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Akira Being Rereleased
Quite a number of people have been writing the news that Akira is coming back to the US soon. The proposed release is "sometime this Spring". Akira [?] is one of the biggies in anime movies - and was a darn fine comic book series as well.
IIRC, is because Streamline Pictures got out off business. They got very good franchises, but with the exception OF Akira, the company was famous for cutting the movies to make them more politically correct.
Well, it was Carl Macek's company, so it isn't estrange, he was the one who made Robotech, from 3 different TV series, and cut the Macross movie in to "Class of the Bionoids" ouch!!
Mexico: 100% conservative's America now!
I'm all in favor of a nice, visually-pleasing restoration, but I'd be even happier if they could give it the ol' Princess Mononoke treatment. (Hire a professional writer to re-work the translation, get some better actors instead of the usual "five voices that you seem to hear in every Anime film", that sorta thing.)
I do realize, of course, that real Anime fans are supposed to listen to the Japanese track only and read the subtitles, but I always find that reading subtitles tends to take my attention away from the visual elements, which is usually the main draw of these movies in the first place.
It's probably not in their budget, though. Anybody know how much it cost Mirimax to re-dub Princess Mononoke?
"Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!"
You're right, of course, but in the Western press (and I mean in the US primarily but most other countries as well with the exception of Canada) Akira was widely noted as having broken the mold in the sense that it was a commercial success. Fantasia did not do very well when it came out because it wasn't just for kids. Heavy Metal, Rock 'N Rule and other adult-subject western animations were always critisized and marginalized. Now, you see hollywood proclaiming that animation isn't just for kids anymore.
What changed? Basically it was the aftermath of Akira and several other movies from Japan (Ghost in the Shell, Mononoke Hime, etc) along with a few key movies in the West (most notably Iron Giant for having gotten crittical aclaim for it's adult themes in the face of zero expectations and effort on the part of the studio). The long-running success of the animation festivals has not hurt either.
I lay a lot of credit at the feet of Akira for waking the west up, not for inventing anything.
Crouching Tiger has already been released in DVD in Hong Kong (region 3). Thus it was available for 'home viewing' prior to it's theatre release in US. There are plenty of copies available on e-bay.
-- Greg
Slashdot, would a spell-checker for posting be too much to ask? It's not rocket science!
While I agree that it is worthwhile to see a really good movie in the theater and a decent movie on DVD or VHS rather than a smaller free download, what about the tons of marginal movies out there? Unfortunately the studios do make a lot of movies that folks wouldn't pay for if they didn't have to.
My response would be that perhaps if we DID start downloading movies as an option, that perhaps those really LAME marginal movies you're speaking of would [gasp!] stop being made?
What harm would there be if people stopped churning out horrible, thrown-together plots, bad acting by bad actors, rehashed plot devices, etc? It might actually re-legitimize the hollywood moviemaking empire...
Unfortunately, we'd never get to see Britney Spears in her acting debut (unless she was nude) but I think that the overall improvement in the way moviemaking was approached would be well worth it (for the viewers AND the movie producers).
-The Reverend (I am not a Nazi nor a Troll)
-The Reverend (I am not a Nazi nor a Troll)
=(.\')=
It was announced in July of last year at AnimeExpo that Pioneer was rereleasing Akira in the summer of 2001. :]
Of course, I'd be more inclined to see something on the big screen if it didn't cost $8. Another good reason to check out your local art theaters...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Then how the hell do you know what Akira is like?
"Anime" is the japanese word for 'animation.' It's not a genre.
You're lumping G-rated, X-rated, and everything inbetween into one generalization. Idiot.
[later:]
You don't have a bible in your home? It's all in there, ya know.
[still later:]
Dubya have never lead anything that required strength. The Carter administration will look powerful compared to this one.
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You said earlier that you had never seen Akira. So, how would you know if it had a plot or not?
My opinions apply to Anime as well as other "bad" movies, as you so eloquently phrased it.
Once again, 'anime' is not a genre.
It is high time that the competent leadership of our country takes action to stop this perversion of our culture with the Japanese menace that is Anime.
Which perversion? Totoro? Grave of the Fireflies? Speed Racer?
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How would you know if Japanese animation had redeeming aspects or artistic value? Apparently you've seen less than 0.01% of what's available.
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It was sort of like The Right Stuff, but set on a planet where a great conflict not dissimilar to World War II had been raging for decades, not years. Aside from one nonsequitur rape scene which could be excised without screwing up the plot, I believe it could become THE breakthrough movie for Japanese animation in the US. Without that one flash of skin, it's fine for family viewing.
Someone's got to sit Tom Hanks down and get him to see the movie...his love of the history of spaceflight would really get him excited about it. Maybe his Playtone Productions could bankroll a theatrical re-release in the US.
In 1997 Gainax did a 10th Anniversary re-release of Honneamise in Japan. It included THX sound and a remix of the score done by the incomparable Ryuchi Sakamoto. So there is a high-quality digitally remastered version available to work from.
Since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon proved that US audiences WILL sit through a subbed movie if it kicks enough ass, a dub might not be necessary. However, an intelligently-done dub that preserves Sakamoto's score and the sound effects and uses a well-written dubscript (Mononoke Hime is a worthy example...it is lovely prose, although Miyazaki's own translated words are sheer poetry) wouldn't be bad. In fact, Hanks would be a great voice for Shiro Lhadatt, the misfit kid turned fly guy.
