This week I have had the chance to finally catch up on some new films both with a strong female lead, and both featuring archery.
Saw Brave at the cinema and The Hunger Games in the comfort of my own home on Blu-Ray. The sad part is I can’t say I was really blown away by either of them.
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I have been looking at the Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises and all I can say is meh! While I can appreciate what Nolan is going for and the look and feel he is striving to attain, for me it isn’t what Batman is about. For me Batman is much bigger than what he is portraying which is why when I saw the trailer for the animated version of Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” I can see something I can really enjoy.
The other day I was browsing through Wired as I often do and I came across the an article they have done on infection films, I have to admit bio-hazard films have always freaked me out which is why I enjoy watching them. For me zombie films are just an extension of the idea that a virus is out there and is ready to use you or just eat you up.. creepy.
So I was looking through the list and there are some goodies on there like “The Andromeda Strain“, “28 Days later“, and “12 Monkeys” (I have always loved the work of Terry Gilliam). But a few from the top I came across “Pontypool” and from the picture alone I thought I need to take a look at that.
It made another appearance in the current SFX magazine special on zombies at number 39 of their all time greatest zombie movies.. so it has to be worth a look.
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1974′s Space Battleship Yamato is one of the most epic, legendary anime series ever made. It’s also 26 episodes long. The 2010 live action film has to compress all of that into 138 minutes and also attempts to modernise the crew and interestingly, opts to include elements from the anime’s sequel series to boot.
It is ambitious and yet somewhat successful. I say somewhat because they have turned a space opera, a slow dramatic show that at times had me as close to tears as I’ve ever been since I saw Optimus Prime die in ’86, into a Hollywood style blockbuster.
How? why? well simple really, you can’t have anywhere near as many near destruction encounters as in the original. The Yamato doesn’t get heavily damaged and fixed again many times over, there just isn’t time. The pace of the film is understandably quick and there are many things that were cut out but I enjoyed the film and as a film it makes sense even if some f the changes may be a little hard to swallow.
In the year 2199, mankind loses their final showdown in space against invaders from the Gamilas race. With huma
n tech no match for the attackers, Captain Okita is forced to retreat to the radiation soaked Earth where humans live in underground cities after the surface was hit by radioactive meteors sent by Gamilas. Earth gets a ray of hope in the form of a capsule from Iskander, it contains a map and schematics for a wave motion engine capable of warping a ship through space and powering a canon powerful enough to destroy any Gamilus ship.
The defence force construct the Space Battleship Yamato using these plans, its mission, fight past the attackers from space and travel to Iskander and retrieve a device from the high-tech culture capable of purifying the Earth. Character wise it revolves around the hotshot ace pilot Susumu Kodai, the hard hitting love interest Yuki Mori and wise old Captain Okita and his passing of the torch to Kodai.
The whole cg look of the film’s effects seems to be lifted from the 2005 Batlestar Galactica so it isn’t the best cg you’ll have seen but then this is a Japanese movie and budget-wise can’t be expected to compete with Transformers for cg budgets and effects. The music is instrumental version of the legendary Yamato theme. I’m too old school and mis the words but duing the film the music is just modern remixes of the classic theme which is perfect as the original’s music was a masterpiece up there with Star Wars.
As for some of the more noticable character changes:
Dr Sado, the Yamato’s chief doctor and drunk in the series was a small balding drunk who was always entertaining as he hung around with his cat, the analyzer robot and a bottle of sake. In the film he becomes, well a woman who doesn’t get to do much other than stand around with her cat and a bottle of sake in homage. Not really the best of changes but in this day and age you probably couldn’t get away with the old doctor.
Analyzer goes from being a red human sized robot with perverted tendencies that hangs around with the doctor lusting after Yuki to a ummm, an artificial intelligence living in a tablet pc operated by Kodai for most of the film (but this redesign is totally redeemed near the end of the film with a super baddass upgrade).
Aihara was a guy who didn’t do much in the original series (but did more in later series), him becoming a she I can live with.
Yuki Mori has undergone some sort of personality transport and goes from lifestyle officer and nurse to fighter pilot… That said, it works for the film, if you hadn’t seen the original series you’d never know. If you have, it’s hard.
Saito is a character who was lifted out of the second season of Space Battleship Yamato, he’s less obnoxious than in the series and actually a good addition.
The commander of Gamilus, Desla is a key character of the main story in the anime, in the film, yeah not much time at all and his appearance… Well he was a blue humanoid before, he isn’t now…
Without giving too much away I’ll tell you that you can quite happily watch this film without having seen the original series, in some ways it may help. What I will also say, is that because of the way it skips large events and actually takes large chunks of Yamato 2′s ending. You can quite happily watch the series afterwards and be in for a thoroughly enjoyable story and you won’t be left thinking seen all this, you won’t have because so little of the original is in here. Is that a good thing, I don’t know, but all things considered, I just don’t think it’s possible to compress the whole story into one film and have the same impact. Instead we get a highly entertaining action packed version of Yamato which is either a great introduction, or a nice alternate telling of it for existing fans. Either way, this is one anime to live action conversion that is *gasp* actually a good film! I just hope it gets an official blu-ray release in the UK or more likely the USA.
