Anime Metropolis

[TheGodlyME]

Yeah, I saw it too...during the first five minutes I was thinking "this is gonna be a LOOOOONG 2 hours." It did get pretty good, though. I think the music was quite appropriate at the points that they put it in(both the style and timing). I'm not sure what to think of the ending...it was a little open ended, and it seemed like the kid was supposed to have the hope that he would find what's-her-name if he stayed. Eh...it's a pretty good movie.

[Marron347]

I just rented Metropolis the other day. It was pretty good, but not as good as I thought it was going to be. I did kinda like the music I guess. It was good for being the type of music that it is. I thought the music at the end was comepletely inappropriate though.

[SadClown]

For those interested, it's based on the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. The animation was beautiful and the music was kewl, but the story was awful. There was no charector developement so you had no real idea of the depth of the relationships each charector had with eachother. I didn't like it at all...

[Hinata]

[COLOR=blue]
For some resaon this movie did not capture me as I though it would untill about midway through. It had a few twists and turns that I couldn't understand and that I am still going back trying to get!
The music though was awesome, it brought out expressions that most mucis nowadays couldn't and even though the look of the city is futuristic. If you notice the attitude, clothing style and actions. It seems that is was set in the 1940's. So the music fits it great!!![/COLOR]

[embersky_gemini]

I think this is a movie that didn't really catch me until i watched the whole thing thru, but now each time I watch it again I am throughly impressed with the details. I think it is a visual and musical masterpiece. I thought the music was excellent and fit well with the scene. I really liked the ending music, it was beautifully ironic. BTW...i believe this is based off of an old 1930's-ish German film. I never saw it, but if you look up "metropolis" on the internet movie data base site, you'll see what im talking about.

[Devidramon]

I liked it, though I'd probably have liked it better if I hadn't rented The Iron Giant about two weeks before seeing it (so we have another kid-befriends-friendly-but-potentially-destructive-robot-and-some-dude-wants-it-destroyed movie. It was like watching the same thing again only bloodier. (So this guy's going to shoot everyone between him and Tima for the heck of it? And if Tima's this guy's father's or grandfather's or whoever's (It's been a while since I've seen it so names and relations have slipped my mind. The only name I remember is Tima.) dream, destroying Tima will help... how? Another can always be built. Except for some of his actions, which often seemed to be more for shock value than for furthering of the story, it was enjoyable. The only other real problem was the use of several different animation styles in different characters. Kikaider does this too, to some degree (most people in slight exaggeration of normal anime style but some in 50's-cartoon style) but it was hard to take Metropolis seriously at times because of the 1950's Felix the Cat style people floating around with their Tom-and-Jerry exaggeratedness that, in addition to looking out of place among the more modern-style characters, really didn't fit the movie's serious tone at all. Maybe it's just because it was unexpected and if I'd known going in (the box depicted the boy, the NRA wannabe shoot-em-upper guy, and Tima, who were all in the modern style) I'd have gotten used to it. If it ever comes on TV I'll watch it again and see if, now that I know about the animation thing and The Iron Giant and the various sci-fi shows who've had similar plots at some point are out of my head, those things don't get in the way as much.

[Guest SangoChan]

I loved that movie! me and my friend sat down to watch it one night and although the beginning is a little boring the rest is very good!:therock: :drunk:[QUOTE]cat toilet[/QUOTE]

[Syk3]

I liked Metropolis, but the animation was really new for me in the way of anime. To me, it obviously looked more like a Disney cartoon, but once you get further into it, you can see just how in depth, futuristic, and deadly it gets.

As I was saying, I thought it was a good movie, but it could have been better. The story line was kind of strange to me, and I never understood [spoiler]why that kid would risk his life to save the robot girl. Even when she was trying to kill him, he just would never let her go. oO;[/spoiler] The first time I saw it was in anime club, so that alone kind of sets up a good atmosphere and sometimes has me remember animes to be a little better than I really thought, lol.

[kiddy_phenil]

really, the creator of it, tezuka is widely renowned as the god of manga, and the creator of anime. that's why the character designs look so out dated, the manga was created about fifty years ago, hence the music i suppose.. much rather new orleans to some of the bubble gum crap music they had then.. "i love i love i love my little calendar girl..." :P.. there also wasn't a ziggurat in the manga.. kinda like the addition to it though, more eye candy if nothing else..

