RWBY: VOLUME 5 -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 5/28/18

 

When I was a kid, it was Santa Claus and the county fair that gave me some of my best annual thrills.  Now, it's the disc release of each season of Rooster Teeth/Cinedigm's mind-candy American anime series, "RWBY", the continuing adventures of those four multi-hued heroines Ruby Rose (red), Weiss Schnee (white), Blake Belladonna (black), and Ruby's sister Yang Xiao Long (yellow)--the latest of which being the 2-disc Blu-ray, RWBY: VOLUME 5. 

Here's the backstory: after a catastrophic war that almost destroyed everything, the world of Remnant has been divided into four kingdoms dedicated to maintaining peaceful relations.  Also drawing them together is a common enemy, the Grimms, a never-ending army of terrifying supernatural beasts that constantly attack both urban centers and outlying villages, drawn by negative emotions such as fear, panic, and hatred. 

The main line of defense consists of hunters and huntresses, those born with various super-powers who train from a young age at special academies until ready to take on the Grimms.  This is where we first met Team RWBY shortly before their academy was attacked and virtually destroyed by a combination of Grimms and a group of terrorists known as White Fang, made up of human-animal hybrids called Faunus under the command of a secret cabal of sinister villains.

As season five commences, the mixed group of RWBY and JNPR (Juniper) team members have completed their arduous journey to the neighboring land of Mistral and its Haven Academy, in a quest to gather more huntsmen and huntresses for the battles to come.  But all is not well--the academy has been infiltrated by evil forces of both White Fang and the dreaded sorceress, Salem, and most of its best warriors murdered.

Meanwhile, Ruby's sister Yang is not only dealing with her new robot arm but must confront her own mother, Raven, now a renegade criminal with very dark dealings involving Salem and her minions.  These include vengeful Cinder and some of the worst members of White Fang, who are now targeting Blake and her family because of their efforts to establish peaceful relations between the Faunus and the human race.

It may sound complicated, but darn if all this drama and intrigue isn't just as riveting as the many intense battle sequences that occur during these fifteen serial-like chapters.  The characters are all fascinating and beautifully conceived, with scintillating dialogue that's either richly dramatic or breezily funny. 

This time there is, in fact, much more personal and political intrigue, now that more of a foundation for such plot complications has been gradually established over the previous seasons and our increased familiarity with the characters makes deeper explorations of them possible.  Both good and bad guys this time around are three-dimensional and increasingly interesting to observe. 

As always, the looks of the series is absolutely gorgeous--even moreso, now that the technology used in creating the digitally simulated "cel animation" look of the show has gotten better and better over time.  Never has "RWBY" looked this gorgeous, richly colorful, and stunningly designed.  The result is often breathtaking, and always a treat for the eyes.

As for the battles themselves, they're choreographed and executed for maximum drama and excitement, with new species of Grimm as well as new human and Faunus opponents.  In an early episode, Weiss takes on a swarm of Grimm resembling giant hornets who attack the transport she's using to get to Mistral.  In the thrilling finale, all the forces of good and evil clash in a prolonged battle that spans several chapters and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

The 2-disc Blu-ray set from Rooster Teeth/Cinedigm contains the 15-chapter saga on one disc and special features on the other.  These include exciting character studies (deleted scenes), a "Five Years of RWBY" series recap, a collection of featurettes ("CRWBY") detailing various elements of the show's creation, and a manga booklet. Total story running time: 244 minutes.  Widescreen with English Dolby 5.1.  English captions are available.

As always, RWBY: VOLUME 5 kept me thoroughly, deliriously entertained and left me wanting more.  So while my younger friends are awaiting Santa's return, I'll be looking forward to my next annual wallow in the incredible adventures of my current favorite cartoon heroes. 

Release date: June 5, 2018

RWBY: VOLUME 5 -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

RWBY: VOLUME 4 -- Blu-ray/DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 6/5/17

 

If you're a RWBY fan, then you're already stoked for the next installment in the series as presented in this Blu-ray/DVD combo from Rooster Teeth and Cinedigm.  If not, then RWBY: VOLUME 4 (2017) should be a good introduction to those four color-coordinated heroines Ruby Rose (red), Weiss Schnee (white), Blake Belladonna (black), and Ruby's sister Yang Xiao Long (yellow).

Long story short: after a catastrophic war that almost destroyed everything, the world of Remnant has been divided into four kingdoms dedicated to maintaining peaceful relations.  Also drawing them together is a common enemy, the Grimms, a never-ending army of terrifying supernatural beasts that constantly attack both urban centers and outlying villages, drawn by negative emotions such as fear, panic, and hatred. 

The main line of defense consists of hunters and huntresses, those born with various super-powers who train from a young age at special academies until ready to take on the Grimms.  This is where we first met Team RWBY shortly before their academy was attacked and virtually destroyed by a combination of Grimms and a group of terrorists known as White Fang, made up of human-animal hybrids called Faunus under the command of a secret cabal of sinister villains.

 

Volume 4 opens after the previous season's terrific climactic battle has left all four kingdoms in chaos and the RWBY team scattered.  Weiss has returned to her palatial home where her stepfather runs the family "Dust" business in decidedly shady fashion and all is definitely not well.  Blake has also returned to her parents estate on the Faunus continent accompanied by Sun, a boisterous young fellow with an eye for her.  Ruby's sister Yang is still recovering from the loss of both her right arm in the battle and her self-confidence and resolve, which the girls' father is doing his best to restore. 

