 "Crossover" | 2008-05-03 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
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. |
| |
 "A good showing, despite a few negative reviews on this site." | 2007-09-17 |
| - Reviewed By mgmirkin |
So, okay, it seems a few people here don't "get" anime and some of the rules, or lack thereof.
Whereas in the "western" audience, there is a certain expectation of continuity or similarity with respect to "plot" or "world," it seems that manga and/or anime is not necessarily bound to this convention. IE, similar or the same characters may be put into a similarly named world in different series. However, it's not always the case that continuity from one series spills over into the next. One might think of anime an an infinite number of "alternate realities." IE, the people and names may be the same, but the overall history and current events may be wholly different.
That said, anime movies are sometimes (but not always) a "re-imagining" or "alternate reality" of what is contained in a given "series" or "complete collection." For example Magic Knight Rayearth: TV Series Season One and Two vs. Rayearth. Both are based on the same world and concept, but take it in rather different directions with different themes and execution.
So, in saying that a movie is disappointing because it doesn't follow the same continuity as the main series, one is only showing one's ignorance of how anime works. Personally, I think the movie stands on its own just as well as any other anime movie (regardless of whether it's attached to a specific "series" or not).
I specifically watched the movie FIRST in order to not be tainted ni my expectations of what the movie should be. At least partly because others had mentioned online that the movie is significantly different from the series. Being something of a recent anime fan, I'm not off-put by the dissimilarity, as I understand there are differences between eastern "anime" and western "cartoons" or "animated series."
That said, the movie is considerably darker than series. There may be some reliance on viewers having seen the series. But it provides as much "back story" as many other anime movies (IE, very little). This isn't entirely unexpected to the seasoned anime watcher (which I'm slowly becoming).
The visuals are decent, on par with stuff from the same period. The story is interesting, if about as believable as many other animes (marginally). I might have preferred a bit more, and might have been rather reminded of "Magic Knight Rayearth" in some of the themes. But overall, I wasn't disappointed.
That said, if you go into watching it with the expectation of it being exactly the same as or a continuation of the series, you're both short changing yourself and the film. Give it a chance on its own merits, with the understanding that it's its own work. Loosely based off the original mangas (japanese comics), but not "the same as" the series (different continuity, look, feel and themes). Call them "separate but equal" if you will.
Overall, I was pleased with it. |
| |
| "Not much to say..." | 2007-08-01 |
| - Reviewed By paulofthejungle |
| As far as anime movies go this one isn't ground breaking. It has the impact of a feather dropped from waist height. If you purchased the Escaflone series be happy with the great series you just purchased, and let this one sit in amazons warehouse. |
| |
 "This is my armor" | 2007-06-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: AX5YD34WPNDNO |
| This anime movie based on the popular japanese cartoon series is one of the best. The armor is amazing and very different from most mechas seen in anime. I give this anime the tops in stars. |
| |
| "Different but Enjoyable" | 2007-04-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A29RB8IW05U93A |
| Excellent movie! I f your like me and get confused easily I suggest that you watch the series first. The movie is different from the series and many people may not likle the changes of the characters personalities, but I enjoyed the story going in a different direction. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. |
| |
| "Do not be discouraged!" | 2007-03-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1ELX0Q31RBGSZ |
| The Escaflowne movie is one of the animes that I would definitely advise to see. It is beautiful, has a strong storyline (unlike the tv series), has lovely music and lots of action. Please, do not be discouraged by negative reviews from fans of the tv series, who just cannot seem to understand that 120 minutes of the movie time is not meant to include the character development of the soap opera that is the tv series. I found most of the characters in the movie much more interesting and less annoying than in the series. Except for perhaps Hitomi who is pretty annoying in both. But besides that - a definite improvement from tv series. |
| |
| "Good anime series gets a decent movie" | 2007-03-26 |
| - Reviewed By afiireinsideme |
I was into the Escaflowne anime series on tv, it was impressive, from the story, to the music, to the battles. For a while, Escaflowne had its anime series on television, on saturdays, and it was a very good alternative to the shallow cartoons that were on. Strangly the show stoped airing over here, just when i was getting more and more interested.
Anyways... i discovered the Escaflowne movie a while ago and recently found it on sale at the store, and i was looking for a good anime film to buy, and i had good memory of Escaflowne as a quality anime show, one of the very few well done animated shows aired in the USA, and id allways wanted to see the movie, i figured it would be epic and powerfull, like award winning.
It turns out that this movie sums up the Escaflowne story. Without giving away anything, it starts out with Hitomi on Earth and somehow being transported eventually, to this other world and meeting these new people. So it doesnt apparently start where the series left off, its the story of Escaflowne condensed to fit into movie form.
