thoughts on Metropolis?

[Indyphantom]

I'm qondering about the new "Metropolis" anime that is out. Who has seen the film? Comments?

[BWilliams]

I checked out the mini disc of supplements last night, and I was amazed at how much love and care went into making this anime, and I'm not a fan of anime (the only other anime I've seen is Akira). This is nothing cheaply done, everything took real time to invest, and it shows. I also watched the first few minutes of the film, and I was really impressed with all the detail. This is one where you just want to hit the pause button on your remote and absorb all the details that went into this film.

The most atypical thing I noticed was at the beginning of the film the use of old-style ragtime jazz, very atypical for anime, yet here it works. I'm not much for Fritz Lang's Metropolis, and I've been in Superman's Metropolis for a good long time in my life (lol), but this is one Metropolis worth checking out. (I'm surprised that they didn't sneak a Superman reference into the film beyond the name of the city.)

The entire giant ziggurat structure reminded me of another great ziggurat from the past - the Tower of Babel from the Book of Genesis. That was the first thing that came into my mind when I saw the first few minutes of the film.

One thing to mention here: I was a little concerned when I put in the mini disc into my DVD player, that it might not fit. It just barely fit, yet the resolution came out perfectly. The size issue of the mini disc and the adaptability into regular DVD players may be something other DVD owners might be concerned with, since this is the first mini DVD ever that I know of. A sign of things to come, perhaps?

Definitely one impressive anime, I must admit.

[egman]

I bought yesterday and viewed a good 15 or 20 minutes of it last night. I hope to go through the rest tonight. But what I say was great. The sense of detail is enourmous. I watch a scene where the was a big fire and these small robots came together to form a giant fire hydrant. That was quite a scene of imagination.

The transfer is not as solid as I would like when compared to other high profile releases like Princess Mononoke and Akira, but I think stays true to the vision of the film.

The soundtrack (dts) on the other hand is near reference. Switching between the 2 tracks 5.1 tracks on the fly, it was apparent who was victor.

I also liked the fold out packaging of the DVD. It feels pretty strudy and shows me that Col/Tri can actually make good covers ( when compared to abominations like the Patriot and Real Genius). I only wish they provide a slip cover for the fold out for even better protection.

Now I can't wait to get back home and watch it.

[IKEA_boy]

I watched it over the weekend. I thought the story behind it was pretty cliched ( Robots, robot revolution, etc. ) but the art was awesome. Everything looks like a painting. I'll have to check it out again before I decide to buy it. BTW is that an LE?

[deviati0n]

What a great movie. I picked it up yesterday at Circuit City for $16.99. Quite a deal. BTW, the mini-DVD fits perfectly in my Panasonic GameQube

[Prancer]

Ooh, I am going to be purchasing this anime blindly. It sounds like the animation was done very well. I enjoyed Vampire Hunter D because it had style and the animations were beautiful. I hope Metropolis will be just as beautiful.

[Draysoth]

Gorgeous movie, I love the music styling... the movie itself I didn't enjoy so much tho... I felt it was very overhyped.

Good anime, not near as great as reported imho...

I much preferred A Wind Named Amnesia, Akira... and sillier fare such as Goldenboy.

[sivart22]

saw this at my local Wal mart today...

Anime at Wal-Mart ??? ??!

[IKEA_boy]

Originally posted by Draysoth
and sillier fare such as Goldenboy.

i gotta pick that first volume up. media play had it out early for 30 ... so tempting

[pdjennings]

Just finished watching it....

Holy cow!

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!

and I swear it had one of the most active sound fields I've ever heard!! Plus... I enjoyed the fact that you can swap the audio tracks on the fly.... you can really pick up the differences. The was amazing.

edit to add: The "Can't Stop Loving You" finale sequence is probably one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen. Breathtaking.

[DVDman70]

Sivart22 sure Anime at Wal-mart! I work at the local one here and we have been getting more and more Anime in slowly but surely. We have Akira, Metropolis, Princess Monoake, Pokemon movies among others. I think whoever is doing the buying for Wal-mart now has a small taste for this genre, which is a good thing for us!

[interfxrence]

i'm not big on anime myself, but i went for it from hearing reviews... picked it up on tuesday, watched it today. as ikea stated, the story is a bit cliched... feels like demollition man [i think that was it] but with robots or something (: what a horrible score. didn't fit well at all... and as for the animation: incredible.

definitely worth checking.

