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Vampire Hunter DRating:
Release Date: 17 October, 2000 Retail Price: $29.95 OUR Price: $26.99 You SAVE: $2.96! Cast: |
Vampire Hunter D Reviews
Buffy's Vampire Slaying Predecessor
Vampire Hunter D was the first authentic anime movie I had ever seen - episodes of the Thundercats despite their guilty charm and obvious anime foundation don't really count - and I was pretty impressed. I caught a showing of it one morning on The Sci-Fi Channel's Anime Sunday and could finally appreciate all the fuss about anime. Visually striking in its stylized approach and frenetic execution, Anime's power lies in tales of high-octane genre action. While anime enthusiasts might somehow welcome a rendition of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, I suspect that while the Wicked Witch would probably come out all the more wicked, the dwarves would resemble something out of Pokemon. And nobody really needs more of that, right?
After watching a few minutes of this disc, you clearly see that either a technician fell asleep while balancing brightness levels, or the studio wanted a darker release. When comparing the trailer and other clips from the supplements, it's obvious that this print is noticeably darker. At no time does it really become distracting, but for those who have seen other versions, keep in mind that this one is a much darker transfer. Considering that the movie is 14 years old, it's not in bad shape. Also, since it's animation generally colors in animated films are usually bold primary ones and deeply saturated, so there's a bit of a washed out look to the color scheme here. But by and large the transfer is free of defects, pixelation and the compression is good with no apparent artifacts. There are two soundtracks - one in Japanese the other in English. Both mixes are powerful when needed, yet retain the subtleties of the quieter moments.
The disc has an extensive trailer selection showcasing other anime titles such as Wicked City and it also includes the trailer for Vampire Hunter D 2000 - the sequel. Also as another trailer of sorts is the preview for the Vampire Hunter D - Playstation Video Game. Running nearly three minutes in length, it combines a video introduction with generous samplings of the video game.
A video clip comprised of graphic concepts and work samples of Yoshitaka Amano, the artist whose illustrations for the Vampire Hunter D novels formed the basis for the look and film design, makes up the Image Gallery. Set to a haunting musical score, this gives the audience a peek at the beginning of the Vampire Hunter D characters and also a look into future Amano projects - including an upcoming collaboration with Neil Gaiman of Sandman fame.
Finally, there's The Making of Vampire Hunter D - at just under 10 minutes, this is a nice behind the scenes look at the film - complete with interviews of cast and crew. Narrated in Japanese with English subtitles, we see the surprisingly modest animation studio which produced the film along with excited voice over artists thrilled at being given the opportunity to bring these popular Asian characters to life.
Vampire Hunter D succeeds as a crossover anime film. Combining futuristic hard-edged action that's the hallmark of anime with dark, gothic elements of the horror and fantasy genres, it works remarkably well. Today we're accustomed to the action/horror blend of such popular franchises as Wesley Snipe's Blade and of course Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, however, Vampire Hunter D having debuted in 1983 is the forefather to those vampire hunters. Perhaps only The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires released in 1974 by Hammer Films was an earlier mixture of martial arts and vampires. But where that and most other forays into action/horror never stray far from traditional trappings, Vampire Hunter D employs a decidedly unique element by setting the environment far into the future- a world still recognizable, though far removed from our own.
Possibly the WORST quality in Anime!!!!
I only gave it 2 stars because of the girl! (SHE IS SO HOT!) and maybe the concept but the rest was HORRENDOUS.
The graphics are smudgy, the animation is the WORST EVER, the action scenes were poorly choreographied, the sound is annoying and the camera shots were slow and poorly addapted!
Better buy the sequel witch is everything opposite to what I said.
Adios.
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