The main thrust of the season's story, however, is the cross-country trek of Ruby and her friends Jaune, Ren, and Nora (formerly of team JNPR until the tragic death of the valiant huntress Pyrrha) to reach the kingdom of Mistral.  It's one of those grand, heroic journeys filled with much self-discovery and character revelations, not to mention intense life-or-death battles with some of the largest, fiercest, and most horrific Grimms that we've seen thus far. 

The route takes them through the vast wilderness between populated areas and also through various secluded villages, some of which need their help vanquishing particularly hostile Grimms, and others which have already been utterly destroyed by either Grimms or marauding bandits.  One smoking ruin prompts Ren to recall his history as a boy whose parents were killed before his eyes by a bloodthirsty beast, and how he assumed responsibility for another lost soul, the destitute orphan Nora.

 

 

While Yang struggles to regain her confidence and learn how to use her new robotic arm, Blake and Sun's ocean cruise to the Faunus continent is both incredibly scenic--the show is pictorially intoxicating as usual--but highlighted by a spectacular battle with a flying sea dragon.  Once they've reached their destination, the drama continues with Blake's parents clashing with the socially-awkward Sun as well as two highly-suspicious emissaries from the White Fang group.

As usual, we're left with a cliffhanger ending to keep us on edge until the next season begins, with Ruby's team reaching Mistral but discovering that much is not as they expected.  Meanwhile, the main villains of the saga, led by mysterious white goddess Salem and her evil underlings (including last season's traitorous huntress Cinder) keep a low profile and bide their time for a later, more catastrophic strike, with only the near-invincible madman Tyrian directly engaging our heroes in fierce battle during their journey.

Through it all, RWBY VOL. 4 carries on this sharply-written series' tradition of scintillating dialogue and character interactions that make the less action-packed segments just as riveting as the frentic battles--which, as usual, are both lightning-paced and imaginatively staged, striking just the right balance between humor (especially with the girlishly excitable Nora) and dead seriousness, as when a key member of Ruby's group is critically injured.

Visually, the series is a feast of colorful CGI settings and pleasingly executed motion-capture figures that move well and are exquisitely designed. While I still prefer cel animation in my cartoons, I gladly make an exception when a three-dimensional CGI simulation of old-school anime such as this is rendered to such lavish and eye-pleasing effect. Voice performances and music are outstanding as well.

The "It's Also a Gun" Special Edition Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack contains both a Blu-ray disc and a DVD, along with a collectible Crescent Rose lenticular card featuring Ruby's distinctive scythe-shaped weapon ("It's also a gun").  Also available in Blu-ray/DVD and DVD editions.  Total story running time: 190 minutes.  Widescreen with English Dolby 5.1.  English captions are available.

Bonus featurettes include: "World of Remnant: Kingdoms", "World of Remnant: The Great War", "World of Remnant: Schnee Dust Company", "World of Remnant: Faunus", "World of Remnant: Between Kingdoms", "Behind the Scenes: A Grimm Introduction", and "Behind the Scenes: RWBY 4 Production Diary", plus audio commentaries. 

With RWBY: VOL. 4, this series remains one of my favorite and most eagerly-anticipated of any genre adventures being created today.  While not quite as action-intensive as the previous season, this one more than compensates with a richness of story and character that lends even greater impact to the slam-bang battle sequences.


Buy it from Rooster Teeth

Read our original coverage

Street date: June 6, 2017

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RWBY: VOLUME 4 -- Blu-ray/DVD Review by Porfle

RWBY: BEACON, VOLUMES 1-3 (STEELBOOK) -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 10/2/16

 

The creative team at Rooster Teeth and Cinedigm (the creators of RED VS. BLUE) have really outdone themselves with the stunningly beautiful and exciting American anime epic RWBY: BEACON, VOLUMES 1-3, the first major story arc in the ongoing series.  In fact, watching it may have gotten me so spoiled that from now on, few other examples of this k‌ind of animated adventure will live up to its level of wonderfulness. 

If that sounds like an exaggeration, it's because I tend to do that when I'm having a fantastic time.  I reviewed the third volume of this saga on its own earlier this year (which you can read HERE), and even without the first two as backstory it wasn't long before I was caught up in the sweeping tale of a futuristic world called "Remnant" (whose now-peaceful countries are the remains of a cataclysmic world war) in which super-powered teens train at academies to become huntsmen and huntresses who protect the world from evil.

This evil consists mainly of roving packs of huge, vicious animal-monsters known as Grimms.  However, human and semi-human villains plot against the forces of good as well, some of them even posing as students and infiltrating Beacon academy where our favorite superheroes-in-training strive to take their places as guardians of the world.

The main team of wannabe huntresses is known as RWBY (pronounced "ruby") whose color-coded members consist of the childlike, excitable Ruby Rose (red), ice-queen heiress Weiss Schnee (white), mysterious, moody Blake Belladonna (black), and Ruby's outgoing older sister Yang Xiao Long (yellow). Like everyone else at Beacon, each has her own individual super-power and preferred weaponry.  

At first they seem to be the usual girly-girls we find in such series as "K-On"--they're funny and sometimes a little ditzy in addition to being great athletes and warriors, and not above the occasional bout of slapstick comedy--but as the events of the story progress they and their classmates reveal many levels to their characters as the various interpersonal conflicts become progressively deep and emotionally resonant, and often carry over onto the field of battle. 

