Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
spiderboi
A pretty bad adaptation of one of the greatest manga arcs of all time. I do think adapting this arc as a movie trilogy provides more positives than negatives. Although it would suffer from some cut content (which in turn would affect the characterization and thematic depth) due to not being able to adapt everything in comparison to a TV series that has more time, it would be able to reach the extremely high artistic standards of the manga.
Berserk has some of the greatest art in any comic book, which makes it one of the hardest manga to adapt properly (also in part because of other aspects, like how it uses the comic medium to its full potential). A TV anime would not be able to do it justice because of the limited budgets and extremely tight schedules that plague a lot of shows in the i…
Read at the sourceRikuson1
Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King Review
Story (8/10) Very Good
So the first Berserk Movie adapts episode's 2-10 of the 90s anime of the Golden Age Arc of the series. I think from a story standpoint it did a good job now obviously things were removed to reach the 1 hour and 16 minutes they clocked in by the time the movie was done. Like the Gambino flash back was quickly rushed over for example if you haven't read the manga or watched the 90s anime then that scar on Gut's nose you might not know that it came from Gambino because this first part in the trilogy set wouldn't let you know that. Other than that I think anything else that was left out of the 90s anime adaptation is debatable if it was actually important or not the Gambino scene was the only part I felt was…
Read at the sourceYoungVagabond
Judged on its own merits, it's good. As a remake of the 1998 anime or an adaptation of the manga, it's awful.
Part of the problem is trying to cram so many events into such a short movie. We barely get a glimpse into Guts' past, and nothing about Griffith or Caska, which is central to understanding them. We don't see all but one of the battles the Hawks win, many of which are vital to the story. And even that lone victory is abbreviated. No one in the Band of the Hawk except Griffith, Guts, and Caska gets any attention. Judeau gets a few speaking lines and is a non-entity. Pippin and Rickert aren't even introduced by name and spend a few seconds in the background of scenes.
Perhaps worst of all, Caska comes across as a dumb bitch. Caska is a fine character and her unique relationship w…
Read at the source_Megami
(This is a review for all three Berserk movies, but spoiling none of them, so feel free to read it)
Griffith believed that,
regardless of class and status, all men will sooner or later start yearning for their dreams.
The white haired man had concluded that
dreams support men, hurt them, revive them.. and in the end, dreams kill them.
Apropos of this, Guts had no choice but to accept that outlook of his and live by it.
In the world where the aeonian war between Midland and Tudor preserves perpetually for hundreds of years, two extraordinary beingnesses exist. The overpowered mercenary warrior, Guts, whose young years of life render him unaware of towards what direction he should focus his excessive strength to, and the Band of the Hawk. Incidentally, that unawareness of his, has him fi…
Read at the sourcecharliechaplin2
[Contains mild spoilers]
When watching this film, especially considering the two sequels have already been out for a number of years, it's best to view it as one third of a whole, rather than separate to two movies.
While it may be true that individually, the first is the weakest of the three films, it does have the hardest task of setting up the premise, introducing us to the main characters and world-building. It's for this reason - the fact that this first film is basically an introduction into the world of Berserk's Golden Age - that it suffers the most. However, when seen as the first section in three parts of one story, its flaws are more forgiveable, especially considering the fact that the second film is generally an improvement and the third is even better than that.
What I i…
Read at the sourceXhynk
I'd give this a resounding, and low toned "meh." at best. I hear great things about Berserk. The few episodes I've seen of the anime are wonderful, and I plan to watch the rest and even started buying the manga. I had quite high hopes for this movie, since the rest has been great. That may contribute to why I was let down. This movie is frankly crap, and if you like Berserk, do yourself a favor and skip this in particular.
The character development is rushed, and poorly explained at best. Guts feels very shallow, and Griffith is even more shallow. The story line would be okay if they dove into more parts. The intro, before we know much about Guts here, is awesome. And it's all downhill from there. The pacing is off. I felt *obligated* to like this and watch it the rest of the way, but I r…
Read at the sourceAmphetamine
Ever since I came across the manga, Berserk has always been one of my top favorite series of all time. I finished the manga in a few hours because I couldn't stop reading, it was like I was possesed. The story is incredible, and the art kept getting better and better so of course after I finished the manga I wanted to check out the anime, and boy I wasn't disappointed albeit I was unhappy that it ended so short. It covered the most popular and best rated arc of the series, the "Band of the Hawks Arc". When I heard about the movies, I was overjoyed that after 15 years have gone by since the anime ended, we're going to have new Beserk animation again!