[Ellester41]

:love2: I absolutely LOVE Metropolis!! It is an anime movie produced by Osamu Tesuka(sp?). It is about a boy named Kenichi, who goes to the huge, three-level city of Metropolis. After a fire, Kenichi finds a girl in the ruins. Later, he finds out that her name is Tima. Now Rock and Duke Red are after her- Rock is determined to destry her, and Duke Red wants to find her. Now Tima must find out her being- is she a human, like Kenichi- or is she a robot like the poor ones destroyed every day? I don't want to give the end away, so there. But I was wondering... has anyone else out there seen it?

Be my buddy? [email]Ellester41@aol.com[/email]

[Dagger]

Yes, I've seen Metropolis.

It was impeccably animated, and the character designs had an interesting sort of retro look. Perhaps the dub simply wasn't up to par, but despite its production values, I didn't find the movie very captivating. Certain parts reminded me too strongly of Akira (another film which struck me as being rather overrated), and I felt little sympathy for any of the characters.

Perhaps I ought to give Metropolis a second chance. If so, I'll probably watch it subbed.

~Dagger~

[vegeta rocker]

Dear God, am i the only one who despises this anime?
I fail to see the greatness of it. Yeah sure, it has an interesting story, but i just cannot enjoy that style of animation. I can barely stand kikaider.

[Japan]

Don't worry Vegeta Rocker. You're not alone. I really despise this anime movie as well. I don't think that the plot is very well developed. I didn't like the music either, and the animation reminded me of Astroboy. It didn't really catch my interest, even after watching the movie three times. I thought that ending wasn't very good either. Maybe if the plot was more developed, I would've enjoyed it more, but that's just me.

[SadClown]

I thought the animation was pretty at times, but the story was awful. It had no charector development and I couldnt remember any of their names when the movie was over, which isn't a good thing. The music was also annoying...I personally don't recommend it to anyone...

[Guest rttocs77]

I didn't even finish watching the movie. It could have possible been because of my VERY small attention span but also could have been because it wasn't very good. I also agree with you Dagger that Akira is overrated. I enjoyed it, but I don't think of it as one of the best feature-lengths.

[Qukey]

Metropolis is based on the manga by Osamu Tezuka. He passed away in 1989.

The manga was first published in 1949, so the value in it is different from now. The conflict between robot and human sounds kind of old but consider the story was created in the 40s, it becomes the first of its kind in manga or anime.

The character design is typical Tezuka style. They may not look pretty but they serve as the base of modern characters. For more information about Osamu Tezuka, check out the website:
[url]http://en-f.tezuka.co.jp/[/url]

[Semjaza]

You guys are being overly hard on it, I think. I wrote a review for theOtaku way back... I'll post it in here.
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Metropolis is a film written by Katsuhiro Otomo (of Akira), based on a manga by Osamu Tezuka (famous for Astroboy) which was in turn based on an old silent movie of the same name mady by Fritz Lang. Otomo was orginally set to direct, but was replaced by Rintaro (of Galaxy Express 999 fame) for various reasons. While Tezuka's manga was mostly influenced by the classic Lang movie, the same could be said of the relationship between the manga and this film. The plot has been changed and characters have been changed or added. However, both still retain the same basic theme, which is the relationship between man and his creations.

Metropolis is a tri-level city. Like most anime involving this idea, the levels basically split up the classes of the people as well. The film never tries to make this a main point though, and although some time is spent on the idea (along with the revolutionaries involved), it always remains secondary. I've met some people that felt that this was a problem, as it was never very developed... I tend to disagree, as it's not even the point of the movie. It seems to only exist to move the main characters forward and give a bit of backstory behind Duke Red's actions.

The main plot of the film of course involves Tima. The plot is more or less driven by the friendship between her and Kenichi. This in turn brings up questions of whether or not robots are able to or can be loved, much like the movie A.I. Kenichi at first has no knowledge of Tima's purpose, or even that she is a robot.

Character wise, I felt all were well developed. The detective and his robotic partner, Pero, serve almost as tour guides of the city. They provide the factual information on Metropolis, as well as the characters and some of the things going on.

What's interesting about the film is that none of the characters are right out evil. Duke Red could be described as such, but a lot of what he is doing is based on the love of his daughter, which I would think some would sympathize with. Rock seems to be conflicted, and is brought to violence mostly because of the rejection of his father and his lack of any true placement.