The sharply-written script is filled with snappy, natural-sounding dialogue that avoids being dumb or stilted. What's more, the large cast is loaded with appealing characters (the voice acting is superb), each of whom is fascinating in his or her own way.

Since this is a story about teens discovering themselves and each other, even the "cooler" and more seemingly invincible students get to reveal their sensitive, vulnerable sides as well as a few insecurities that are helped along by the understanding and empathy of their peers. 

Naturally, all of this teamwork, friendship, and acceptance contributes to a general feelgood ambience that's just pure fun.  There's even an impromptu group dance during the charming ballroom dance sequence that rivals the one in DEAD KIDS for pure uninhibited joy.

In sharp contrast, it's the somber, fiercely dramatic and often action-packed scenes where RWBY really goes into overdrive.  Consistently dazzling displays of imaginative fight choreography, brilliant direction, an excellent musical score, and eye-pleasing design shatter monotony and keep each new battle as fresh, thrilling, and unpredictable as the last.  The gorgeous candy-coated visuals have the look of vibrant cel art that's been brought to life with finely-rendered computer animation and motion-capture. 

Battle sequences come at the viewer at a breakneck pace that's edited rapid-fire but still easy to follow.  The battle between the young heroes and two terrible Grimms--a giant vulture and a monster scorpion--within the ruins of an ancient temple during a training mission is one of the most breathtaking and spectacular displays of animation of ANY kind that I've ever seen. 

Yang's deflating remark at the end ("Well...that was a thing") is just the sort of dead-on attitude of serious fun that permeates this entire collection.   One incredible action sequence follows another, including a furious competition between the different training academies which then becomes a spectacular and sustained battle royale when the villains, led by ultra-bad-girl Cinder and juvenile-delinquent-deluxe Torchwick, launch their final attack on Beacon. 

For me, a giddy feeling of "this is gonna be good!" preceeds each fight, which never disappoints. It's the kind of all-out wonderful genre goodness that makes me glad I became a nerd in the first place.  If I were still a smoker I'd have had to light up when it was over.

As I said in my review of volume three: "I don't often see a story escalate from colorful action-filled fun to catastrophic disaster epic the way RWBY: VOLUME 3 effortlessly does...this is great anime entertainment that left me wanting more."

The 3-disc Blu-ray set from Rooster Teeth and Cinedigm is packaged in a cool limited-edition steelbook case with plastic slipcover.  Total feature running time is 7 hours and 19 minutes.  There are no subtitles for disc one, but discs two and three contain English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. Each disc is generously endowed with commentary tracks, informative behind-the-scenes featurettes, character profiles and other backstory info, trailers, and other goodies.

While some hardcore anime fans tend to be more blase' about it (according to various forum posts), this is some of the best anime I've ever seen.  Heck, it's one of the best things of ANY kind I've ever seen.  Watching it gives me the same feeling of exploring something new and amazing that I had the first time I ever saw AKIRA.  And while that may only be my immediate excitement over it talking, it sorta tells you just how exciting it is.  RWBY: BEACON, VOLUMES 1-3 is spectacular in a way that no other medium could express, and watching it is pure, exhilarating entertainment.

RWBY: BEACON, VOLUMES 1-3 (STEELBOOK) -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/9/11

 

Sometimes a movie makes me really glad that CGI was invented, and TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE (2011) is one of those movies.  This photo-realistic digital action epic is the kind of sweet eye candy that makes my eyeballs feel good.

Xiaoyu and Alisa are two high school girls who both have a crush on introspective loner Shin, who's brawny and handsome but troubled, maybe even suicidal.  What the girls don't know is that Shin is the sole survivor of a genetic experiment and his rapidly mutating body is sought by two arch rivals, Mishima Zaibatsu and the sinister G Corporation.  What Shin doesn't know is that Xiaoyu is an unwilling agent of G Corporation and Alisa is a humanoid robot from Mishima Zaibatsu, and they're both under orders to locate him.

Behind all of this, as Tekken fans will have already guessed, is the blood-feuding Mishima clan.  Jin, the youngest, is the head of Mishima Zaibatsu while his father and mortal enemy Kazuya runs G Corporation.  Kazuya, with the help of evil warrior babe Anna Williams, hopes that isolating Shin's "Devil Gene" will help him control his own super powers, but Jin and his beautiful assistant Nina Williams (Anna's sister) are determined to thwart him by getting to Shin first.  Pulling everyone's strings in the background is mean old family patriarch Heihachi Mishima, whose intentions are even more insidious.



The film's opening, which resembles something out of AKIRA, thrusts us right into the action with a motorcycle vs. big rig collision on the freeway which leads to fierce hand-to-hand combat between the Williams sisters.  Here, we get an indication of how good the motion-capture animation is going to be in this movie, with the impossibly-stacked ladies literally looking like living dolls. 

It only gets better when Xiaoyu and Alisa meet on their high school campus and begin their friendly rivalry over Shin.  Sumptuously rendered backgrounds bursting with vivid color and detail are realistic yet fanciful at the same time, providing the backdrop for some gorgeous character design.  Faces and body language are highly expressive and nuanced, with little of the "uncanny valley" effect seen in other virtual characters. 

The direction, editing, and virtual camerawork are outstanding as well, as the filmmakers are able to meticulously construct fight scenes in a way that live action can rarely achieve.  The first really awesome example of this occurs when Alisa's programming forces her into battle against Xiaoyu in a thrilling and visually dazzling sequence.  A mix of lightning-fast moves and slow-mo are easy to follow even as the action rushes by almost in a blur.



