Section 23 actually put a decent amount of extras into this Blu-ray...

compared to the Blu-ray for Evangelion 1.11 from FUNimation., which had barely any features at all: just the 2 bare-bones featurettes from the Japanese version (an AMV and a narration-less "from cel to screen" montage) plus FUNimation trailers. It had no ADR director commentary, much less technical featurettes.

So good that they put in that effort, particularly for their first Blu-ray.


The problem is, I agree: Appleseed was simply an awful story. It might work on the "its really about the visuals and fights, forget the plot" thing, but this was *not* the sort of title you stake your reputation on:

I've seen the original DVD version, subtitled: we were laughing *at* it, not *with* it.

*Nothing* Section 23 did could have made it a good movie, the original Japanese one was just inherently goofy.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8502
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 3:12 am Reply with quote
I didn't know there was a new dub for it. I liked Jennifer Proud in the first dub. She sounded a little like a younger Wendee Lee.
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DRWii



Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 642
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 5:20 am Reply with quote
If it weren't for the god awful ending, I might have checked this edition out. I'll stick to "Ex Machina," thanks (I don't really see how anyone can think "Ex Machina" was worse than this, but hey, to each their own I guess).
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FlyingFox



Joined: 25 Jul 2009
Posts: 58
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 10:41 am Reply with quote
I remember watching this years ago on cable TV an falling asleep.
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edzieba



Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 704
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 12:14 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
But who is really going to watch this one for depth or development of story, characterizations, and philosophy anyway?
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PetrifiedJello



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 3782
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 12:38 pm Reply with quote
Funny story coming up. Last summer, I watched this on The Anime Network on Demand thinking it was going to be the old school anime. Color me surprised when I saw it was all CG based.

It was okay, but I didn't really appreciate it as much as the old OVA. Reading the review reminded me that bad content on BD is still bad content. I'm sure there are fans of this new OVA, and more power to them.

However, I don't feel HD's going to save this one with me. The story wasn't strong enough to warrant a purchase. Free? You betcha.

Nice review, Theron. Keep 'em coming, because you've alot of people to satisfy so you don't feel insulted their research ability sucks.
Razz
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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6172
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 2:55 pm Reply with quote
Hahaha!! I have to agree somewhat with edzieba's analogy.

I'm a big Shirow fan, so I'll pretty much support a lot of what he does. I did enjoy the movie but I made sure I didn't go in expecting it to be like the manga. I think this movie was closer to the established work [to some degree] than 'Ex Machina'. If you read the manga you know how involved it is. Just like 'GITS'. But the 'Appleseed' movie is nothing more than eye candy at it's best. But I commend them on doing a decent enough job to make what they wanted from the Appleseed universe work. Personally I would rather see the series established in 2D with no CGI tricks.

Well, the only thing good about BD is that you get what those call a lame story in super HD.
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luffypirate



Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 3187
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 6:27 pm Reply with quote
Bought the steelbox from Gamestop years ago for like $5. I like the packaging but the movie not so much. Glad I checked it out though.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 11:22 pm Reply with quote
hakojo wrote:
I think part of the reason that this movie (and its sequel) was so lackluster is because they downplayed Briareos so much and ruined the very fun, sweet dynamic between him and Deunan. That's why I preferred that OAV from the 80's to the modern movies - the story may have been just as cliche and overly dramatic, but at least that relationship was there, and, all things considered, pretty true to how it was portrayed in the manga. The 2000 films are about Deunan; the manga was about her and Briareos as an indivisible pair, and it was a lot easier to relate to.


Yeah, I personally prefer the OVA over the rest of the franchise as well. It's more of a buddy cop show than straight scifi. It's definitely a lot more fun. I don't particularly have an issue with the plot of the 2000 movie but the characters are tremendously dull.
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Apollo-kun



Joined: 11 Feb 2010
Posts: 1213
Location: City 7, Macross 7
PostPosted: Sun May 09, 2010 1:18 pm Reply with quote
Hm, I still own my steel-case version of this film, and the standard DVD edition of "Ex Machina", and I have to say that I thought they were both actually some pretty impressive works. Granted, they had next to none of the intellectual depth offered in the source material, but the action sequences and animation were both breathtaking. It was more something that one would watch for the visuals, and not the plot.
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