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Akira - The Ultimate Collection [1991]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Artist-writer Katsuhiro Omoto began telling the story of Akira as a comic book series in 1982 but took a break from 1986 to 1988 to write, direct, supervise and design this animated film version. Set in 2019, the film richly imagines the new metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, which is designed from huge buildings down to the smallest details of passing vehicles or police uniforms. Two disaffected orphan teenagers--slight, resentful Tetsuo and confident, breezy Kanada--run with a biker gang, but trouble grows when Tetsuo start to resent the way Kanada always has to rescue him. Meanwhile, a group of scientists, military men and politicians wonder what to do with a collection of withered children who possess enormous psychic powers, especially the mysterious, rarely seen Akira, whose awakening might well have caused the end of the old world. Tetsuo is visited by the children, who trigger the growth of psychic and physical powers that might make him a superman or a super-monster.

As befits a distillation of 1,318 pages of the story so far, Akira is overstuffed with character, incident and detail. However, it piles up astonishing set pieces: the chases and shoot-outs (amazingly kinetic, amazingly bloody) benefit from minute cartoon detail that extends to the surprised or shocked faces of the tiniest extra; the Tetsuo monster alternately looks like a billion-gallon scrotal sac or a Tex Avery mutation of the monster from The Quatermass Experiment; and the finale--which combines flashbacks to more innocent days with a destruction of Neo City and the creation of a new universe--is one of the most mind bending in all sci-fi cinema. --Kim Newman

On the DVD: as befits this film's status as a Manga classic, Akira has a wide selection of extras spread across two discs, including a "Making of Akira" documentary, a photo gallery, a quiz and a "Make your own trailer" feature, as well as one hidden feature on each disc. The film has been digitally remastered and presented in widescreen format, with Dolby Digital 5.1 for the English-dubbed version, and Dolby Digital 2.0 for the original Japanese language version. The only disappointment of the disc is the animated Scene Selection, where the clips are rendered so small that they can be a bit difficult to decipher. --Rob Burrow


watching this is something you have 2 do!
Review date: 2008-07-07 Rating: 10 out of 10

not just the greatest manga of all time, but possibly the greatest animated feature of all time, its pure briliance is unrivalled by any cartoon ive ever seen, i never get bored of it, and its detailed characters and storylines, revealing every detail of neo tokyo and the characters disturbing pasts are handled and drawn brilliantly, this film is amazing so go watch it!

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Reviews


Up there with the greats of science-fiction cinema
Review date: 2008-04-02 Rating: 10 out of 10

Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira (1988) is a bold and vivid cyber-punk saga; wherein the story is a simple tale of good versus evil blown up to multi-layered proportions, further developed through the sublime, visually-transcendent animation and intricate character details, which both combine to create one of alternative cinema's greatest ever achievements. Everything you could hope to find in a science-fiction film is brought into play here, with warring street-punks, shadowy government conspiracies, psychological manipulation, body horror and nuclear holocaust all figuring heavily within the writhing and labyrinthine plot. It shows a continuation of the themes established in earlier classic of the sci-fi genre, most notably Fitz Lang's Metropolis (1927), Ishirô Honda's Godzilla (1954), LQ Jones' A Boy and His Dog (1975), Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker (1979), George Miller's The Road Warrior (1981) and Ridley Scott's iconic Blade Runner (1982), with the post apocalyptic theme and the further depiction of a technologically advanced, noir-like metropolis spiralling out of control.

Alongside this we have the ghosts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki referenced in the opening sequences, and the parallels of those atrocities revisited here as the trigger of World War Three. However, despite these more elaborate historical juxtapositions and themes of science fiction, the story's main focus is that of friendship; in this instance the friendship of two characters being pushed and strengthened throughout the film, finally reaching a climax with the final fight between Kaneda and the bizarre mutation of Tetsuo. This theme is central throughout Akira, posing serious questions of loyalty, contempt and ambition, as well as ending with the ambiguous idea that further battles must be fought before any of the characters (and by extension, the audience as well) know the truth about Tetsuo and the tree, mystical little children so central to the plot.