The film climaxes with a half-hour series of bouts between the Mishimas as they assume their true beastly appearance and wreak all kinds of destruction, laying waste to the countryside.  Director Yoichi Mori keeps the action and suspense of this all-out war building until the blazing finish, with an appropriately grandiose musical score to propel things along. 

But just as important are the quieter scenes between Xiaoyu and Alisa, with Dai Sato's screenplay allowing them lots of charming interplay to offset the bad-girl posturing of the Williams sisters and the seething fury of the Mishimas.  Pink-haired robot Alisa is particularly endearing with her childlike innocence and wide-eyed fascination with human behavior, making it even more startling when her programming forces her into attack mode complete with chainsaw arms and rocket-powered wings.  Feisty and funny schoolgirl Xiaoyu is also a very likable and lifelike CGI creation. 

The DVD from Bandai Entertainment is in 16x9 widescreen with Japanese and English 5.1 soundtracks and English subtitles.  Extras consist of a movie trailer and a movie/videogame hybrid trailer.

Even if the story and characters weren't so compelling and the action so intense, TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE would be worth watching simply to bask in the strikingly good visuals.  You don't have to be a fan of "Tekken" or videogames in general to be entertained by this awesome example of superior digital animation.

TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE -- DVD Review by Porfle

REDLINE -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 12/27/11

 

Sizzling with supercharged action, the simple plot of director Takeshi Koike's sci-fi anime REDLINE (2009) serves as a backdrop for some of the most mindblowing, audacious cartoon animation to ever blaze its way across the screen. 

The pre-titles sequence features a qualifying "Yellowline" race in the desert that already makes the podrace from THE PHANTOM MENACE look like a frog-jumping competition.  We meet J.P., who resembles a brawny Ricky Nelson with a skyscraper pompadour and, thanks to his crooked partner Frisbee, has a reputation for fixing races.  Sure enough, Frisbee's in deep with the mob on this one and sabotages J.P.'s car near the finish line, landing him in the hospital.

When some of the qualifiers for the Redline drop out, J.P.'s back in the game along with his heartthrob Sonoshee, a lovely lass with more interest in machines than men.  But the location for the race turns out to be Roboworld, a militaristic society whose leaders are so opposed to the competition taking place on their world (and possibly having some of their military secrets broadcast galaxy-wide) that they declare all-out war against the racers.  In order to win this one, J.P. will have to battle it out against ruthless drivers (including Sonoshee), the entire military force of Roboworld, and perhaps even his own sidekick Frisbee.
 


Fans of non-CGI animation should have a ball reveling in this 100% hand-drawn visual feast, whose creators invested seven years and 100,000 drawings in its making.  Each frame of this dazzling tribute to old-school cartoon wizardry is as insanely detailed as panels from the more extravagant underground comix of the 60s and 70s, and unlike digital cartoons you can see the artists' and animators' hands in every painstaking detail. 

The dynamic, hard-edged drawing style, a eye-pleasing mix of both the futuristic and retro, yields a wealth of beautifully-rendered character designs and backgrounds that are then brought to vivid life.  Surreal touches, such as J.P.'s gravity-defying hairdo and an endless parade of grotesque aliens, rub shoulders with the hard-edged yet wildly-imaginative hardware of cars, spaceships, and other machinery. 

The over-the-top character design (by co-writer Katsuhito Ishii, who also worked on the anime sequence from KILL BILL, VOL. 1 and helped create REDLINE's outstanding soundtrack) goes well with the film's larger-than-life cast of oddballs.  These include J.P.'s multi-armed canine mechanic Pops, the towering cyborg Machine Head, and the various other racers whose bizarre appearance and unique personalities keep things interesting.  Even the crowd scenes are filled with a vast array of colorful "extras."
 


While the plot busies itself with various concerns such as J.P.'s wooing of the reluctant Sonoshee and Frisbee's conflict of loyalties between him and the mob, REDLINE roars to life during its many spectacular action sequences.  The imposing Colonel Votron and his Roboworld army launch a full-scale attack on the racers that begins when they leave the mothership and attempt to land their shuttle vehicles on the planet.  The race itself is a non-stop series of thrilling setpieces which lead to the activation of the Roboworld president's ace in the hole, an out-of-control behemoth known as "Funky Boy" who proceeds to destroy everything in sight.  

The DVD from Anchor Bay's "Manga" label is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 and 2.0 soundtracks in both Japanese and English, with English subtitles.  Extras consist of a 24-minute making-of featurette and the film's trailer. 

Thrilling, funny, and endlessly watchable, REDLINE is chock-full of some of the most visually-stunning racing action and futuristic warfare ever created for an animated film.  Best of all, it's a return to the glory days of hand-drawn animation which, in the words of its creators, offers something new by doing things the old way again. 

REDLINE -- DVD Review by Porfle

TRIGUN: BADLANDS RUMBLE -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 9/4/11

 

Cliched though they may sound, "rollicking" and "rip-roaring" are pretty good descriptive words for director Satoshi Nishimura's TRIGUN: BADLANDS RUMBLE (2010), an eye-pleasing anime that's bursting at the seams with fast-moving action and comedy.  A feature-length version of the manga by Yasuhiro Nightow and the popular television series, it's a dense conglomeration of sci-fi, steampunk, Westerns, and various other genres with energy and style to burn.

