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Appleseed Ex Machina [Blu-ray] 
Actors : Kara Greenberg
Director : Shinji Aramaki
Studio : Warner Home Video
by Warner Home Video
Brand : Warner Brothers
Release Date : 2008-03-11
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours and eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 0085391200666
UPC : 085391200666
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 64 reviews)
List Price : $34.99
Our Price : $19.95
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Product Description |
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The next installment in the Appleseed franchise Appleseed: Ex Machinaavailable on DVD! Produced by John Woo and Directed by Shinji Aramakiand featuring next generation CG technology Appleseed: Ex Machina isback bigger and badder!Based on the manga from reknown creator Shirow Masamune in this movieDeunan and Briareos are both partners and lovers. As members of ESWATthe elite forces serving Olympus they are deployed everywhere troublestrikes. The two fighters find their partnership tested in a new way bythe arrival of Tereus who uncannily resembles Briareos before thewartime injuries that led to his becoming a cyborg. At the same timeOlympus finds itself under a stealth attack . Cyborg terrorism deadlynanotech zealots and rioting citizens are just some of the threats thatDeunan must contend with as she fights to save Olympus.System Requirements:Running Time: 104 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/FANTASY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 085391200666 Manufacturer No: 120066 |
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Americancivilwar.com |
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Produced by John Woo and directed by Shinji Aramaki, Appleseed Ex Machina (2007) ranks as the most elaborate, stylish, and violent of the three adaptations of Masamune Shirow's manga. When it was released in 1988, the original Appleseed felt like a summary of anime's past, while Akira pointed the way to the future. The second Appleseed (2004), also directed by Aramaki, was an unimpressive motion-capture CG feature that borrowed elements from other sci-fi anime. In this latest incarnation, Deunan, Briareos, and Tereus of the E.S.W.A.T. team are charged with preserving the peace of the city-state of Olympus, a hi-tech paradise on a largely ruined Earth. Screenwriters Kiyoto Takeuchi and Todd W. Russell have given the story a contemporary twist, adding attacks by "cyborg terrorists" and an effort by the ruler of Olympus to control a world-wide satellite surveillance system. When cyborgs and human launch coordinated attacks on the government headquarters in Olympus, Deunan, Briareos, and Tereus swing into action against a mysterious enemy. The plot has little in common with the earlier films: the Appleseed technology that was at the core of the story isn't even mentioned. The look, tone, and characters in Ex Machina recall Shirow's Ghost in the Shell, rather than the original Appleseed. Not surprisingly, the elaborately choreographed fight scenes reflect Woo's signature style, with slo-mo martial-arts combat, close-ups of falling shells, dynamic camerawork, and all-out gun battles. But the weightless movements of the motion-capture characters and the limited rendering of the skin textures gives Appleseed Ex Machina the feel of an extremely elaborate computer game. Despite the limits of the mo-cap technology, Appleseed Ex Machina is a fast-past, take-no-prisoners cinematic adventure that will delight action-movie fans as well as anime lovers. (Rated PG-13: violence, violence against women, profanity, grotesque imagery, potentially offensive religious imagery.) --Charles Solomon |
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A Worthy Installment |
Appleseed Ex Machina is the third movie in the series. As the movies have been substantially spread apart in their realease dates, there are substantial differences in animation between them. The second movie was a huge step up from the first, melding cinematic graphics with excellent animations. Ex Machina takes it yet a step further: cinematic graphics are used exclusively, with no animation. At first I didn't think I'd care for it as much, but the characters have been infused with an even further level of development through the plot and scripting. I was also pleased to find that the annoyance level was turned down (i.e. main character didn't yell out 'Briarios' name 300 times through the movie). All in all, I felt this movie was a worthy installment in the Appleseed series. Here's a brief breakdown of the movie for ease of reading....
-Graphics/Animation: Top notch, character realism nearly rivals that of FF Advent Children.
-Music: Heavy hitting techno tunes for the action sequences; quite pleasing
-Scripting/Voices: Admirable job on voices and scripting, no complaints
-Plot/Character Development: Great focus on main characters, although almost to the point of making the plot a bit hazy. If you liked GITS storyline concepts, you'll definitely like this one; very in depth.
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Amazing... best anime since the original |
If you saw the original Apleseed, you will definitely enjoy its sequel, Ex Machina. The characters are back in unbelievable visual and audio quality. Excellent plot as well; highly enjoyable to any anime/sci-fi fan!
