Post by Bytor on Apr 8, 2012 14:03:36 GMT -5
-Details-
Genre: Sci-Fi Post Apocalyptic
Company: Madhouse
Format: 90 min movie
Date: 12 Dec 1990
-Visuals- 8.5/10
At times this looks really, really nice, especially the various humans and quite a few of the remnants of civilization. At other times, it looks not so good to say the least. The funny thing is the backgrounds and various environments which sometimes look so good are often the same things which look so bad, it's almost as if the designers at times cared and at times seemed to not care, putting up non-nondescript drab looking buildings and background scenery (and don't even get me started on the Guardian design, it's simply horrible in my opinion). The true strength is the human models. They portray the look and feel of feral humans wonderfully and it is obvious that they have certainly lost pretty much all vestiges of civilization. A true case of the good and bad here, which I guess averages out to pretty much average, although the human good designs outweigh the poor background designs ever so slightly.
-Sound- 8.5/10
Adequate voice acting for the most part. Unfortunately for whatever reason I simply didn't connect with Sophia. I'm not sure if it was the acting or the writing but either way I just never got in synch with her personality. The music on the other hand is superbly done with full orchestration and a sweeping soundtrack which accompany the movie wonderfully. Overall an understated job but one that fits the mood and ambiance very nicely.
-Characters- 8.2/10
Wataru is very interesting. He's somewhat altruistic, somewhat naive and somewhat domineering all without being unlikeable or appearing conceited or over bearing. Sophia is a suitable enigma but unfortunately she remains entirely too much of an enigma. To a certain extent within the confines of the story I understand, but only somewhat. I simply was left wanting to know more about her and the conflicts which the situation must obviously cause her emotionally, and it just didn't happen. The other supporting characters (all four) were for the most part very well defined and while they were involved they didn't overwhelm the story nor did they become simply an afterthought, instead they added to the story wonderfully and fleshed out a story which just missed being great.
-Story- 8.5/10
At some time in the 1990's a mysterious wind blows across the entire world causing almost the entire population of the world to develop amnesia, and hence forget pretty much everything besides base survival skills. The story centers around a young man named Wataru who, through the help of a surgically enhanced young man named Johnny (whom the government preformed surgery on to enhance his memory) is able to re-learn many things and re-gain his ability to act as a civilized human. He partakes on a journey across America in an attempt to re-educate feral humans and re-establish a functioning society. The movie is actually a series of interconnected short stories and the first two (or three depending on how you count them) is seriously good. Unfortunately the last part of the movie feels very, very rushed and very disjointed and has nowhere near the story telling depth to grab your attention like the first 3/4 of the movie. It's a shame, if the last part lived up to the first part I'd rank this extremely high...as it is, well, not so much.
-Overall- 8.5/10
I'm gonna be brief...see above on story. It pretty much sums up my feelings on this flawed, still good, but not great, movie. Such a shame, it really started out so great. The movie showed @45 minutes of absolute great story telling and premise, unfortunately the movie then continued into WTF territory and ended on a HUGE huh?
