Audience reviews
19 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
FAKEANIMEGIRL
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Originally written on August 18, 2014 1:29 am EST
You can probably imagine my happiness, as a huge Ghost in the Shell (GitS) fan, when I found that Masamune Shirow's other works were also science fiction, then my disappointment as I noticed there was a gigantic gap in acclaim between them and the legendary Ghost in the Shell.
Well, the only way to find out for certain was to venture in, myself. It looked to me like Appleseed was his most-acclaimed work following the GitS franchise, and I was told this movie was the best entry point. After watching, the lack of enthusiasm regarding it doesn't really surprise me.
The most immediately distinctive aspect of the Appleseed movie is that it's…
Read at the sourceKryptonot_7471
Based on the manga from Masamune Shirow and directed by... (Hold on a second... let's see... AH!) Shinji Aramaki - man behind such works as... I suppose he previously directed “Part 3” of Megazone. You know: the Weakest Megazone 23 OVA. He directed that. Therefore it comes as no surprise, that this movie is as much of a cliched jumbled mess of a ideas as it is. And don't even get me started on the dated CGI that ruins almost every single character design (except Briareos).
Appleseed (2004) is a CGI Blockbuster Action Sci-Fi Movie that somehow takes a Simple Story/Concept and ruins much of the fun or intrigue surrounding it. Perhaps the most telling way that it accomplishes this is by breaking every single rule of "Show don't Tell" and spoonfeeding every fucking detail in every single conv…
Read at the sourceB2Reviews
The first in a line of very well animated CG adaptations, this insert of the franchise is what got me hooked on Shirow Masamune's works. Well, his earlier "works".
I loved everything about it, from the cell shaded motion capture to the awesome soundtrack. This is a title I suggest to non anime fans and count alongside Pixar in quality. Mecha designs are amazingly detailed, the behind the scenes plotting brings the drama to a boil, and we're treated to a look at Deunan Knute's past that even the manga never gave us.
If you haven't seen it you should, and pick up the album too, trust me.
Read at the sourceeienOwO
First and most importantly, regardless of how generic the film itself was, I will forever cherish it for introducing me to Good Luck by Basement Jaxx.
OH GOD GOOD LUCK IS PURE PERFECTION... THAT 30s INTRO WAS ONE OF THE BEST INTROS OF ALL ANIME, yes, up there with Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop, I said it!
Aaannnnd after Good Luck ends it's all downhill from there.
Set in a world where more stable bioroids take the reins of governance from emotionally unstable humans, the philosophical conflict serving as the basis of the plot is a solid one, with very believable motivations for the villainous human military staging a coup to retake power - it's as realistic as humans can get, and the moral conflict over reproductive rights of bioroids as sentient individuals is equally pertinent, forcing…
Read at the sourceDarkRavie
Appleseed is the story of Deunan Knute, a female soldier who is rescued from the violent ruins of an old city and taken to Olympus, a Utopian metropolis. She is reunited with her former partner and lover, Briareos, who has been turned into a cyborg after sustaining a critical battle injury.
Olympus is a complex society, a mixture of humans and the near-indistinguishable cybernetic human clones called Bioroids, with both sides locked in a constant power struggle.
Deunan and Briareos are soon entangled in a desperate struggle to prevent a plot that threatens to destroy the delicate balance of power and bring about a terrible war between the two races.
My thoughts:
I enjoyed Appleseed. The story was engaging, the animation and background is superb. Though in the beginning you don't know…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Appleseed is a film based on the work of Shirow Masamune, the Mangaka behind Ghost in the Shell. The film adaptation was handled by Digital Frontier and the now defunct Micott & Basara. The manga may very well be on the same level as the Ghost in the Shell manga, I don't know since I haven't read it, but the question is whether or not the film is any good.
Story:
Deunan Knute is an elite soldier during a global war. During one battle a strange group barges in and takes her to Olympus, a Utopian society where humans are living a peaceful coexistence with a new species that strongly resembles humans but were artificially constructed and have some distinct differences, called “bioroids.” Deunan quickly learns that not everything is as idyllic as it seems. There are some humans who hate the…
Read at the sourceKekin
This movie is a bland mesh of sub-par action and mediocre CGI.
My expectation of this movie was to have a cheap 90s action romp (in the same vein as Predator or True Lies) only with anime and a robot bunny thing.
