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- BirthdayOct 4, 1993
- LocationBordeaux, France
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Aug 7, 2020
I'll try to be as spoiler-free as possible for this review.
I discovered this anthology movie with a review I saw on YouTube a few months ago. I bought the DVD shortly after and watched it in its entirety. As the description above says, this movie has three short segments (well, two middle-length stories and a shorter one). I'll start with the last segment, "Cannon Fodder".
Really grainy graphics (in a good way), excellent camera work, but weak stories and characters (although very good voice acting); this is my least favorite of the three segments. 6/10
Unto the second story, "Stink Bomb". As a satire on human's over-re-activeness,
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it presents very strong facial caricatures and behaviors from the characters, very detailed and fast-paced action shots, and some excellent voice acting. Also, you can't help yourself but to laugh nervously for the main character. 8/10
And finally, the first story, "Magnetic Rose". Based on a re-written script by Satoshi Kon, directed by Koji Morimoto and paired with astounding music by Yoko Kanno, this 45-minute story deserves its place in the Criterion collection. Gorgeous visuals (both in the background art and the character movement), top notch voice acting, tremendous music and suspenseful story; all the ingredients for a 10/10 score.
Overall, despite that the quality of the segments dwindles as the movie goes, this is an absolute must watch, both for those who wish to dig further in the anime history, and for those who want to get a snip-it of Japanese top-quality animation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 3, 2019
Okay, this review will be hard to write. For a very long time, I tried to avoid this movie, do to the rumors of it being one of the saddest movies ever made (alongside The Green Line, Schindler's List), and being one of the few Ghibli movies I didn't watch, I had to go through it once to truly make my opinion about it. And dear Lord, it was way harder than reliving my grandfather's funeral... (no kidding)
First things first, it wasn't the first scene that pulled my tears, but the very first musical piece with the glockenspiel and strings... Yes, the music pulled more
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tears from me than the story overall. I have had my share of war-based stories, both in the real world and the fantasy world.
Some made me cope for some characters, or even the towns they lived in ; but in GOTF, almost nothing made me side up for anything.
Hell, one character in particular made me almost break my computer screen with me saying: "Are you even blind or what?? Your country is being crushed by an adversary that you shouldn't have underestimated! You should be thankful of them proposing you a proper surrender, or else they would've made a genocide far worse than the one in Europe!"
Okay, I've talked enough about the cringy part (I hope I got the good spelling for the "cringe" word); let's talk about the good elements of this movie.
First off, the artistry is both beautiful and a tad too real (hold your horses, Isao-kun); the backgrounds do reflect well the Japanese countryside of that era, the character designs and animation emulate very well all the raw emotions of people who are resigned from the news of their utter defeat. The only gripe I have is that the way the fire moves is like it was displayed on another screen apart from the main scenery (like someone making shadow puppetry in a theater just to annoy the audience).
Like I said, the music is the main tear source of my first viewing. I try not to cry again as I write this while listening again to that haunting soundtrack... Very few music pieces made me cry in my life (and by few I mean less than five); either it was from a video game (Journey) or a classic piece (the adagio from Mahler's 9th symphony), this soundtrack in particular broke me from the very first piece. The overall ambience holds no joy wherever, only raw sadness and melancholy with a pint of ginger ale (and a lot of actions in the tissue market).
Okay, sorry for that one.
To be truly honest, I had my reasons for avoiding this movie for so long:
_ I didn't want to watch it as a child because it would've traumatized me for life;
_ as an Aspie person, it would have been very difficult to discern the different emotions and reasons for each character;
Now that I finally went through this endeavor of this movie, I can finally rest my mind for the rest of my list of anime entries.
For my recommendations, I would suggest for anyone to view this movie with your family, and perhaps not during a divorce or after a funeral. Hell, I would even recommend to view it with your high school class and teacher; that would be a great subject for discussion.
Finally, I give this movie a 6.5/10: not a very great movie for anyone, but hey, I'm not one to judge everybody's opinions, so you're free to either view this movie alone or with some company.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 28, 2018
In all honesty, of all the non-action animated movies I've seen in my life, both Western and Eastern, this movie is almost at the same emotional level as Spirited Away. The characters are nearly top-notch in terms of designs (both the human, divinities and spirits), the backgrounds are just drop-dead gorgeous, the soundtrack is like the first time I had a Chinese herbal tea (in short, marvelous). The only microscopic gripe I have towards the use of CGI is sometimes a little out of place, like you can clearly see that it just don't add up to the rest of the setting of some scenes;
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but overall the animation quality is almost perfect. For a final note, I will go with a 9.9/10 (if they could've fixed real quick these CGI mistakes...)