The film opens with hulking outlaw Gasback and his three henchmen robbing a fortress-like bank but then having a falling out over Gasback's tendency to invest all their spoils in bigger and more elaborate robberies, which is his sole motivation.  Before the three traitors can kill him, however, he's rescued by Vash the Stampede, who values all life even more than he values fun, adventure, and donuts.  Unfairly regarded as a villain and bearing a sixty-billion double-dollar price on his head, Vash (known as "The Humanoid Typhoon") is a wanderer who only wants to help people and have a good time. 

Gasback, meanwhile, has patiently waited twenty years for his former allies to rise to positions of wealth and prominence, so that his revenge will be even greater.  After destroying the livelihoods of the first two, he's on his way to Mecca City to bring down Caine, who is now the mega-wealthy owner of the town's massive power plant.  News of Gasback's impending arrival has drawn hundreds of bounty hunters from all over, including the beautiful Amelia who has some unfinished business with him.



Jittery insurance agents Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, old friends of Vash, are also in town to protect Caine's giant bronze statue of himself, which their company has insured for five billion dollars.  And mysterious clergyman Nicholas D. Wolfwood, another of Vash's past acquaintances, shows up as Gasback's current bodyguard, fulfilling a debt to him with the help of his huge cross-shaped rocket gun.

With its sleek character design and detail-packed backgrounds, TRIGUN: BADLANDS RUMBLE is a constant joy to look at.  Along with a colorful vehicular caravan, the bounty hunters travel to Mecca City aboard a huge steamship that hovers across the desert and serves as the setting for some lively encounters between Vash, Amelia, and some troublesome competitors.  The city itself is a clever combination of modern and Old West design, where the main characters engage in an old-fashioned barroom brawl before Gasback's attack sparks a spectacular battle sequence filled with sound and fury.

With so much explosive action going on, the body count in this bullet-riddled but lighthearted tale is practically nonexistent.  Much of the emphasis is on comedy as Vash courts an unwilling Amelia, who is literally allergic to men, while Meryl and Milly work themselves into nervous fits worrying about the fate of Caine's big, gaudy statue. 

Even hardbitten characters like Gasback and the hordes of bounty hunters out for his head contribute to the story's often deadpan-comic atmosphere.  The story isn't all fun, however--surprisingly, things get a little emotional now and then, particularly when we learn of Amelia's tragic origin and at least one of the main good guys bites the dust. 



Before the dust settles over the ravaged Mecca City, the action heads out into the desert as the bounty hunter caravan pursues Gasback in a thrilling sequence heavily inspired by THE ROAD WARRIOR.  Later, a final showdown between the good guys and the bad guy revels in heaping helpings of Spaghetti Western goodness, with Sergio Leone's influence nicely recycled into over-the-top cartoon visuals.  Here, all the various threads of the story are neatly tied up with a satisfying conclusion that extends through the closing credits crawl. 

The DVD from Funimation is in widescreen with English and Japanese Dolby 5.1 sound and English subtitles.  Disc one is the movie and some Funimation trailers.  Disc two contains a number of bonus features including several lengthy, lively cast-and-crew panel discussions at various locations including the film's premiere.  There's also a post-recording short, promotional clips and trailers, and other assorted tidbits.

Like an old Mad Magazine comics panel from the 50s, TRIGUN: BADLANDS RUMBLE is so richly detailed that it bears repeat viewing just to take in everything you missed the first time.  But most of all, this seriocomic burst of creative energy is just a ball to watch.

TRIGUN: BADLANDS RUMBLE -- DVD Review by Porfle

GHOST IN THE SHELL 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 9/27/14

 

Visually stunning and thematically complex, 1995's intensely cinematic GHOST IN THE SHELL (Anchor Bay, 25th Anniversary Edition) is the kind of dazzling, "hard" sci-fi that doesn't hit the screen very often, and when it does it's often in the form of anime.

While obviously influenced by such films as BLADE RUNNER and that other anime classic AKIRA, GHOST has its own style and ambience that are often mesmerizing. After a pre-titles action sequence that's like something out of a futuristic Bond movie, the main titles show our young heroine, Major Motoko Kusanagi, during the laboratory creation of her cybernetic body in a womblike pool of chemicals.

She then rises naked from it as a sort of placental crust cracks off her body, while Kenji Kawai's ethereal musical score begins to weave its web. And thus we're given a preview of the mind-expanding artistic potential the film will go on to almost effortlessly fulfill.

As with a lot of serious anime, the overly-complicated and sometimes hard to follow plot is mainly a springboard for wildly imaginative, often impressionistic flights of artistic fancy along with some thought-provoking ideas. Set in 2029, the story concerns two secret government agencies whose conflicting agendas will clash in potentially devastating ways.

Major Kusanagi of the Internal Bureau of Investigations is tasked to track down a mysterious villain known as the Puppet Master, a kind of sentient computer virus who can infiltrate the mind of any human whose cyber-enhanced brain is hooked into the system, taking over their will and giving them false memories.

Major Kusanagi is aided in her mission by a hulking, gray-haired mentor named Batou and brawny but easygoing Togusa, who all take part in a frentic chase scene early on which explores just how imaginatively this medium can be used in depicting bullet-riddled vehicular mayhem with the power to thrill in ways that live-action films rarely can. (THE MATRIX and THE FIFTH ELEMENT, on which this film is a distinct influence, come close.)

As the secrets behind the Puppet Master unfold (which I can't reveal without spoiling some of the film's most compelling surprises), GHOST IN THE SHELL offers a seemingly endless procession of eye-pleasing and mind-expanding sci-fi sights, sounds, and concepts. Every once in a while, there's a montage of images that the viewer gets lost in, or a deep, intimate conversation about mortality that can only be engaged in by a couple of cyborgs whose consciousness resides within cybernetic brains.

