Checked out Appleseed: Ex Machina DVD yet?

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:02 pm

I finally was able to see what the all hype about the John Woo produced Appleseed: Ex Machina film DVD was about. Some very slick CGI anime infused with John Woo's trademarked gunplay/gun battles... ^_~

The Ex Machina staff also released the film on Blu-Ray disc format as well...looks razor sharp on a 1080p HDTV monitor!

I see some borrowed elements taken from the 3rd Matrix film, namely the swarm of drones (that take place of the Matrix's Sentinels mecha)...

Makes me wonder if Mr. Shirow is going to do Book 5 of Appleseed any time soon...

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

kengou · Post by **kengou** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:33 pm

I enjoyed it. Maybe not quite as good as the first movie, and the plot was a lot more predictable, but it still had the characteristic John Woo style of fight scenes and the animation as always looked awesome. Haven't read any of the manga so I can't comment on that.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:11 pm

This is the one from a few years ago? I thought it was terrible. The CG was uninspired and the plot was a disgrace to Masamune Shirow's good name.

JoshF · Post by **JoshF** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:24 pm

Shirou needs to get back to black ink and white paper instead of that digital airbrush nonsense he's been doing for a decade.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:28 pm

it290 wrote:This is the one from a few years ago? I thought it was terrible. The CG was uninspired and the plot was a disgrace to Masamune Shirow's good name.

I think that was just a theatrical movie entitled Appleseed. This was a follow up of sorts (or at least released later). Right? I'm not sure. I don't watch much anime these days.

Post by **undamned** » Tue May 06, 2008 4:48 pm

it290 wrote:This is the one from a few years ago?

No. There's a thread for that here: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=10254

I just watched this last night. As much as I agree about the plot being very predictable, I still found it enjoyable. Many things borrowed from other movies (Jin-Roh, Equilibrium, Matrix 3, Metropolis, etc.), but it wasn't a turn off because it was just mixed in w/ a bunch of other already cool stuff. The animation was real enough that at times I forgot I was watching an anime (save the non matching lips/voice [Blockbuster's Blu-Ray DVD lacked original Japanese voices w/ English subtitles. What the crap]).

There is still a long way to go before a movie like this will be palatable for action movie fans in general (people still have "anti-cartoon" mentality), but I'd say this is proof that we are certainly getting there.

And by the way, the bonus features were quite a treat, something every anime DVD release should include (making of, world of, creator interviews, etc.).
-ud

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:35 pm

All the bonus features of Appleseed: Ex Machina BluRay edition are included with the 2-disc DVD set of the same name... ^_~

Plus the ability to watch it in it's original Japanase language with proper lip synced movements to boot...

I like how very graceful and fluid the CGI characters move via motion capture routines...is the wave of the future for entirely digital created anime.

The John Woo stylized gun battles are up to spec as usual... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Strider77 · Post by **Strider77** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:54 pm

have you guys checked out vexille ?

it's not out in the states but it can be watched easily, I managed it. it's all CG and I enjoyed it alot more than apple seed.

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:00 pm

i wasnt at all impressed with ex machina...the animation wasnt nearly as slick as the the first one....

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:19 pm

jonny5 wrote:i wasnt at all impressed with ex machina...the animation wasnt nearly as slick as the the first one....

Actually, Ex Machina's animation is more detailed and refined than the first Appleseed CGI flick -- the creators even say so in the creation documentary of EX Machina film...

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:22 pm

Strider77 wrote:have you guys checked out vexille ?

it's not out in the states but it can be watched easily, I managed it. it's all CG and I enjoyed it alot more than apple seed.

I recall that Vexille had an very limited engagement at my local movie theater but it didn't fare to well audience-wise and thus was in and out within a span of a few days altogether...so yeah, I missed watching it on the "silver screen". ^_~

Will have to check out Vexille when it come out on USA region DVD/BluRay formats...

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Tue May 06, 2008 11:35 pm

ok....well you watch the opening scene in the first one and then throw ex machina on and you tell me which looks better....

ex machina looks very american in style and even kind of reminded me of Reboot for those that remember that show

but to each there own

it290 · Post by **it290** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:53 am

Okay, I watched this movie since Netflix has it on their Watch Instantly thingy.

Definitely far better than the last movie, but there were still some flaws -- mainly in the storyline: I mean, wtf, taking over people's brains with some kind of cybernetic device? Don't we already have GITS for that?

Also, I thought it was kind of funny how the Virtual Light-glasses things were built on 'free open source software' -- I mean that's a cool nod and all, but if that were the case, wouldn't it be sort of impossible to implant some kind of killer zombie virus in them? Or maybe it was a sly dig at FOSS...

The battle at the end was pretty badass, though. I also thought the art style and animation were quite good, although the background art was pretty generic.