At the same time, you get a sense that none of the characters are really developed as much as they could have been (outside if Tima and Kenichi)... But I guess that's to be expected when you put so much into a 108 minute film.

Visually, Metropolis is beautiful. The city is enormous and strikingly detailed, with many vivid colors. Much of the movie uses computer models, but they rarely stand out as being too obvious. It all comes together rather well.

The main point of debate seems to be the character designs. They are based on Tezuka's originals, and so resemble Astroboy more than any current anime. There are no harsh lines, or spiky haircuts. Everything is smooth, soft and rounded. The character designs alone have turned many, many people off to this movie before even seeing it.

The dubbing is also quite good. The voices seemed to fit the characters well, and the dialogue flows nicely for the most part. There are times when characters say something that sounds odd or out of place, but they are mostly said by the detective or Pero when they are spouting out facts.

Musically, the film is rather surprising. The whole soundtrack has a jazz and bigband style to it, something that isn't very common in anime. It does fit well in my opinion, and I liked the inclusion of Ray Charles' "I Can't Stop Loving You" during the climax of the film. I've found that many people think it doesn't fit the action going on screen at the time, but I feel it fits with everything that has led up to that point.
I would like to say this movie isn't for everyone though. Many people seem to find it very slow paced, and there were times during it that I was honestly rather bored. On top of this, as mentioned before the character designs don't sit well with many people, especially considering how detailed the backdrops are.

So in short, I think Metropolis is something everyone should see, if only for its imagery. If you can get past the unconventional (at this time anyway) character designs, you will see how truly beautiful this anime is. The story and characters are well balanced most of the time, even if it doesn't really bring anything incredibly original to the table.

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So yeah, to be honest I find it fairly boring at times. I had to watch it 4 times before I could get through it without falling asleep. It's still amazing looking at times and enjoyable. Has faults obviously

[Ellester41]

Go Azazel! That is what I mean! The music is good, the characters are good. Of course Pero is a robot, so not everything he says has to do with what's happening at that time,but hey. It is still a good movie. One more thing- the little robot things that come to put out the fire- what are they saying? Also, "I can't stop loving you" is one of my favorite songs. It is so touching. All of this is my opinion, so don't hit me! *eee...*

[Assassin]

[size=1][color="666666"]
Metropolis, My mother rented it for me. I pretty much liked it at first because I never saw the anime movie before. But then the plot got all stupid and everything. No offense to anyone that likes the Anime Movie. I agree to the review Semjaza, all the characters is not all evil. It's just ... I didn't really get into the plot of the Anime Movie. Like about how the androids/robots had to be out of town, or something. Have not watched it for awhile x.x
[/color][/size]

[Sara]

[color=indigo]It wasn't my favorite movie by any stretch, but I also think a lot of people are being hard on it. I agree with pretty much everything Semjaza said above.

I really enjoyed the animation. The idea of doing a movie, carefully animated based off of 50-year-old character designs, really struck me as being interesting. The way the old-style characters were integrated with the detailed setting was really well done, I thought. Something that could have been made fifty years ago... if such a level of animation and attention to detail were possible then.

I also thought the music went really well with the film. Sure, it took me by surprise at first, but I thought it fit. Especially the opening scene--the jazz music, and the crazy "camera looking all over the place" reminded me of old movies, very Hollywood.

It did drag on in places, but I was in a bit of a rush when I saw it, which I'm sure didn't help my appreciation of the pacing.[/color]

[Senko]

[FONT=Garamond]Hey did anyone see metropolis??? i heard it was really good and sad at the end but alot of my other friends have been saying that it was a bad movie can you guys tell me what you thought of it cause i really want to know if its worth renting or even enough to buy[/FONT] :sweat:

[Guest D. Resurrected]

That was a great movie and know offence I have no idea what your freinds are thinking.that is a anime masterpeice. :D

[Gaara kun]

I agree 100% it was fabulous. Go see it and make your own opinion. Don't base things on what other people have said. Go see it!

[Nekova]

The animation of the people takes a bit of getting used to, but the storyline and the visuals are second to none. This movie is one of the true anime masterpieces that should get a lot more attention than they do.

[nekojohn]

i only bought my copy becouse i herd it was good althoe my copy was free so i was like what the heck :catgirl: