Product description

Appleseed : Steelbook Edition (2 Disc) [DVD]

Price: £17.95
RRP: £19.99
Average customer rating: 4.0

Binding : DVD
EAN : 5060034572688
Label : Optimum Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Optimum Home Entertainment
Publisher : Optimum Home Entertainment
Release date : 2005-09-19
Title : Appleseed : Steelbook Edition (2 Disc) [DVD]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Suitable for 12 years and over
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 2
Region code : 2
Running time : 104
Studio : Optimum Home Entertainment

Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
The 2004 iAppleseed/i feature is a reworking of the earlier video based on the manga by Masamune Shirow (iGhost in the Shell/i). In 2131, most of humanity has withdrawn to the glittering city of Olympus after a devastating war. When the curvaceous Deunan Knute comes to Olympus, she encounters her former comrade Briareos, now a cyborg, and the lovely android Hitomi. The fate of Hitomi, Olympus, and humanity rest on the lost "Appleseed" technology that Deunan's mother helped to develop. A standard series of chases, mecha battles, and confrontations leads to a predictable ending. When the original iAppleseed/i appeared in 1988, it felt like a summary of anime's past, while iAkira/i pointed the way to the future. This new version feels like a mishmash of iGhost in the Shell/i, iAkira/i, iJin-Roh/i, iEvangelion/i, and other, more exciting works. The motion-capture CG is typically weightless, and the mecha look oddly squat. i--Charles Solomon/i

Customer reviews

review by: date: 2007-01-05 rating:

Doesn't live up to the legacy
While the animation is impressive, overall I found this movie disappointing. This was probably because I read all of the manga before seeing the movie, and was hoping for something closer to that story or more like Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex. br / br /Like Standalone Complex, Appleseed is based in the same world as the manga and propagates some of the same themes, but it loses much of the action, characters and character development and changes the story radically to make it fit the runtime (much like the Ghost in the Shell movie). br / br /This movie shares a characteristic of many other anime that I find disagreeable (it's probably a cultural thing) - I find the music to be overdone and, in places, wildly inappropriate: I like to be able to hear what the characters are saying (even when they are speaking a different language and I'm reading the subtitles). br / br /Despite all this, I would watch Appleseed again (and possibly even buy it), mostly for the opening scene. br / br /If you haven't read the manga and like CG-heavy anime, then watch this movie, otherwise you may wish to approach it more cautiously. br /

review by: date: 2006-04-05 rating:

Don't just watch this once
This film does what all good films should do, hit the ground running. The first 10 minutes are pure action, and it may not have any huge bearing on the rest of the story but just sit back and enjoy some of the most detailed CGI around.brThe story on first viewing seems to jump around and has alot of loose ends. But on the second and third watch you should have cleared up any confusion. brNot only is this film action packed but its raises points about human nature, for example fighting for freedom while in paradise.

review by: date: 2005-10-06 rating:

Appleseed : Steelbook Edition (2 Disc)
I bought this DVD on the sterngth of some stills I had seen and whilst I have to say that the sets and scenery are impressive, the characters spoil things. The CG characters aren't what I would consider to be "groundbreaking", in fact they look like an average video sequence from a game. The cel shading gives the characters a polished plastic appearance, especially in a lot of the interior scenes. The mocap is also clunky and only serves to underline the the fakiness.pIn terms of the soundtrack, it all starts so well as the plane carrying Deunan sweeps through the clouds towards the city accompanied by the sound of Basement Jaxx. By the second half of the film we are left with annoying mall music.pGood bits? Apart from the sets, the rogue landmate attack is great entertainment and the characters are inside their own landmates so we don't have suffer that awful cel shading!

review by: dawfydd2001 date: 2005-09-20 rating:

Anime has evolved...
quite simply, this film is a stunning visual feast. The use of 3d computer generated animation, coupled with a traditional anime shading on the characters, has produced a completely unique look to this film, quite unlike anything else on the animation scene, and i'd be surprised if more studios don't take a leaf out of Geneons book and make use of a similair technique. however, unlike a lot of reviews, i was actually impressed by the quality of the story telling in the film, as it remains fairly faithful to the original manga, which as a fan i was greatly impressed by. even the characterisation was more or less spot on, deunan and briareos as deadly warriors on the battlefield, but less sure when dealing with people outside of conflict, and athena as a leader trying to do what is right for two species of humanity, to name but a few. brand the action sequences, oh the action sequences! from a blistering fire fight in the opening minutes, the momentum builds from one sequence to the next, each doing something a little different each time, culminating in the spectacular running battle at the very end, where the gradual escalation of the equipment used reaches completely insane levels, as does the amount of firepower expended...brit is not however perfect. whilst the production is slick, the music superb (making use of acts from around the world, unusual for anime) and the action at times draining in its intensity, it does lag in places, espeacially in the few places where the plot relies on some quite fantastic coincidences to move events along. it might also have benefitted from a little more explanation of the backstory, espeacially in the subplot with deunan and hades. brthese are small quibbles however, and despite this i still would recommend most fans of a) animation, b) intelligent action movies and c) those interested in the evolution of film technology to watch it at least once, and be amazed. i personally cannot wait to be able to watch this alongside Final Fantasy Advent Children, to witness the dawn of a new era in japanese animation..

review by: date: 2005-09-19 rating:

Better than advertised...
I enjoyed watching 'Appleseed' tonight and consider it an interesting experience. It's not particularly intellectual and its not particularly ground-breaking in the animation department ('Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within' exceeded it some years ago) but as a fun bit of anime its great. If one approaches it as a good anime movie rather than 'The Future of Entertainment'(tm) then all is well. It's not as cool as GITS but it's fine eye candy. Don't expect too much clever plotting or lack of cliche and go with the flow. The Steelbook case is very attractive and an excellent way to package DVDs: probably expensive though.

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