| Escaflowne is a sprawling adventure saga that infuses sword-and-sorcery and mecha elements into the popular "magical girl" anime genre. The girl is Hitomi Kanzaki (voice by Kelly Sheridan), a withdrawn teenager who wishes she could just leave everything behind and vanish. When she's magically transported to the alternate world of Gaia, she gets her wish--in spades. The dashing Van (Kirby Morrow) of the White Dragon Clan is pitted against his twisted brother Folken (Paul Dobson), the leader of the Black Dragon Clan, in a succession war that threatens the very existence of Gaia. Hitomi is hailed as the long-awaited "Wing Goddess," and her power over the invincible dragon-mecha suit Escaflowne confirms her status. Although the tangled story line has been pared down, the feature remains a reworking of the 26-part TV series The Vision of Escaflowne, which aired briefly on Fox Kids and is available on DVD. Fans of the television series will find that many of the familiar characters have been redesigned and reduced to minor roles, among them Allen, Princess Millerna, Dryden, Merle, Naria, and Eriya. Some of the story's more outré elements have been dropped, but there are still more prophecies, conflicts, and relationships than the filmmakers can resolve satisfactorily in 96 minutes, despite a pat happy ending. Escaflowne boasts some impressive action sequences, which Kazuki Akane directs with panache. The film opens with a spectacular sword fight, as Van single-handedly dispatches the guards on an enemy airship to capture Escaflowne. MPAA rating: PG-13. Contains considerable violence. --Charles Solomon |
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 A Great Anime |
| Review Date: August 3, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Blade, New York |
I purchased the Escaflowne Movie (Ultimate Edition), three years ago. The first-edition packaging of this set included a relatively large, and sturdy 6 x 8 x 3 inch folding box. Stored in this box were three disks (two DVDs and one CD), and a miniature art booklet. The outside of the collectors box was a beauty to behold, as the artwork on the back and front sides were done in a glossy finish. Only 10,000 units of the first edition were ever made.
The upcoming second-edition release of this set, will include everything as the original release (except the collectors box). All three disks will be stored in a standard plastic casing.
As for the content of the disks, they are quite enjoyable. There are two DVDs, one containing the movie, and the other containing extras (music videos, cast interviews, etc.). The music CD contains a whopping 25 tracks, and includes some beautiful vocal performances from Maaya Sakamoto, and Shanti Snyder.
The Escaflowne Movie sets a much darker tone, and takes place in an alternate-universe to the TV series. For those who are new to Escaflowne, you will feel welcomed, as the movie is stand-alone from the rest of the series. All in all, the movie is an awesome experience, and I highly recommend it for anyone's anime collection.
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A stunning re-telling
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| Review Date: May 11, 2002 |
| Reviewer: , |
| The best advice to give anyone seeing this movie who is a die-hard fan of the series is to let the series go for an hour and 40 minutes. For those of you who are not familiar with the movie, it is not a sequel or a prequel. It is more of an alternate telling of the Escaflowne story. The story cannot possibly maintain all of the plot lines of the series (which is about 13 hours in total). However the themes remain the same: lonliness, friendship, honor, love, family, and redemption are all integral parts of both the movie and series. Some of the key characters had to be omitted for brevity's sake and it is my opinion that this was a wise decision. It stripped down the plot and concentrated on the development of Van and Hitomi's relationship (for details read the amazon.com editorial review). Now, I haven't seen the American DVD release but I do own the Japanese limited edition DVD. I also saw it both dubbed and subbed in the theater. The dub (both translation and voice acting) is a bit of a dissapointment. Although the voice acting is improved from the series dub it still pales in comparison to the Japanese cast and I just didn't feel that the intensity of the on screen situations was conveyed well. The animation is superb, some of the best I've ever seen in an animated feature film (that's all animation not just anime). To top it all off, Yoko Kanno does another breathtaking job with the score. So please, when watching this movie, sit back, relax, and enjoy one of the best films I've seen in recent years - and by all means watch it in Japanese! |
The 3-Disc Ultimate Edition repackaged
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| Review Date: July 25, 2005 |
| Reviewer: eau, USA |
This is Escaflowne: The Movie - Anime Legends edition. The Anime Legends is a line of anime from Bandai Entertainment that is used to re-release older anime in a cheaper package. With this edition, you supposedly get the same 3 discs from the original, more expansive Ultimate Edition but without the fancy collector's packaging. The 3 discs are the movie DVD, an extras DVD and the movie soundtrack CD.