You do not want to be on the receiving end of the Wave Motion Gun
There are some great things coming out at the moment that are worthing checking out.
Yet another edition of Akira you just have to buy. Talking to Sideswipe today this is this will be the firth time he has bought it, the third time for me.
A bargain too. Get it from Play for £17.99
As you may or may now know I am a dedicated lover of Akira I am very choosy about what Akira has to be in order for me to buy it. More specifically it has to be the original American dub of the film. I have seen the original Japanese version (makes a little more sense) and the improved dubbed version but I am not a fan or them. It has to be Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and most of that era or voice actors running the show. If I am not thrown back to my childhood when I watch the film I am just not interested.
What can I tell you? As far as I can tell Cameron Clarke is Keneda… that means this is the original dubbed version of the film, cleaned up, remasters and made better than ever. Check out Mr Clarkes bio on IMDB and give praise to him, he is your childhood and you don’t even know it.
Probably my favourite of all of Pixar’s work is finally coming to high definition. There is very little I can actually say about it that hasn’t been said before, it is just a great film all around and takes the usual superhero’s film and turns it on its head.
Only £15.99 from play and I think that is a deal.
Who does not love Superman on some level? For a long time I really didn’t like these films. I don’t even know why, I think it was probably because they were on so often you just become sick of them. On reflection, having seen them recently after such a long time, I have come to really love them. The special effects don’t really hold up very well, it is filled with over acting, and the stories are not very good. But that doesn’t matter, there is a joy in these films from the cheesy special effects used in the titles when John Williams score picks up and you know this is not just a film, it’s a “Motion Picture”.
Not a bad deal on play considering its 8 disks, 3 good 1 crap film. But you have to have them all. £36.99
There is a lot coming out at the moment, some of the other things I think are worth checking out:
For some strange reason this week I had an over whelming need to watch The Fifth Element. I don’t know why I just wanted to, put it on and remembered why I enjoy this film. So I was suddenly surprised when I found out this evening that it is finally coming on Blu-Ray (or should I say finally being re-issued). You can get it from Play for the reasonable price of £13.99.
This film is very special to Nikobe and I as it represents possibly the best value you can get for your money. It came out in June 1997 (wow.. that is along time ago now), and there was the first ever (and I think only) National Cinema Day. Every cinema in the country was showing their films for £1. We had both seen the trailers and posters for The Fifth Element, but the reviews were not great and the trailer was a little cryptic (they were just numbers and an element).
Neither of us had seen the full trailer (this was before the Internet at decent speeds you will remember) so we took a chance.. it was only a pound. As it turns out it is probably the best pound I have ever spent.
Right now I just don’t know, there are plenty of reviews out there of it but they are actually of the original Blu-Ray release that was revoked. That original version was pulled for a good reason, it was one of the very first Blu-Rays and as such suffered all manner of problems with its transfer to HD. Will keep looking in case some more information comes up. Again the original issue was light on features, I hope this has something better. With such a stunning sound track and amazing costumes and designs I can’t understand why you wouldn’t pack this disk with features.
No matter what it has on it I will be getting it I’m sure.
I have not been paying so much attention since these were announced, but they are now getting closer and there are three versions for your consideration. We don’t have it as bad as the US does (the two trilogy packs come out two weeks before the complete saga version), and you can pre-order right now.
You can pre order them right now on Play
Apparently the whole is worth more than the sum of the parts, of course Lucas is the only one who would think he could get away with that. No one else would sell the combined pack for more than the two pieces combined.
I don’t think I want to buy them. The original trilogy is the only one I would want, I have no interest at all in the prequels. But these are not the “Original” versions, these are the versions that have been messed about with to have various parts changed and removed. Most notably of course is the removal of Anakin from the end of Jedi which is just plain wrong.
What a sad state of affairs it is when I really have no interest in these films.
Up until late last year I think I am ashamed to say I had only ever heard the name Carl Sagan, I knew of him and had seen a little of him but knew nothing of what he had done. I actually feel quiet sad that I could get so far through my life and only find out about him now.
“It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring”
- Carl Sagan
I managed to get to see “The Green Hornet” this week (in 3D unfortunately, but more on that later). In summery it was alright, not great and definitely not worth going to the cinema to see it, especially paying the extra money for seeing it in 3D.
While it is mostly well done and the action is a lot of fun, it just doesn’t engage. The characters are interesting and two of the best you can get (Cameron Diaz and Christopher Waltz) are relegated to mostly background characters and never given the space to really show why they are stunning. Continue reading
If you haven’t heard of Sym-Bionic Titan you will soon! Then you will wonder how you ever lived without it.
This new show from Genndy Tartakovsky has only just started but it is already one of my favourite shows, fortunately for me it slots right into the “Big Giant Robot” theme perfectly.
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