Kusanagi is particularly contemplative regarding identity since both her body and brain are almost entirely synthetic. Is she even human at all anymore? And since she's connected to the 'net like any other computer, her mind is vulnerable to being hacked by the Puppet Master at any time--if it hasn't been already.

How does she know her memories are real, or that what's she is experiencing at present is really happening? Her potential invasion and subjugation by an unseen force is one of the film's major dramatic concerns, which will eventually lead to an ending which, while somewhat unexpectedly low-key, is intellectually stimulating to say the least.

Directed by Mamoru Oshii (AVALON, ASSAULT GIRLS), the visuals are the work of animators from Production I.G. (BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE, KAIDOHMARU, KILL BILL). The story is based upon Masamune Shirow's original manga. While I usually prefer straight cel animation to a cel-CGI mixture, the digital stuff is used sparingly--mainly for computer readouts and such--and the overall effect is just so eye-pleasing and finely-rendered that it's visually irresistible.

The Blu-ray disc from Anchor Bay and Starz is in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 English and 2.0 Japanese audio and English subtitles. The disc is barebones with no bonus features. The disc case contains an illustrated booklet with a Mamoru Oshii interview and two essays, "The World of Ghost in the Shell" and "The Impact of Ghost in the Shell."

Not a children's "cartoon" by any means (it, as they say, "contains violence, nudity, and adult themes"), GHOST IN THE SHELL lavishes the viewer with moments of beauty and contemplation which explore the emotional limits of animation while also generating explosive, edge-of-your-seat action. Like all really good science-fiction, it's both visceral and sublime.

GHOST IN THE SHELL 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

GHOST IN THE SHELL -- Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD Review by Porfle

Originally posted in 2017

 

Futuristic sci-fi thrillers such as 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, BLADE RUNNER, and the more recent THE FIFTH ELEMENT used to amaze and astound us with their eye-popping visuals and stunning practical effects. Nowadays, such fare is so overloaded with CGI-generated artificial wonders jam-packed into every frame that we tend to get numbed by it all. 

GHOST IN THE SHELL (2017)--a live-action adaptation of the original manga by way of the excellent 1995 animated version--starts out that way, cluttered with too many whiz-bang visuals that don't always seem to exist in the real world, with the ever-present advertising motif of BLADE RUNNER taken to new extremes and a sort of architectural imagination gone mad.

As the film progresses, however, we settle in and adapt to this frenetic, plastic vision of the future, mainly because the theme of the story is technology gone too far--people becoming willing cyborgs for vanity and convenience and all connected body and mind to a central core--and the main characters are meant to feel alienated by it as well. 

Our heroine, Major Mira Killian (Scarlett Johansson) of the anti-terrorist group Section 9, is especially attuned to such feelings, being that she is the first successful fusion of a human brain with an entirely robotic body (i.e., a "ghost in the shell") and thus constantly conflicted as to how much of her humanity remains and what percent of her is pure machine connected to the company mainframe. 

Her inner conflict is heightened when her group's newest nemesis is a cyber-criminal named Kuze who can hack into any system including all cyborgs--meaning just about everybody to one degree or another--and service robots. 

His goal is revenge, which he wreaks to the extreme in some explosive action setpieces.  But exactly why remains a mystery until Mira and her team manage to fight their way right into his sinister clutches and discover the truth behind not only Kuze but their own organization.

Scarlett Johansson strikes the right balance between robotic demeanor and inner conflict, which she underplays until it's time to delve headlong into her action scenes.  These lack the angular inventiveness and quirky choreography of, say, THE MATRIX, but are still packed with satisfying excitement in their own way, replete with gunplay and hand-to-hand combat with sci-fi elements such as invisibility and advanced weaponry. 

"Beat" Takeshi Kitano (BATTLE ROYALE, VIOLENT COP) lends his considerable presence as Mira's boss, Aramaki, as does Juliette Binoche--who will always be Catherine Earnshaw of 1992's WUTHERING HEIGHTS to me--as Dr. Ouelet, the head scientist who created Mira and regards her as a daughter.  Pilou Asbæk is also good as Mira's partner Batou, a gruff, bearlike agent who's just a regular guy beneath it all. 

Mira's quest to find herself, to uncover suppressed memories of her former life and get to the truth of why and how she was created, eventually takes GHOST IN THE SHELL to a place that's both powerful and tragic, lending emotional depth to its final chaotic showdown between good and evil (traits which will shift their meaning considerably before it's over). 

The 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD set from Paramount is in 1080p high definition (DVD is widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs) with Dolby 5.1 stereo and subtitles in multiple languages.  The DVD contains the feature film only.  The Blu-ray disc contains the feature plus three bonus behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Visually and emotionally compelling, the live-action GHOST IN THE SHELL never quite reaches the sublime beauty of its animated predecessor but tries its damndest to do so.  In this, it succeeds in being a lively, thought-provoking, and often dazzling entry in the dystopian-future sci-fi genre which fans won't want to miss.


Street Date:      July 7, 2017 (Digital HD) July 25, 2017 (4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD) 
U.S. Rating:    PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, suggestive content and some disturbing images
Canadian Rating: PG, not recommended for young children, violence


Read our original coverage

GHOST IN THE SHELL -- Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD Review by Porfle

THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE (30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION) -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted in 2016

 

I watched an awful lot of afternoon TV back in the 80s, but I somehow missed out on "Transformers."  (Although I did buy my nephew one of the toys for Christmas once.) 