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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May 17, 2018
Hoo boy. This is going to be hard to describe this movie in a nutshell...
Ok, story is like Fast & Furious on steroids (as if it wasn't enough on LSD already...), with a little bit of romance and political subplot thrown in.
The characters are nothing mind-blowing, they are simple, they have understandable stories and motives, although the side characters, both helpful and antagonists-wannabes, take a bit more place than the main cast.
When it comes to the music, I'm not a huge fan of electro music and all that kind of stuff, but since it's a racing movie, it fits the driving and action sequences pretty
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well; the calm-paced scenes have all relaxing music moments who tells us "take a breather".
Now we come down to the wasabi of this dish. Of all the action-packed animated movies I've seen, this one literally takes the cake, makes it a Tarte Tatin (French pastry), and splashes it on your face! The character design and the backgrounds are reminiscent of 70-80s American comic book styles, the car designs are all unique, the driving sequences are eye-popping, and the character animation is just mwah!
The first time I saw this hidden gem, from the first second to the last scene, my mind was a blank. It took me some time to wake it up and to rank this movie in my favorites. A couple viewings later and I solemnly put it in my all-time favorite movies altogether.
This movie is perfect for those who are tired of laid-back dramatic comedies (not that I have anything against them, eh), and are searching for something a "little" more spicy. So, buckle up, ladies and gents, this ride is way more than wild!!!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 10, 2018
Well, for an adaptation of the classic silent movie by Fritz Lang, this movie hit the spot right on.
The story, while being way different from the original one, still takes place in the same city but with more mature subjects.
The soundtrack and voice acting are great, but not perfect (some voices are a little too quiet).
The animation, in one word: gorgeous!
Overall, if I had to compare these two versions, both are worthy of deserving a gold medal, but personally I would give it to the 1927 version. Why? Because I re-saw this movie in concert in a cathedral two years ago with an organ improvising
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on this marvel, and boy was it transcendent! Now that doesn't mean the anime version of 2001 is inferior: both version are good in many aspects, it's just that my heart leans toward the 1927 version.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 20, 2018
The first time I've ever heard about this movie was by doing some research in Osamu Tezuka's many works, when I stumbled upon the adult animated trilogy "Animerama" (consisting of "1001 Nights", "Cleopatra", and "Belladonna"). I first watched "1001 Nights" (sadly in Italian...) and was quite surprised that the father of Astro Boy and Kimba could do something so silly and mature. I glanced then at "Cleopatra" and quickly stopped because I already saw two movies destroying the image of the last pharaoh (with a feathered hat-wearing Gaul, nah mean?), then I finally got to see "Belladonna", and let me tell you, if you thought
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Dante's Divine Comedy was hard to go through, then this movie is way much harder to peer into.
The story is basically a tale of witchcraft (female of course) in the late Middle Ages. That's it.
The soundtrack is a bit like Pink Floyd but on steroids.
The art and animation are quite a hit and miss (a hit for the art style, and a little miss for the animation). Basically, you take the psychedelic animation from "Yellow Submarine" and mix it with Playboy magazines with a little bit of early Yoshitaka Amano art style, and there you have the animation and art standards of this movie.
In conclusion, be really prepared for this acid trip made non-directly by one of the fathers of anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 15, 2018
I must say that, for the first adult animated movie of the Animerama Trilogy, it was quite enjoyable, except for the fact that the only version I was able to watch was in Italian (with no subtitles), and me can't speak well spaghetti e pepperoni... -_-
Story is a mix of tales from the 1001 nights: Aladdin, the magical ship, Babel Tower (why in the frog is there a biblical tale in this movie will always get me).
Sound is quite well done: mix of classical music and original soundtrack.
Art is a blend between limited animation and psychedelic cuts for the more ecchi stuff (*wink wink*).
Overall, this
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movie isn't suitable for kids, only for teens and adults of all age.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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