I don't know WHO has the rights to Honneamise...I think it's Manga Entertainment but I don't know for sure. But Honneamise is as important, if not MORE important to the history of Japanese Animation than Akira. It deserves an US theatrical rerelease.
Oh yeah, don't get me started about the unavailability Stateside of the two Evangelion movies, Death And Rebirth and End Of Evangelion...
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http://www.msgeek.org/ -- Because you can't keep a geek grrl down!
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
When I first saw Dune I asked, 'What the heck was all that about? Who was that freaky old hag with the torture box?' and my dad said, 'Oh! She was the leader of the Bene Geserit who do this and that and the other and all those other people were doing their thing because of these other reasons'. I protested, 'how the heck did you derive all that?!?' and he said, 'Oh, I read the five novels that go along with it.'
EXACT same thing happened with Akira... (except with my roommate, not dad). She thought it was cool and I was lost. 'Oh, but so-and-so did all that for all these reasons and I know because I've read this huge series of books from which the movie was condensed.'
The people who made Akira made it for the people who had already read the mangas. For anyone else, it's a bunch of disconnected images (though I admit well done disconnected images) about characters who have no discernable motivations.
I've never seen any of the movies you mentioned, but the reason the "thought police", as you phrase it, have been unsucessful in banning movies, magazines, and books is that most of the media you have previously mentioned have at least some redeeming aspects or artistic value, while Anime does not.
-atrowe: Card-carrying Mensa member. I have no toleranse for stupidity.
If you don't want to watch anime, then you can't be forced to watch it. You are also lumping all anime into one big group. I wouldn't consider "My Neighbor Totoro" or Princess Mononoke as being harmful to anyone. Also isn't banning something just become you don't like it against the first amendment. The thought police have tried to ban movies, magazines, books, etc. and they seem to have failed everytime.
In my opinion, seeing a film on the bigscreen is the *only* way to see it. Especially a high end/ up-to-date theater. It's the way the director wanted you to see his/her artwork, not on some crummy television screen where it's a crapshoot with quality. I'll pay 8 bucks any day to see a great film on the big screen.
Hey! A Troll - and now for some real(ish) content:
Akira is *not* one of my favorite movies, as a dialogue-free build up to Tetsuro the rapidly expanding Swanson family dinner is not my cup of tea. However, it is far better than the "Fist of the North Star", "Dragon Ball Z" genre(1).
So, hell... it's been awhile since the "What is good Anime?" thread started. Here's my contribution:
If you like golden age SF, try "They Were Eleven" (the Manga "2001 Nights" is much better). Cyberpunks like "Ghost in the Shell", the Manga is rather more zany but also much more interesting philosophically. "Serial Experiments: Lain" is good along the same lines (ish). "Cowboy Bebop" is possibly one of the best series released in America: it claims to be the synthesis of a new genre, and pretty much is... winding Jazz, Westerns and Space Opera into tight scripts. And if you watch all of "Neon Genesis Evangelion", then the (as yet unreleased in America) movie "End of Evangelion" is the closest thing to modern art as a cinematic work that I have seen. Abstract and primative shapes and images work to create an emotional thrust that arcs, crashes, and arcs again. Splendid, if you are into that sort of thing.
So, yeah... there are baser Anime out there, but there are some other genres of animated japanese art that are worth considering.
(1) BTW - the actual Dragon Ball saga is very different than DBZ. The live action movie is a hoot, and the plot is actually based on some real folktales.
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Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
I look forward to the re-release. There were a lot of things about Akira that might seem minor today, but were HUGE at the time. The two that come right to mind are:
Some of you may remember the Epic Comics release of Akira back in the 80's that Hemos referenced... Well, Dark Horse Comics has gotten the rights to this fantastic series, and is going to reprint the entire run, in the form of six HUGE trade paperbacks. Granted, these are not in color, (the original japanese version wasn't either, I think..) but they have a new, more accurate and understandable translation than the Epic run.
Dark Horse is also publishing Trade Paperbacks of the truly awesome Lone Wolf and Cub, another comic that was all over the place in the 80's. This one is the complete, in-order run. (And its supposed to be on the order of 6000+ pages long!) Dark horse is bringing it to america in its a original, paperback-sized format that it was released in Japan. Both of these are not to be missed, and are worth every penny.
'Why would anyone go out and spend their hard-earned money to see a movie when they could download it from the net for free?'
If anything the last two re-releases 'Legend of Drunken Master', and 'Crouching Tiger...' have shown that people will go to theatres and pay for what's been available more cheaply on VHS. Same with Akira. There's value added by seeing something on the big screen or getting inserts / liner notes with DVD's you could otherwise download.
It's pretty clear that open availability of a movie will not drive the movie industry out of business, shooting a big hole in their argument on why everything must be encrypted and propriety.
-- Greg
Slashdot, would a spell-checker for posting be too much to ask? It's not rocket science!
Akira sucks! It's just overblown because it's so popular, it's not really that great!
Akira was a milestone! Excellent animation, an intriguing, deep story, and more!
Why would you see this for free? You can download it for free on the net!
Because, you dumbass, seeing a movie on a GIGANTIC SCREEN is somewhat more impressive than seeing it on a tiny computer monitor!
Movies suck!
They're making a live-action version of Akira, with Natalie Portman and Leonardo DiCaprio as the blue midget psychic children!
*phew* Glad I saved us all that effort.
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased