Appurushîdo (2004)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Shinji Aramaki

Writers:

Masamune Shirow (comic)
Haruka Handa (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 April 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Action | Animation

Tagline:

Humanity's last chance for survival.

Plot:

In a utopian society created at the end of the third world war, a female warrior who has been plucked from the badlands begins to see cracks in this new facade. And what does this community have planned for the rest of humankind? |

Plot Keywords:

Female Warrior | Computer Animation | Clone | CGI | Based On Comic Book

Cast

Ai Kobayashi	...	Deunan (voice)
Jûrôta Kosugi	...	Briareos (voice)
Yuki Matsuoka	...	Hitomi (voice)
Asumi Miwa	...	Deunan (motion actor)
Akimoto Tsubasa	...	Deunan (motion actor)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jack Aubree	...	(voice: English version)
William Bassett	...	(voice: English version) (as Frederick Bloggs)
Deborah Sale Butler	...	(voice: English version)
Michael Forest	...	(voice: English version) (as Russell Thor)
Yuzuru Fujimoto	...	Uranus (voice)
Kara Greenberg	...	Gilliam (voice)
Tomoko Kawakami	...	Young Deunan (voice)
William Knight	...	(voice: English version) (as William Frederick)
Mami Koyama	...	Athena (voice)
Takehito Koyasu	...	Hades (voice)
Steve Kramer	...	(voice: English version)
Michael McConnohie	...	(voice: English version)
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn	...	(voice: English version) (as Melissa Williamson)
Toshiyuki Morikawa	...	Yoshitsune (voice)
Ryûji Nakagi	...	1st Elder Electryon (voice)
Ikuo Nishikawa	...	Seven Old Men (voice)
Liam O'Brien	...	(voice: English version) (as William Markham)
Bob Papenbrook	...	(voice: English version) (as John Smallberries)
Jamieson Price	...	Briareos (voice: English version) (as James Lyon)
Mike Reynolds	...	(voice: English version) (as Ray Michaels)
Cindy Robinson	...	(voice: English version)
Lee Rush	...	(voice: English version)
Emi Shinohara	...	(voice)
Michael Sorich	...	(voice: English version)
Doug Stone	...	(voice: English version)
Karen Strassman	...	Hitomi (voice: English version) (as Mia Bradly)
Kim Strauss	...	(voice: English version)
Amanda Winn Lee	...	Deunan Knute (voice: English version) (as Jennifer Proud)
Dave Wittenberg	...	(voice: English version) (as David Lelyveld)
Miho Yamada	...	Nike (voice)

Also Known As:

Appleseed (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

105 min | Sweden:103 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | Philippines:G | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Australia:M | Spain:13 | South Korea:12 | Canada:14A | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R | UK:12A | UK:12 (video rating)

Company:

Appleseed Film Partners

Trivia:

The tattoo on Briareos' left upper arm says "Cogito Ergo Sum", which is Latin for "I think, there for I am." It also has the dates 2096-2122, which are Briareos' date of birth and date of his "death" when he became a cyborg.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Briareos' weapon is sliced into pieces, he throws the weapon to the ground in one piece.

Quotes:

Deunan: We have to believe that life is what we make of it!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Anime: Drawing a Revolution (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Anthem

Way of the future.

First things first; if you're looking for a literary masterpiece or an anime masterful like the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii, then Appleseed is not for you. It's plot is cliché with the overused science fiction premise of struggle between two coexisting races and the flaws and sins of humans, and the general execution of the plot is also in no way an outstanding one of the genre.

What Appleseed truly is, is a technological achievement in 3D animation for Japanese anime. It's animation style is far from Hollywood animation features like Finding Nemo and Shrek, instead it uses cel-shading technology which we've already seen in video games, and takes it up to a very high and polished level. The result is a beautiful movie with jaw-dropping animation, such that one cannot doubt that this style will pave the way for the future of anime movies. The range of emotions expressed through the CG is impressive; and motion capture has worked beautifully into the film, making it a seamless viewing experience. As a whole product, it's graphical presentation rivals that of great 2D animation features.

Other aspects are fairly well done; the music is done fairly well, with the opening song giving it a distinct flavour but later that fades away to the average run-of-the-mill songs that aren't particularly effective in rousing the emotions and senses. The artistic direction is great, with wonderful colors and tones chosen to accentuate the mood from the bleak dark ruins to the pastel colors of the Utopia. Scene execution is also stellar, and the structural development of the movie is natural although inter character relationships are somewhat lacking in development.

As a whole, it's an extremely graphically polished product based on an overused premise.