Now that HD-DVD is going the way of the dodo, you can get a great deal on this movie if you already own a player. |
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Looks great, not the best story. |
The CG animation is better then ever (not cell-shaded like the last) and looks fantastic. Shirow's art never looked so good. The previous film though, was much better written and a lot less predictable. Ex Machina has distinct story holes and an overly-contrived setup that makes the whole thing seem forced. Story that should have been more developed wasn't and plot that should have been trimmed was needlessly stretched.
I enjoyed the art, as I usually do with Shirow's work, and the voice acting wasn't bad either, but don't expect a brilliant screenplay. With the right expectations it's enjoyable for most any Otaku. |
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Sci-fi, hi-fi action |
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It seems that people either love or hate this revived anime franchise. I for one, find myself drawn into its post-apocalyptic world of technological marvels and complex political struggles. The emotional side of this film is much more developed than in the previous installment. The characters' personalities and flaws are explored on a deeper and more satisfying level. But not to worry fellow action buffs, there are still plenty of genre-defining fight sequences that take full advantage of the innovative computer assisted graphics. The influence of the inclusion of legendary director John Woo on the project makes itself apparent in scenes of gun-slinging glory. Anime fans, show this one to your non-believer friends for a sure convert. The attention to detail and sophisticated graphic rendering should help displace that "cartoons-are-for-kids" mentality. All-in-all, Ex Machina is a welcome amendment to the series. |
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Skim Milk from the Cash Cow |
This would've made an *excellent* shooter/RPG. The CGI is almost identical to what you see in good video games these days, and the music is on about that level. The settings would've made for great game battles. As a movie... well, let me give you the good and the bad:
The Good:
*Getting to see Deunan and Briareos fight as a team. On their own, they're incredible. Working together, they're devastating. These two could take out half an army on their own.
* The fight scenes in general are slick and polished, at times reminiscent of "Equilibrium" and "The Matrix".
*The settings: We're shown a bit more of Olympus, and it's high-tech, without being overwhelming. Battle sites are appropriately menacing and--what I especially liked--flying debris/shrapnel posed an actual threat to the characters fighting, a degree of realism most anime, CGI, or even live action movies gloss over except when the plot calls for it.
*THe comraderie between the ESWAT members. You really got the feeling they were a team *and* a dedicated branch of law enforcement.
*Glimpses of the world outside of Olympus. Where the first movie gave us just a glimpse of the Badlands, here we had references to and characters from Poseidon.
*Bioroids acting like...well, Bioroids, as opposed to escapees from 'The Stepford Wives'.
The Bad
*The changes in voice actors. I'm with pretty much everyone else on this. This movie would've been better if they'd kept as much of the old English-speaking cast. There are many familiar (to anime fans) voices in this movie, but they don't mesh well with memories of previous movies. I especially missed Jamieson Price as Briareos.
*Changes in character design: Athena and Nike are recognizeable only by their hair color and name. Even Deunan's eye color looked different. Many of the characters looked more like rubbery 'posable dolls', or wax figures. (Especially that close-up of Deunan at the party. She reminded me of a Barbie doll.)
*The music. I can't say much about it, as none of it made any kind of impact on me. It was background noise, nothing more. It didn't even help set the mood (aside from one awful attempt at choral music at a critical moment that failed badly).
*Failure to develop current plots, much less include anything from before.
The introduction of Tereus looked promising, but they did almost nothing with him. He looked like and often acted like Briareos, but there was no development beyond a single uncomfortable moment between himself and Deunan in a resturant. Briareos's later outburst seemed to come out of nowhere, as there'd been no interaction between Deunan and Tereus to warrant it. (That he'd witnessed, anyway.) Tereus is supposed to have 'taken a shine' to Deunan, but it wasn't portrayed very well at all. I saw very little that couldn't be called concerned professionalism.
Tereus himself was lackluster, his sole contribution to the story was that he looked like the original Briareos. They could have used this opportunity to explore the ethics of the proposed addition to Bioroids to ESWAT, and what problems their emotional inhibitions might bring. There could have been an opportunity for debate over the ethics of using genetic material from still-living people to create Bioroids. (And what happened to 'all Bioroids have some of Karl's DNA in them'?)
Even more disappointing, the key element from the second movie, the result of the Appleseed data, is non-existant. They're still growing Bioroids in vats. While the changes in the appearance of Olympus could have easily been explained away by the fighting in the previous movie, it then makes no sense to ignore that key plot point.
Instead, we got a weak political plot, an enemy whose motivations made little sense, and a see-through conspiracy.
Overall, I can't call this a bad movie, but it's a better rental than a permanent addition to your collection, unless you are a die-hard Appleseed fan. |
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