This half-hour cartoon series--some would call it an extended toy commercial--about the never-ending war for planet Earth between two opposing factions of intelligent shape-shifting robots named the Autobots and the Decepticons, who can all turn into various high-powered vehicles or cyber-creatures, ran from 1984-87 and garnered a fervent cult following for which it rated a feature-film treatment in 1986. 

Thus, THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE (30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION) (Shout! Factory and Hasbro Studios, 2-disc Blu-ray) is a great way not only to catch up on what all the nostalgia's about but also to see it at what I assume to be its very best.

Even for a "Transformers" novice like myself, the 80s nostalgia that this rollicking animated space adventure radiates is intoxicating.  It's old-school anime-style cel animation without the CGI gimmicks.  Even if it sometimes betrays its TV origins, it looks fantastic.  And it has a voice cast that's to short-circuit for. 

The film opens with a pretty spectacular sequence in which a renegade planet-sized robot named Unicron (voiced by Orson Welles in his final film appearance) attacks a peaceful world populated by robots and ingests it for fuel.  The artistic depiction of this massive global devastation is stunning, the first of several more upcoming scenes that will dazzle the viewer.

After a "Superman: The Movie"-style main titles sequence featuring the show's familiar theme song, we then settle into the story proper as our mechanical heroes, the Autobots, thunder into action to stave off an attack from the evil Decepticons in the far-off year of 2005.

No sooner is this action-packed battle over than Unicron shows up and transforms some of the surviving Decepticons into his own personal army with which to defeat the Autobots and steal from them an all-powerful device known as the Matrix of Leadership.  Leonard Nimoy himself provides the voice for Unicron's duplicitous number-one, Galvatron (formerly Megatron), who covets the Matrix for himself.

An interesting side note: the deaths and transformations of several regular characters during this sequence are a result of the scripters' instructions to retire the old line of toys and replace them with new ones for young viewers to covet.  This proved to be more traumatic for fans than anyone expected, especially the intensely dramatic death of the Autobots' leader, Optimus Prime, who passed the Matrix on to new leader Ultra Magnus (voiced by Robert Stack.) 

The rest of the film is a robot vs. robot free-for-all with several cool detours along the way, including a visit to a junk planet with "Monty Python" alum Eric Idle voicing a comedic bot named "Wreck-Gar" who listens to too much Earth television, and an encounter with a race of grotesque mecha-beings whose main form of entertainment is to conduct kangaroo courts in which to sentence strangers such as Hot Rod (Judd Nelson) and Kup (Lionel Stander) to "death-by-sharkticon."

Dealing with these foes leads to the ultimate battle with Unicron (who turns out to be one huge transformer himself) and his dark forces which provides the film with its thrilling finale. By this time, I was finally starting to sort out all the many characters including good guys Hot Rod, Kup (he turns into a pickup--get it?), female robot Arcee, human Spike and his plucky son Daniel--both of whom also get to be transformers by wearing exo-suits--Bumblebee, Blurr, and the diminutive Wheelie.

Much comedy relief is provided by the Dinobots, who lack all social graces, talk in Bizarro-Speak ("Me, Grimlock, want to munch metal!"), and live for the times in which old soldier Kup regales them all with oft-told war stories ("Tell Grimlock about petro-rabbits again!") The Decepticons are also good for a few laughs when their inter-family squabbles escalate into all-out fights for dominance among the different robot clans. 

Character design is good and the backgrounds are often beautiful.  The musical score is okay when we aren't assaulted by bad 80s arena rock (I did enjoy hearing "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Dare to Be Stupid" at one point).

Dialogue ranges from likably dumb ("Your days are numbered now, Decepti-creeps!") to quite good, as in the numerous exchanges between Welles and Nimoy.  Celebrity voice talent also includes Scatman Crothers ("Jazz"), Casey Kasem ("Cliffjumper"), Clive Revill ("Kickback"), Norm Alden ("Kranix"), and Roger C. Carmel ("Cyclonus"). Legendary voice performer Frank Welker takes on no less than six different roles.

The 2-disc Blu-ray set from Shout! Factory and Hasbro Studios gives us both the 1.85:1 widescreen version (disc 1) and the full screen version (disc 2) with English stereo and 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish.  Remastered from a brand-new 4k transfer of original film elements.  (A steelbook edition and a single-disc DVD edition with only the widescreen version plus digital copy are also available.)

Special features include a lengthy and highly-informative behind-the-scenes featurette entitled "'Til All Are One" (the segment on voice talent is especially fun), several other short featurettes, animated storyboards, trailers and TV spots, and an audio commentary with director Nelson Shin, story consultant Flint Dill, and star Susan Blu ("Arcee").  The cover illustration is reversible.  Also contains the code for downloading a digital copy.

THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE (30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION) is good old bombastic meat-and-potatoes space opera for kids and adults alike, with a welcome anime flavor.  It should rocket original fans of the show right back to their childhoods (or teenhoods, as the case may be) while gaining new ones such as myself who just love a good mind-expanding sci-fi adventure.  

Street date: Sept. 13, 2016

www.shoutfactory.com
www.hasbro.com

Images shown are not taken from the Blu-ray disc.

THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE (30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION) -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

FLCL: PROGRESSIVE & ALTERNATIVE COMBO PACK -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

(Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.)  