If you're already a fan of Manga and Anima, then Akira should be an absolute must see, that is, if you haven't experienced it already. However, please don't let a lack of interest in animation, or more appropriately, Japanese animation deter you from experiencing this film, as really, it is one of the most interesting, intelligent and accessible works of sci-fi cinema produced in the last twenty-five years. It is also incredibly influential, with its influence apparent in a number of subsequent great works of science fiction, including Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1988), and sequel Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992), Rintaro's Metropolis (2001), Spielberg's A.I, (2001) and Minority Report (2002), Takashi Miike's Dead or Alive: Final (2002), Michael Winterbottom's Code 46 (2003) and Wong Kar-Wai's misunderstood masterpiece 2046 (2004). Already twenty-years on from its original release, Akira remains a bold, interesting and unforgettable work of vibrant, visceral, intelligent science fiction cinema that deserves to be experienced.

If you want AKIRA get the version redone by Pioneer .
Review date: 2008-01-23 Rating: 10 out of 10

This may involve tracking down the R1 copy that came in the black tin as i am not sure if the Pioneer release version came out in R2 . It contains the restorated THX badged version of this all time classic and is the one you should get .


Stunning... now go read the Manga!
Review date: 2008-01-21 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is, simply, one of the best and most influential animes ever made. It's edgy, dark and definitely not for children; however, the violence is purely plot-driven and not gratuitous like some anime, and there is no sex apart from some slight nudity in one part of the film.

The animation and quality, in the "re-done" version at least, are top-notch. The voice acting in the English dub is also very good, with the exception of one or two rather flat-sounding background characters, who you don't notice anyway.

One of the surprising hits about this anime, for me, was the soundtrack. It's great music that really suits the scene, from the cyberpunk techno-rock for the biker gangs to the creepy, disjointed, discordant music during the psychic attack on Tetsuo.

Speaking of which, the scene where a giant teddy bear and other toys attack Tetsuo is still one of the most frightening and creepy things I've ever watched, and one of the reasons I wouldn't show this film to anyone under about 16.

Akira is based on a 6-volume manga. I highly, highly recommend that you buy or borrow the manga and read it; although the film differs in some key plot points due to having to fit over a thousand pages into a two hour film, the manga provides great background for the characters, along with some extra characters. The story in the manga is obviously longer and more involved and makes a great read.

Overall, I love this film. Apart from being a great, influential film in itself, it's also an excellent example of a "happy medium" for anime - not cheaply made, badly-acted Saturday-morning-cartoon-type crap, yet not an ultra-violent-with-gratuitious-sex movie that has to be kept at the back of your DVD shelf.

A great introduction to the genre and a great film overall!

The one that got me into anime!
Review date: 2007-12-19 Rating: 6 out of 10

I was not a fan of anime until I saw this for the first time in July (on VHS believe it or not!), and all I can say is that this is one hell of a movie! The animation and soundtrack are absolutely divine, even by today's standards. I also like the fact that the movie can be enjoyed from two different angles. If you are having trouble understanding the story (which is great but very complicated) then you can just let the film entertain you with its incredible action sequences.

It's a shame that this DVD does not live up to the standards of this classic movie. For one thing, you can only watch the remastered version with the new english dub, which suffers from poor voiceovers. If you want to watch the original english dub (which is quite good and is the one I saw on the VHS) you have to watch it with mono sound (the other is in dolby digital 5.1) and a lower quality 4:3 picture. Also, why does each DVD come in its own seperate case? It may look nice but it takes up more room on my shelf. Has Manga ever heard of double disc cases? It's these reasons why I can only give this product 3 stars instead of 5.

If you want to start getting into anime, then this is a good place to start!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Tesshô Genda
Mami Koyama
Hiroshi Ôtake
Mitsuo Iwata
Nozomu Sasaki

Creators:
Nozomu Sasaki (Primary Contributor)
Mami Koyama (Primary Contributor)
Katsuhiro Ôtomo (Writer)
Haruyo Kanesaku (Producer)
Hiroe Tsukamoto (Producer)
James Yosuke Kobayashi (Producer)
Ryohei Suzuki (Producer)
Sawako Noma (Producer)
Izô Hashimoto (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Manga Entertainment
Manufacturer: Manga Entertainment
EAN: 5022366201247
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2003-06-23
Number of discs: 2
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 300 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2001-07-24
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: Italian (Original Language)
Language: Japanese (Original Language)
Language: Spanish (Original Language)

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