If you don't already have the Ultimate Edition, go ahead and get this one. If you are on the fence about the movie, give this edition a try. At least you get an excellent soundtrack in the event that you don't like the movie. |
Wasurenaide... Don't Forget
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| Review Date: January 6, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Marc Ruby™, Warren, MI USA |
| Hitomi, a young high school student has lost her interest in life. She fears things will never change, is so depressed that she hopes that somehow she will just fade away. What she doesn't expect is that her desire to escape would catapult her into the mythic world of Gaea. From a young highschool student, she finds herself thrust into the role of the Wing Goddess, who can call up Escaflowne, a terrible suit of giant armor destined to destroy the world. Hitomi's first encounter on Gaea is with Van, a king whose people were destroyed by his jealous brother. First, she is badly frightened, then deeply attracted to this lonely, tormented boy. Unfortunately, there is hardly time for romance. Van and his brother both attempt to gain control of Hitomi and, through her, Escaflowne. A war is building and Van must fight repeatedly for his life. Director Kazuki Akano is kind to his viewers, and the fight scenes alternate with visions of the loveliness Gaea contains, as reflected in both the scenery and the wondrous creatures that people it. We do not need to be told for what Van and Hitomi are fighting, we see it repeatedly before our eyes. The documentation and extras that come with this set repeatedly make the point that this film is not a recap of the series, but an alternate tale set in the same world with the same characters. Hitomi and Van are older and more mature, and the film spends far less time on the theme of destiny that drove the series, focusing instead on the feelings and emotional contexts of the characters. For me this adds great impact to the film, which is already notable for artistic imagery and a superb score. I'm not a big fan of the interviews which make up many disks of extras, but I found those that came with this set quite interesting. All of the participants seem to conscious of having made a truly special film, and are justifiably proud. I even found myself repeatedly listening to the CD of music from the lush score by Yoko Kanno. One of the reasons I have come to like anime as an art form, is that it always manages to surprise. Born from the world of comics and manga, the Japanese have taken a relatively straightforward medium and turned it into something where magic works, giant robot suits are used to fight for the futures of planets, and comedy, romance and horror can cheerfully coexist in settings both rare and commonplace. This is the world of 'Escaflowne.' A story made richer for the retelling. |
Very good movie
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| Review Date: June 8, 2003 |
| Reviewer: , |
| I have to say I was really impressed with this movie. Especially the artwork, which was absolutely stunning. The Music CD makes it worth purchasing this set all by itself. It almost makes you feel as though you are in the unique world of Gaia. However, at some points, it takes far too long to continue with the storyline in my opinion. For example, it captured my attention at the very beginning when Van flew in and cleaned up the guards on the ship, but then there was just a long, boring part where I was wondering why they did not edit some of the scenes. Honestly, some of my friends were literally falling asleep when we were watching it as a result. On the other hand, the movie on a whole was really well done, considering its short time.And with the exceptional(but rare) fighting scenes, I really couldn't complain. I find it ridiculous to compare the movie to the series. Of course the series would have better character development, that is obvious.Simply because it has a much longer time for that. The same can be said for the depth of storyline. So, I don't believe it is reasonable for people to just say bluntly," The series is better." I'd say they are both special in their own way.
Personally, I liked the movie very much, and I believe it deserves the 5 stars I gave it. But, I would recommend renting it first, just in case if you have second thoughts. |
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