The animation is not bad...but isnt exactly theatrical release quality, i was expecting something on the lines of Miyazaki quality, but the animation is just a bit above the anime series, with the characters looking slighty more matured and a bit more well defined. Im not sure, but maybe this was made for DVD, perhaps it didnt get the big motion picture treatment in Japan.
The characters are allright, all the voice actors who did the characters on the anime series reprise their roles i believe for the movie, like Lord Vonn, Hitomi and Meryl, not to mention the villians.
There is battle between Lord Vonn and one of the bad guys, where Vonn uses Escaflowne against the bad guys own armor, right before the confrontation with Lord Vulcan ( Vonns older brother). Its good, but it made me wanna see more. There wasnt much battles in the movie, it was more story driven i guess.
The story is not bad, it just made me feel kinda bored in areas, i didnt feel too involved in it. But thats just me. It just didnt unfold as great or as grand as it seemed it would judging from the movies trailor.
The music in this movie is good, i really like Escaflowne theme that has the choral singing, its one of the most impressive themes ive heard for an anime.
The series of Escaflowne is definatly worth watching if you like this movie but felt it lacked some things or if you felt like you didnt get enuff. The anime series is real well done, and has intense battles, a complex enjoyable story and even more memorable music, like its opening intro music. Very good.
The one thing the movie has over the series is its graphic violence. Its done in good taste, and it is showcased in a powerfull way. The blood that is spilled in this movie is neccasary and respects your intelligence.
So, in the end i think it was an allright movie. I dont see myself watching it again anytime soon in the future, but its an okay fantasy/mecha anime movie. |
| |
| "My brush with Destiny" | 2007-03-06 |
| - Reviewed By cynnieme |
I was astounded to find, when I ordered and watched this Special Edition of the Escaflowne Movie, in the footage of the US premiere at Anime Expo 2000, I am on the DVD during the footage of "The Line" and the Director's question and answer period before the Midnight showing of the movie. My kids and I are in the second row of the audience and can be seen during the audience entrance and the question period where the camera pans toward the back and back up front when they speak to another technician at the rear of the room. It is our moment of glory LOL.. I will never forget the opening scenes sitting there at the Disneyland Hotel. The beat of drums and the sound of the airships' engines. The thrill of expectation, to see the movie for the very first time of my favorite anime.
I have to say, I was disappointed in the changes made for the big screen, the character's personalities and character designs are not the same. A LOT of content was naturally condensed and dropped, due to the limitations of time, but Millerna as a space slut was NOT an improvement. Oh well, at least we're on the DVD. And they fixed the Pinnochio noses.... |
| |
 "The entire Escaflowne universe in a can..." | 2005-09-06 |
| - Reviewed By acoma4 |
First off, I am a fan of the original series - Escaflowne. It's by far up there in the top 5 of favorite anime. It had a lot of memorable characters, good action and a pretty decent story.
This is not an original Escaflowne. It does not take part before or after the series. It doesn't take place somewhere in the middle. It takes most of the main characters from the series and totally retells the entire story to fit into a movie. The result? Not a fan. Basically, because the entire movie you see a 30 second introduction to old characters in suped up animation with no depth. For example, the twin cat girls that were so fond Lord Falcon, show up instead for a brief 30 seconds as singers on stage in a bar. Ummm yuck. Lots of the more memorable characters are subjugated to this. Perhaps, if you seen this first it would be a decent watch. For myself, I was very disappointed.
The good points of this movie is the animation is upgraded and the soundtrack is well done.
Even as a standalone product, the movie has no flow or depth to it. It's basically just a compressed retelling of Escaflowne. I'd rent this and skip it as a purchase. If you want to purchase something, get the Escaflowne series. You will be much happier. |
| |
| "A good addition to the series" | 2004-12-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3B97VI1KMKRL2 |
| I liked the movie but not as much as i did the series. The movie basically compacts the entire television series into a 2 1/2 hour movie and changes the characters we've grown to love in the series to, almost seeminly, dark doplegangers. Hitomi is suicidal and Van is a dark brooding boy who cares nothing about others, until of course he meets hitomi. And what of escaflowne itself? It's a god of either death or rebirth....wow....go figure. I love the music init if your into that kind of thing...but i found the movie to be not like much of the anime at all. So if you were expection the movie to be a continuation of the television sereia im sorry to dissapoint you. All in all, the movie is basically like an alternate or parralle universe to what happens in the series. It is good, so i would recommend watching it...i loved it myself but was dissipointed in the chnage in character profiles. |
| |
Expedited Available