This movie is about a young mercenary fighter called Guts who doesn't really have any purpose in life except fighting and making a living da…
Read at the sourceLuquillo
A young wandering mercenary carrying a very large sword by the name of Guts, finds himself enlisted in a mercenary group called Band of the Hawks, which is being lead by the charismatic Griffith. The small group soon increases their numbers into an army; this leads them to side with the Kingdom of Midland whom have been at war with The Chuda Empire for 100 years. Griffith hopes to one day have his own kingdom, while Guts is pretty much at a loss on what he really wants. The two will soon come face to face with their true destiny. -summary
When it comes down to remakes and reboots of a beloved series and even movies; it's best to completely ignore what you've seen and loved once upon a time, and give the new material a fair shake. Unfortunately, there are titles where it's very difficult t…
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A solid remake of the berserk tv show from the 90s and the manga. Some excellent art work and classic berserker Gore for good measure. Berserk tv show was probably one of the best animes of all time so this is not an easy follow up by anymeans. Berserk ova throws in a little homoerroticism between griffith and it's lead character. the OVA is self aware of it's art style which is a nice touch. Too often we have these pretty boys who are all powerful in anime series. An addicting show to a fault. The first episode leaves you wanting more but does not feel like a complete story arc for its characters. Nonetheless a very tasty appetizer on what promises to be on the same level of excellence as the tv series
Read at the sourceNotenSMSK
Berserk Golden Age: Egg of the high King is hard to see as a stand alone with the original series preceding it serving as a standard of comparison. Yet to properly appreciate the attempt made one has to look at it from a stand alone perspective.
The story is basically of a vagabond by the name of Guts, who is extremely skilled with the sword or rather has enough brute strength and skill to defeat ranked opponents. This is when he meets Griffith - a man of grace and charm (that may as well be mistaken for a woman) but skills that surpass Guts'. Guts is forced in a way, to join the Mercenary group that Griffith leads of which Griffith's loyal and skilled swordswoman Casca is not happy about and the story continues with their involvement with a Kingdom and the politics that is at play there.…
Read at the sourceHybridMedia
A land of war.
For a hundred years Midland and Chuder have fought one another. Guts is a wandering mercenary, taking advantage of the war to make his living. In his wanderings he catches the eye of Griffith, the young leader of an up-and-coming band of mercenaries. The meeting isn't a happy one. Guts kill some of Griffith's men and Griffith stabs Guts in the chest. But Griffith is taken with Guts' skills, and duels with him to force him into his mercenary corps, the fabled Band of the Hawk. Years pass. Despite his hot temper and frequent clashes with Griffith's lady lieutenant Casca, Guts has made his place in the Band and grown fast friends with the brilliant and ambitious Griffith. Through siege and raid, against man and immortal demon, assassin and scheming noble, Griffith and his ban…
Read at the sourceAbs0
Art: Where to begin with how much the art sucks? The fact that a movie released in 2012 somehow has worse 3D graphics than a computer game released a decade early? The fact that the same fucking "nameless soldier" model is used for hundreds of soldiers in every fucking scene regardless of whether if it's action or not? The fact that the models are ugly and plain as fuck even when used for close-ups and still shots? The fact that the faces are completely flat and not even shaded 90% of the time? Everything in the movie is undetailed, from the weapons, to the faces, to the armor, to the clothing - it's like everything was made out of Lego. The main point is that 3DCG is shit. You don't get the motion blur that you get with 2D hand drawn, meaning the action looks choppy as fuck. Where we woul…
Read at the sourceFeatheredhat
First off, I'm not a kind reviewer, especially when it comes to my favorite story of all times, Berserk. Also, I recommend whoever is interested in this show to either read the manga or watch the anime first, because you will get the wrong impression from this alone. Finally, if you know the old anime you probably won't be spoiled anything, but everything between brackets or about the plot is best avoided if you haven't watched anything and are planning to watch the old anime.
On the opening sequence of the battle: I found the animation to thow me off and annoying as heck. New tecnology was favoured over the original intensity and better humanization of the characters. The "epic battle" looked a lot like a ripoff from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and was completely unnecessary.
A…
Read at the sourceSheepdude
While 1997's televised adaptation of Berserk left a lot to be desired, especially in terms of continuing the Berserk story, it's still far superior to the 2012 movie reboot, which will unfortunately only serve to disappoint fans of the series and chase away those who have been aloof.
Story: 6/10
As an introduction to the setting, the first arc does a decent job - the story takes place in a semi-alternate medieval European universe, where, for better or worse, kingdoms and principalities must rely on mercenary groups to maintain and expand their kingdoms. Our heroes are members of the Band of the Hawk, a prodigious mercenary group who far outperform their pay. In this first movie, the only real conflict is that the former commander of the Midland army has been deposed in favor of the Band…
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I first saw the original Berserk TV series about 2 years ago and thought it was pretty good. By 'pretty good' I mean I consider it to be the greatest story ever told, better than The Odyssey, Hamlet, Citizen Kane and Big Oiled Butts 3 combined. 15 years later they've brought out a Berserk movie. A trilogy no less, the first of which was just released in good old illegal format for all of us dirty foreign pirate scum to watch. Early impressions: They've changed a few things. Very few things.
The movie covered about 10 episodes of the original, from when Guts first meets Griffith to the part where the assassination attempts start happening in the royal court. They cut out a fair amount of scenes, the most noticeable of which being there was no naked water fight. Seriously, no naked water fi…
Read at the sourceRagix
When a new anime movie comes out for an already great anime series a lot of questions can pop to mind. Those questions varying from how the animation, story, and so on differ from the TV series itself and if it raises the bar. Whether Berserk Ougon Jidaihen does or not? That's a bit controversial.
Berserk Ougon Kidaihen I is a retelling of the Berserk anime series up to a certain point. The difference being animation, pacing and some of the twists they take on certain scenes. I'll be focusing on every part as a whole as well as the art which I think to many people are harshly criticizing this movie on.
Story: 8/10
Our story begins on the battlefield. Where at this point an army has begun its siege on a castle where soon we are introduced to our main protagonist Guts. Somehow in a chai…
Read at the sourceHEAVYb51
When i had heard that they were planning to release movies under the Berserk name, i was very excited to say the least. i had never expected them to pick up berserk again since the anime ran quite a long time ago. i had originally thought that the movies would continue the brutal ending of the anime as the show really left you on a cliffhanger making you want a lot more, however thats not what this movie is.
this ova, as im sure the other two are going to be, are retellings of the series that had already had an anime adaptation, kinda like dragonball did with the path to power movie (if you know what im talking about). i was a bit disappointed with this, but dont think in any way that this is going to effect my rating of this movie. i plan on rating this movie with a few things in mind. o…
Read at the source4v4l0n42
Few stories can capture your mind and soul in a visceral way from the beginning, and never leave you. Berserk is one of them.
Written and illustrated by the legendary manga artist Kentaro Miura, Berserk (ベルセルク) is an epic fantasy saga that knows no time, no boundaries, and no has end. It tells the story of a Guts (ガッツ, Gattsu), a boy born from the corpse of a woman hung on a battlefield, who struggles to fight his unfortunate destiny. Set in a fictional version of medieval Europe, Gatsu is a young mercenary who travels with no direction nor purpose, swinging his huge sword in merciless fights in order to survive. He buries his blade deep into the flesh of his opponents, fighting like a madmen in battle, reminiscent of the nordic berserks, coming closer and closer to death, maybe to finall…
Read at the sourceShadow67733
For my review I will simply break things down by the rating system here and explain my choices. A little background on me.. I have been a Berserk fan since I discovered the series back in 2001. This is the series that originally got me into anime and eventually manga. I have owned and watched the 25 ep anime countless times and have read and own all the currently existing manga chapters. This is my favorite story series, bar none.
Okay, lets begin..
Story: The problem with the story is pacing. The movie leaves off way to many character building moments in favor of action and try to compress all of it in a laughably short time frame(88mins if I remember correctly). There is simply no time to make the connection with the characters and hurts immersion badly in my opinion. Many scenes were…
Read at the sourcejmoriarty84
Just earlier this morning upon writing this review, I had the privilege of watching this movie in theaters in Japan. For the longest time, virtually everyone who has watched the original Berserk anime series have endlessly demanded more. And now that day has come upon us though not really in the most idealistic of terms. Many of us wanted a continuation of where the series leaves off, but for now, we have to settle a re-telling of the Golden Age arc which will eventually pave way for the rest of the manga to be adapted.
As for what it is covered, if you're already familiar with the source material you of course know what to expect and it's once again faithfully adapted (spoiler: there is no blackswordsman arc at the beginning). But I feel that for those already familiar with story, you w…
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