[Prancer]

Now I am thinking about not getting this but renting it eventually. Since certain members say the story is terrible I think I may not purchase this blindly now.

[IKEA_boy]

Originally posted by interfxrence
what a horrible score. didn't fit well at all...

i thought the score was fitting for that old time 30s vibe. (dont quote me on that decade though) as soon as i heard the first song i thought of old time new york/ellis island

[Flash Ahhh]

I seen this for $19.99 at Coscto and Walmart, and it is $24.99 at Best Buy.

I got the Costcoo one.

Question for you all. My copy is in a paper fold out arrangement, much like Se7en or Fight Club, but there is no outer slip sleeve. Did you guys get a sleeve, or is this a sleeveless DVD?

Also I was shocked to see the 2nd disk was a mini-DVD.

-Flash

[pdjennings]

t'is sleeveless.

[solid-jp]

Watched half of it last night. Fell asleep during the last half, not because of the movie but because I was really tired. Loved what I saw so far. Kinda slow at the begining but picks up after that. I watched the American translated version which is awesome. I figured it would suck (like they usually do in the translation) but it didin't. I was some of the best acting I have ever heard. Definitely a must buy and I'm not a big Anime lover.

[BWilliams]

I've had a chance to watch a lot more of Metropolis, and I'm still very impressed with it. I see hints of Akira in it with the gang's revolution in the film - in this case, the gang leading the lower class in their revolution against the mechanics to reclaim their heritage in the upper class. It's also a touching love story between Tima and Kenichi, and Tima is reminiscent of E.T., Data, and the android from A.I., a being longing to love and be accepted for who she is despite her android origins.

It was interesting for me to see that my earlier reference to the Tower of Babel was on the money in the movie. However, I have to disagree with the gang leader's description of what happened with the Tower of Babel's downfall, as Genesis 11 describes how God confused the people's one language (which modern-day linguists refer to as Proto-Indo-European) into many and scattered the people to many different lands. That's one aspect that should have been respected in the movie, in my opinion.

Yet in another view, the Ziggurat reminds me of another giant structure, the World Trade Center - may she and its victims rest in peace.

And there's my two cents more on Metropolis. I've got 47 more minutes to go, so don't spoil it here just yet!

[Indyphantom]

still can't decide, but I think I'll pick it up...:p

[SephirothClone]

I liked it a lot, not as detailed as Vampired Hunter D: Bloodlust, and not as charecter developed as the Bebop movie, but still very good. I still think that manga is WAY better than the movie, ill pick it up from Costco next week.
Just remmeber... The Bebop movie will blow all anime movies (other than EVA: D&R) away!! Just watch...

[BWilliams]

Well, I got finished watching Metropolis earlier this evening, and I was surprised at how everything seemed to come together in the end. The ending of how technology destroys itself, leaving humanity to rebuild from its ashes, is a universal theme not just in anime but also in life, and it's present here in Metropolis. The love story aspect between Kenichi and Tima was really interesting in how it evolved, and seeing what Tima could evolve into reminded me of Data's search for humanity in Star Trek: TNG, not quite human but more than a machine.

And the climax was out of other anime films with large explosions and destruction, but the use of Ray Charles' "I Can't Stop Loving You" seemed to fit the finale well, another atypical musical selection for this movie.

The only thing that was left out of the movie was who did the English language translations. I had seen that in the Akira SE previously, and it should have been done for Metropolis. A minor nitpick, but otherwise a great anime.

And the interviews with Rintaro and Mr. Otomo were really good. It's ironic that Osama Tezuka would probably have not approved of a feature film based on Metropolis, but the way it works, I'm sure that Mr. Tezuka would have been proud.

[interfxrence]

Originally posted by BWilliams
The only thing that was left out of the movie was who did the English language translations. I had seen that in the Akira SE previously, and it should have been done for Metropolis. A minor nitpick, but otherwise a great anime.

luckily i dug through the disc before actually playing. there are TWO SETS of english subtitles. the original, and the theatrical. default was the original -- but i went with the theatrical. didn't notice anything too bad with them. what did you watch it with?


BTW next time you mention an ending of a movie, be kind to others and just put up a 'spoiler alert' notice eh.

later...

[marty]

The movie was very pretty, but seemed to be missing something.
I'd give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5