What I got was like 5-7 minutes of meaningless action in a 80 minute movie. This movie was boring.
I'll save you guys time with a quick summary. There's this blonde chick who's sorta in love with the robot thing, except the robot thing is actually a guy with a prosthetic head. Does he have a brain? How does he think? I don't know. Then there's this underlying story that's not delved in much detail about how this city's built upon a destroyed city. And this military guy is bad. But the military guy only shows up in like the last third of the movie.
The art is okay, I guess.…
Read at the sourceplaymakerzam
Appleseed is a sci-fi anime based on a manga of the same name which was written by the "Ghost in the Shell" author Shirow Masamune. A global war has just ended and the world is left as a big wasteland. Deunan Knute, our main heroine, is a very skilled soldier who participated in the global war. Having no knowledge that the war was already over, she was still fighting (with fellow fighters) against androids trying to survive on ruins of what was once cities.
She was rescued by E-SWAT (Extra-Special and Weapons Advanced Tactics) members along with Hitomi which is a 2nd gen Bioroid. Bioroids are like artificially created humans that were based on the DNA of Deunan's Father, Carl, effectively making them clones. She was taken to an advanced city called Olympus, Olympus is a Utopian city in the…
Read at the sourceKD7BWB
OK lion tamers (I used it before, I'm sticking with it ). Here we go.
Appleseed (2004), when I saw this right after release, was a terrific treasure. But I need to talk about some other work, which tends to explain why the producers made Appleseed in the format they did.
In 2001, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, was released. When this movie came out, and released into the theaters, something important happened. For the first time, an anime movie had been created in the mind of a CG computer, so accurate that the pours on the skin of the actors were visible. The overall details were breath-taking. The effect this movie had on the movie industry was frightening. Actors in live action material saw their profession disappearing. If this quality could be maintained, live -action movies mig…
Read at the sourcebedheadred
Appleseed explores humanity's future, who should decide that fate and the consequences of technology in a Utopia populated by humans and bioroids, artificial humans with suppressed emotions and reproduction.
During a spectacular opening battle, the heroine, Deunan, is captured and taken to this Utopia. While this was a really exciting way to captivate the viewer, the battle had absolutely nothing to do with the movie except concrete the idea that Deunan is a superior soldier. Enter her previous partner and lover, Briareos, now in cyborg form. The movie could have explored their back story or the struggle with their current emotions, but they were left largely undeveloped. All characters were introduced but never really given life, which is a shame because they had great potential.
The…
Read at the sourcekaonasi_mV
I am not sorry seconds of spent time for this film. It is really worthy of it that at it to look.
All plot is twirled around very abrupt girl, and she is so abrupt that kills 16 people by means of a knife, at all without having blinked an eye. The general idea of the film proves again to us that people too depend on the emotion therefore its existence is impossible out of the conflicts and out of wars.
The love is shown here quite peculiar. He is a cyborg, she is a person. And, apparently, that it is fated not to be it together. But the love overcomes all barriers. Authors show that the most important is soul. But it is necessary to note that the director covered a little the love line. Too there is a lot of innuendo. In some places I would be desirable to cry "tell you that you love her…
Read at the sourceGoodEnoughForMe
The 2004 remake of the Appleseed story is a watchable affair, but one that seemingly increases the flaws of the original 1988 release while also detracting from its strengths.
Appleseed once again benefits from a strong female lead, one not afraid to kickass, and one not sexualized. Deunan is picked up by members of E.S.W.A.T, an elite special ops unit, and is immediately entrusted with a lot of the most vital secret of Utopia, an attempted, get this, utopian human city. This city is home to a population made up half of human, and half of Bioroids, genetically manufactured being with suppressed emotional states, designed to keep the peace.
However, unlike the 1988 version, which set up a largely morally ambiguous conflict, this 2004 version is much more black and white, and it's of detri…
Read at the sourceSpudUK
Unlike my last review (Evangelion), im going to approach this as a viewer rather than a critic. Ill also stick to the format as its easier. I'll try to stay spoiler-free.
Also note I watched the Subbed version, and in Blue-Ray, so consider this when reading.
Story:
Appleseed comes across as a very intelligent film. Its uses the time of the story to good effect and gives it the freedom to create what they have. But in short, Set in a fiction city called Olympus, its about Humans living together with 'Bioroids' a being that is created from human genetics, but with the ability to be programs. Think of it as a cyborg, they are organic (including the potential ability to reproduce) but have mechanical elements.
Of course, the humans are pissed off and think that Bioroids will attempt to ove…
Read at the sourceParisainGoldfish
Surprisingly enough, I prefer the 2004 Appleseed to it's successor, Ex Machina. I haven't seen this art style really applied anywhere but Appleseed, which is a shame really, because the blend of CGI and anime art is really quite cool.
Story; 7. Admittedly, this is not really the strong point of either of these movies; moreso this one. While I enjoyed it a great deal more than Ex Machina, the story itself was much less developed. It's difficult to explain really, because the premise here is more engaging, however it isn't elaborated on thoroughly enough and the climactic battle scene paled in comparison to numerous scenes earlier, which made the build up kind of worthless. They had good ideas, they just executed them poorly. And the pacing felt rushed; I wanted more at the end, and sadly t…
Read at the sourceMiraFirefly
This animation is, in my mind, a complete slander to the original manga.
Of course, these things are all a matter of perspective and of one's personal interests and priorities in a film, but the original really captured me in a unique way and was one of my first great loves in manga. It has going for it a wonderful mixture of obvious dedication and craft, high detail, geeky technophilia, memorable and dimensional characters, thoughtful reflection, '80s nostalgia, labyrinthine plot and excitement that make for a real sci-fi manga classic. Like Shirow Masamune's art, his story writing is complex, twisting to the point of being deeply confusing (a quality I actually like), and has the feel of something created by a highly talented drooling nerd moreso than a polished professional. This is wh…
Read at the sourceProserpina
STORY: 5/10
The plot wasn't all bad. The internal conflict was a particularly fascinating thing, particularly when you find out who the real enemy is. And the idea that a peaceful society is really a cage may be used a lot, but is still interesting in its own way. However, for people like myself who haven't read the manga beforehand, the history of this distopian universe might be difficult to comprehend, thus decreasing any real enjoyment plot-wise, as you're left wondering "why?" the whole time. All you get is that some global war is going on, and then "bam!" suddenly this "utopia" comes into play, and the previous fighting doesn't mean a thing.
ART: 10/10
One thing I can definitely agree to is that Appleseed has some truly fantastic animation. Even if it possessed nothing else, that th…
Read at the sourceDefaultmp3
Story: The story was relatively standard fare: tried and true plot twists, no huge gaping holes (except for an incident at the end that left me scratching my head; a deus ex machina of sorts that saved the day). Having of never read any of the mangas, I would not know exactly how faithful it was to the original storylines.
Art: Being CGI, the problem is that it looked rather dated. The designs overall were excellent; it was merely that being 4 years old, the shadows, reflections, shading, etc. really showed itself, especially if you watch Appleseed Ex Machina right afterwards. Still, being old enough to remember when Nvidia was releasing 4000 series cards while ATi was in the 9000s (what a reversal of times), I could remember a time when this would of been considered cutting edge.
Sound:…
Read at the sourceNanashiMoriko
I have to say that I thought the plot developed in this superbly. There were twists and turns, you weren't quite sure what was coming next and that, to me, is the making of a great story. It did take a bit of time for the story to really get rolling and things do all jump you at the end, but other than that it did well.
The character development wasn't as great, but was still good. The main character Deunan developed well; we watched her as she learnt about herself, formed bonds and went through trials. The other characters didn't develop as well as Deunan, they showed that they had the possibilities for character development, but we don't get to see it.
This films let down would be that you don't really get into the thick of things until a fair way through and then it picks up very fast…
Read at the sourceinfinity
--> Intro:
Appleseed (AS) tells the story of Deunan and Briaeros, mates on the battlefield. The story revolves around battles, mechas, utopian philosophy and some romance. You will also know about Bioroids, which are cloned humans, but with distinct identities.
--> Animation: (10/10)
Really, earning a 10 from me is tough, but Appleseed really amazed me in terms of sheer graphic quality. It's a perfect blend of traditional animation, coupled with very well made CG. The backgrounds and environments are extremely detailed and well done. The same quality can be found in the character designs. Just see how detailed Deunan's hair is, or how the general mechas are done. At one point, you see Deunan resting on a bed. As she drops, you can even see the bed sheets crumpling in very realistic ways.…
Read at the source