Originally posted on 1/27/20

If you like frenetic science-fiction-based anime with an emphasis on quirky teen relationships amidst a visual cacophony of robotic, city-smashing chaos, then Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's 2-disc Blu-ray FLCL: PROGRESSIVE & ALTERNATIVE COMBO PACK (Blu-ray+Digital) should keep you happily occupied for more than a few hours.

It's a two-season sequel to the original 2000 series about a wild young minx named Haruko who rides a Vesper and wields an electric guitar that doubles as a chainsaw, sledgehammer, and various other weapons and devices. 

Young people in her vicinity tend to suddenly sprout raging robot monsters from their foreheads, which Haruko gleefully engages in battle with the fate of everything and everyone around her in the balance.

Season two, FLCL: PROGRESSIVE, gives us an appealing new cast of typical middle-school teens of the kind that will be familiar to anime fans, including pretty but pensive Hidomi, her eventual love interest Ide, and his pals Mori and Marco. 

Hidomi is never without her headphones, which help block out the world around her, although they also have another, more mysterious purpose.

Into their everyday world blazes Haruko in the guise of a teacher, seducing Ide and drawing Hidomi under her influence to be used in bringing out inter-dimensional robot monsters for her to battle.

This time she has an alter ego in the form of super-cool Jinju, and they share a secret desire to somehow facilitate the return of a powerful being named Atomsk.

Meanwhile, weird things are going on in Hidomi's hometown, particularly a giant flat iron that's parked on the edge of town which will eventually be put into motion by a giant hand from above, mowing down and flattening everything in its path.

This all has to do with a struggle between two forces known as Medical Mechanica and Fraternity, agents of which are at work trying to either cause or prevent various disasters from occurring.

But for all its sci-fi sound and fury, the likable teenage characters are what give FLCL its heart and maintain our interest.  Even as the story charges irrevocably toward its catastrophic finale, the emphasis is as much on Hidomi, Ide, and their friends, whose interpersonal relationships we follow even as they begin to play key roles in the impending battle, as on the freaky warrior chick Haruko and other combatants.

FLCL: ALTERNATIVE continues with the return of Haruko, still on her no-holds-barred quest for whatever (it ultimately doesn't really matter), and a timid, insecure young girl named Kana who continually seeks acceptance from her close circle of female friends, each of whom has her own problems. 

But even as Haruko somehow stumbles into the role of mentor for this young girl, she also uses her potential mind powers to kick-start Armageddon all over again, this time on a level more cataclysmic than before.

If all this sounds complicated, it's because it is.  In fact, I pretty much gave up trying to keep up with all the different plotlines and such, and just started holding on for dear life as this dizzying succession of eye-candy animation and swirling, surreal imagery went rushing by like a river of watercolors.

Most impressive are the intricate, exquisitely-rendered artwork and full animation, which looks just like traditional cel animation but with digital enhancements.  Character design is semi-realistic for the most part but full of cartoony manga-like silliness and exaggerated reactions, all of which adds to the fun.

As for the battle sequences, the artists and animators let their imaginations run wild with some of the most surreal and dazzling imagery you're likely to see in a series of this kind. The combination of such startling visuals with the sometimes childlike, sometimes mature story themes remains compelling throughout.

Both seasons offer satisfying final episodes, yet FLCL: PROGRESSIVE & ALTERNATIVE COMBO PACK ultimately leaves the door open for more adventures of guitar-slinging wild girl Haruko and another hapless group of youthful protagonists enduring the vagaries of adolescence while caught in a colorful clash of powerful opposing forces.



BLU-RAY COMBO PACK SPECIAL FEATURES

    The Making of FLCL: Progressive & Alternative: An in depth look behind the scenes featuring interviews with the cast and crew.
    Meet the Creators
    The Pillows
    English Voice Actors
    Production: Behind-the-Scenes

FLCL: ALTERNATIVE DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

    English Voice Actors
    Production: Behind-the-Scenes

COMBO PACK INCLUDES ALL 12 EPISODES

    RE: Start
    Freebie Honey
    Stone Skipping
    LooPQR
    Fool On the Planet
    Our Running
    Flying Memory
    Grown-Up Wannabe
    Freestyle Collection
    Pit-a-Pat
    Shake it Off
    Full Flat

DIGITAL
FLCL: Progressive & Alternative Combo Pack is available to own on Digital. Digital purchase allows consumers to instantly stream and download all episodes to watch anywhere and anytime on their favorite devices. Digital movies and TV shows are available from various digital retailers including Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu and others. A Digital Copy is also included with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs for redemption and cloud storage.

BASICS
Blu-ray/DVD Release Dates: February 4, 2020
Blu-ray and DVD Presented in 16x9 widescreen format

BLU-RAY COMBO PACK
Price: $44.98 SRP ($52.99 in Canada)
Running Time: Feature: Approx. 264 min
Enhanced Content: Approx. 35 min
2 BD 50s
Audio – English (5.1)
Subtitles – English
UPC# 883929707584
Catalog#1000757643

FLCL: ALTERNATIVE DVD
Price: $19.99 SRP ($24.99 in Canada)
Running Time: Feature: Approx. 132 min
Enhanced Content: Approx. 10 min
2 DVD-9s
Audio – English (5.1)
Subtitles – English
UPC# 883929707577
Catalog# 1000757642

See our original coverage

FLCL: PROGRESSIVE & ALTERNATIVE COMBO PACK -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle