Forum - View topicREVIEW: Alita: Battle Angel
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DangerMouse
Posts: 3982 |
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Yeah, I freaking loved it! Got so attached to Alita (and Ido), the CG for her and it's integration with the live action was fantastic, including the eyes, they worked so well to me. Yeah, even then I still kinda liked him since while he was pretty familiar he still served well as Alita's first crush. I actually really liked the 3D, though I tend to. I'm sure it looks great in 2D despite not seeing it that way yet as well since it's a gorgeous movie. Last edited by DangerMouse on Tue Feb 19, 2019 11:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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DangerMouse
Posts: 3982 |
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Heh, oh yeah I'll be re-watching that OVA one of these days after seeing it again, probably after it finishes in the theater in order to ease the wait for the home release.
Agreed. I really felt like you could tell how much they loved the material while watching. That would be great. spoiler[Also, that one f-bomb was GLORIOUS. Got a good reaction in my showing.] I hope the disc also has extensive making of stuff. Same here, I'll be picking up the manga. |
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Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
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I watched the OAV via an upload (probably not legal) on youtube, and, honestly, I didn't care for it much. Dunno it it was the voice acting in the dub or what, but Gally was way too bright and bubbly for me. The movie was way better (yes, I'm intending on reading the manga when I get a chance).
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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I hadn't seen the OVA in some 12 years, and revisiting it made me feel a whole not much. I've seen better mecha robot fighting anime from even that same time period. Why it got so big is beyond me, I guess just a case of it being among the first available. Nevertheless, Cameron's film has easily surpassed it, the OVA feels redundant, other than the sexy sexy Yuuki design for Chiren. It's gonna at least need some kind of remaster to be presentable to the audience of today, that old master is bad.
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DangerMouse
Posts: 3982 |
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Yeah, I haven't given my DVD a watch in a long long time but I know I got very into it back when I first saw the OVA, I think on VHS(?), even though it was more like a teaser so I'm sure it was a factor that it was one of the first things I got like it back then. Followed later by an old favorite of mine in Armitage III. Like you said the movie totally outdid my memories of it, pretty much building upon what my imagination still broadly remembered from the OVA and the main characters. It felt so right.
Yeah. |
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FLCLGainax
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Hopefully the original film elements still exist for that to be possible. There doesn't seem to be a Blu-ray of it in Japan yet. |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1773 Location: South America |
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Thanks to the movie I am now re-reading the original manga, it has been over 15 years since I read Gunnm. While I read its sequels Last Order and Mars Chronicles more recently as I have been reading the last chapters released for Mars Chronicles just last month. Overall, it is kinda obvious that the original Gunnm is indeed superior to its sequels Last Order and Mars Chronicles, although Last Order is also a great manga while Mars Chronicles is a big step down over the first two but still quite excellent. Gunnm is indeed a timeless masterpiece of a manga, incredibly powerful yet accessible and entertaining,ranks among my favorite works of fiction ever.
The movie is a good adaptation, it is mainly superior to the OVA, in particular for rendering some of the best CGI action scenes in history. But its emotional impact pales in comparison to the original Gunnm manga, partly due to the fact that the movie has a much lighter tone and also because its writing is of lower quality. Scrapyard in the original manga was an incredibly harsh place while in the movie, renamed Iron CItym, it feels way less threatening almost like a theme park version of scrapyard, also, in the movie Alita feels much more powerful and in control of the situation compared to the manga, where Alita and Ido were very close to dying multiple times. The manga's writing also is much more nuanced and morally ambiguous while the movie is more politically correct, with a dumbed-down script to be accessible for general audiences. Well, losing nuance and moral complexity is the price you have to pay if you want to make a 170 million dollars blockbuster movie that might generate some profits. In some ways it is superior to the manga: the level of detail of the technology and the world is a bit higher in the movie as well as the incredible computer animation, although I personally prefer the more gritty and minimalistic visual style of the manga. I understand that Kishiro is very excited to see many scenes of his manga adapted in a massive hollywood production (who wouldn't be excited if James Cameron decided to throw 200 million dollars to make a movie out of a book you wrote?) but he is obviously out of his mind when he said the movie translated perfectly the essence of the manga. Still, I think this movie is a great step forward in terms of bringing manga/anime to the Western mainstream film industry and perhaps the most purely enjoyable blockbuster movie that Hollywood made in many years. It is in my opinion more entertaining than any superhero blockbuster since Spider Man 2, in fact, I would have to look back to the Lord of the Rings trilogy to see blockbuster films with the same level of emotional and visual impact. I really hope it does well in the box office so we can get more movies adapting the rest of the Gunnm mangas. Considering all the sequels there is material for over a dozen Alita movies, this movie could be the start of a "Alita cinematic universe". 
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killjoy_the
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I absolutely disliked this movie. I'll agree with every single mention Zac mentions of its flaws - script is unsellable, emotional distance, the romance is barebones, Alita's design is a big "why?" to me - but I also disagree on the good points. I did not like the action, the visuals were nothing special, and Alita's character in particular felt like a blemish in the movie.
I laughed at the dog part though. Feel like that was the only time I was laughing with the movie not at it. |
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mbanu
 Posts: 159 |
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Did anyone else feel like the story was commenting on the end of the Cold War? One remaining all-powerful city, the victor of the last war, that dumps its garbage below while sucking up food and sweatshop factory goods. A desperate desire to ascend to that city, mostly by throwing others under the bus for money, only to discover that if you get a ticket out of the global ghetto, it's always a lie in the end. Cameras everywhere, always watching for threats, or maybe amusement, into which is thrown a relic of the past, the enemy's most powerful weapon arisen again, with whispers of a champion pointing a flaming sword at the city on the hill...
Maybe that was always the case? I'm not too familiar with the background of the manga, other than that it was started during the Cold War. |
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artsygeekboy
Posts: 2 |
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Thanks for the review! I've seen the movie twice and absolutely adore it, even more so the second time. As a loooong time fan of the original manga, and the OVA to a lesser extent, the movie was everything I hoped it would be and more. The world building was amazing, the production design top notch and largely respectful of the source, if not downright outshining it in many cases. The decision to have Zalem and Iron City on the equator in Panama ( I believe) gave the movie a cultural and architectural richness that I think was an improvement over the source. The characters and performances were great, the story was great and poignant (particularly the Ido/Alita father/daughter arc though they certainly could have gone deeper into that), and the effects work was astounding. With that said the strongest aspect of the movie is Rosa Salazar's performance as Alita. Rosa and the geniuses at WETA who captured, tweaked, and delivered that performance should be recognized for the absolutely mind-blowing feat they accomplished. So much was reliant on getting that right, and they absolutely nailed it. This adaptation remained so true to the important parts of Alita's story and world while not being beholden to every (arguably) inconsequential detail. I think Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron delivered something truly special that I am so grateful even exists. Literally, I'm struck with a profound sense of happiness that I live in a world where this movie is actually real. I don't think I've ever had that kind of reaction to a film before... it's a little weird, and is almost certainly attributable to my love of the source and everything it says about strength, vulnerability, and humanity, combined with the stunning realization of that world and story in film. With that said I do recognize that it's not perfect, and many of the critiques I've heard from clunky dialogue to too much crammed in are justified. But what it gets right is so right, so powerful, and so fresh and unique, that I really don't care about the flaws... in a way they're endearing in their earnestness. And seriously, what teenage first love isn't occasionally cringy and melodramatic?! Have you ever met a teenager before?
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Alestal
 Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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Best part of the movie was when spoiler[ Hugo has his shirt off]. I was not expecting him to be that built.
Am I right?
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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I saw Battle Angel Alita last night. It was awesome! The action was great and the visuals were amazing. I agree with much of what Zac said in his official review. This was badass.
For me the romance was the weak point and it was a bit rushed. It did feel a bit like it was out of a YA novel. I also think a lot of the side characters just did not have a lot of real emotional impact. That could not take away from the badassery however. The one exception for acting being as good of a job Rosa did as Alita, for me the stand out performance was Christoph Waltz. |
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TexZero
Posts: 583 |
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I guess this would be the most relevant thread to post the update in since there's no article on it yet.
https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/1069863-alita-battle-angel-blu-ray-release-date-set-for-july https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/alita-battle-angel/281278/alita-battle-angel-blu-ray-4k-and-dvd-release-date-and-special-features Official Youtube Promo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnC5FpDf7w0 TL:DR/DW Digital Release July 9, Physical Release July 23 |
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