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REVIEW: Death Note


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RadicaLElly



Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 194
Location: Coral Springs, FL
PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2008 11:31 pm Reply with quote
Ugh... seriously about the on-screen text. I had a friend with me who was seeing Death Note for the first time and knew nothing about it prior (hadn't read the manga or seen the anime). He had trouble following it thanks to the lack of subtitles. I spent half the movie having to explain to him what was happening. -_-
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Jih2



Joined: 24 Jul 2007
Posts: 403
Location: East coast
PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2008 11:35 pm Reply with quote
No really, why would you not translate the on screen text? Sounds good, I'll have to wait to see this until I've seen all of the anime though (I'm following the R1 DVD releases). Sounds like it'd at least be worth a look.
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EdoRocksMySocks



Joined: 08 Mar 2008
Posts: 56
Location: Kentucky, USA
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 12:00 am Reply with quote
Amen to the no subtitles. It was so annoying having to guess what the newspapers, signs and cell phone's were saying. >.<; Then again, I guess fans like myself (DNtards) probably got a good grasp of what was going on.

I sure hope the second movie comes fast and there's was quite a crowd at the theatre I went to - even some cosplayers (there was an awesome Ryuk too. Anime hyper He even painted his face and carried an apple with him.)
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8459
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 12:26 am Reply with quote
I would find it too disconcerting to hear the dub voices from the anime come out of the mouths of the live-action actors in the movie. But having seen the movie already, I would probably consider buying it on DVD. Granted, it's not as good as the anime, but at least it provides a more consistant picture of the manga's story, where the anime seems to skip over bits of information that end up meaning a lot. It isn't true to the letter of the manga, but certainly the spirit and brain.

Also, it's Watari. And I always assumed that L and Watari are European, British to be exact. Isn't Whammy's House in England? Still, the actor who played Watari did sort of fit what he looked like in the manga.

What I really enjoyed was, in the second movie, the taskforce headquarters. It's not as impressive as the one in the manga/TV series, but they did a decent job of recreating it somewhat, given the obvious budget constraints.


Last edited by penguintruth on Mon May 26, 2008 2:10 am; edited 1 time in total
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tygerchickchibi



Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 1448
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 1:18 am Reply with quote
Yeah, I was one of those nerds who traveled to go see the movie in theaters.

I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere, with the exception of the annoying fans who kept shouting crap at the screen. The first two times are cute, but people don't need to overdo it... >.>;;

I was concerned for the dub at first, but it was well done. I suppose out of all the actors, I definitely favored Matsuda the most. He just came out so naturally even with his live action counterpart. I know people say that they would be discouraged if it was a dub, but to each his/her own. I personally wouldn't dismiss it just like that, but, meh.

Either way, I'm most likely going to see the 2nd movie. Yeah, i thought it was odd about the subs as well..It could've at least subtitled the articles and the other words that was written, but I'm not going to worry about it. DVD is coming out soon!

xD Oh...and I noticed...that there was a scene or two that was in the movie that I don't remember watching in the fansub...but that fansub was pretty old... >.>;
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 2:11 am Reply with quote
Quote:
It also speaks more obviously and directly to the questionable morality of what both Light and L are doing

Thank goodness. As good as the manga and anime are(for a while...), I've always thought they were a bit shallow...triumphs of plotting and pacing rather than substance.
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 8:02 am Reply with quote
I definitely think I should check this movie out, because I know that both live action adaptations take place in the first half of the series, which is the part I really enjoyed (everything got too convoluted after the mid-way point and so I stopped watching the anime).
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skyesage



Joined: 20 Feb 2008
Posts: 97
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 8:06 am Reply with quote
Great review, and I hope they have a Japanese track on the DVD as well.

When the heck was the last time that they put a dubbed foreign movie in theatre? I mean live-action here. It's kinda hilarious to me that they are reviving a practice that I thought had fallen out of popularity.

I now really want to see this! A lot of people say that the Live Action Movies are god awful, but it doesn't sound like that here. Maybe it just depends on your tastes?
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DuelLadyS



Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 1705
Location: WA state
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 9:31 am Reply with quote
I went to see this with my sister (an avid DN fan, who giggled like an idiot for several days prior to the show) I'm not too familiar with the source material (I know the plot, but havne't really seen/read any of it), but I did really enjoy the movie- if my sister doesn't buy it, I probably will, just so my mom can see it Very Happy She likes this kinda thing...

Another vote for 'translate the frickin' onscreen text!' I shouldn't have to rely on my crappy Japanese reading skills to make a lousy attempt at figuring out what everything says (Well, there's the Kanji for 'death'... over and over again... Laughing )

Also, I couldn't help but leave the theater thinking I'd just experienced an anime convention, distilled from 3 days into 3 hours. Really a little creepy, actually- the only thing missing was a couple cosplayers.
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Stretch2424



Joined: 14 Mar 2008
Posts: 166
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 9:42 am Reply with quote
If you see this at a theater I think that just as interesting as the movie itself will be the behavior of the viewers. I detected a distinct rowdiness from the moment I arrived. Clearly somebody knew that these were anime fans since the only preview was for an upcoming Bleach movie, "Remembrances of Nobody" (or something like that). Also unusual was a notice warning viewers not to try to record the film with camcorders. The teenage male viewers could be rather obnoxious, talking freely and making lewd comments until an usher was stationed in the theater to keep an eye on them. I felt embarassed to be watching the same film as these people. At critical moments in the film wildly enthusiastic applause broke out, quite unlike anything you would hear at an ordinary movie. When L first revealled his face the girls squeeled loudly and one shouted "I love you, L"! An interesting experience, to say the least!
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tygerchickchibi



Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 1448
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 10:09 am Reply with quote
DuelLadyS wrote:
Really a little creepy, actually- the only thing missing was a couple cosplayers.


O.o oh, we had cosplayers, and I was also surprised of the older crowd that was in there too. I don't know if they were accompanying their young adults, but people that were well over 30 was in there...

A lot.

I found that interesting...
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ANBUx3



Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 187
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 10:46 am Reply with quote
Stretch2424 wrote:
I felt embarassed to be watching the same film as these people. At critical moments in the film wildly enthusiastic applause broke out, quite unlike anything you would hear at an ordinary movie. When L first revealled his face the girls squeeled loudly and one shouted "I love you, L"! An interesting experience, to say the least!


At my theater, kids laughed everytime someone died, everytime Ryuk was onscreen, they blabbed inanely throughout. They were around 17 years old it looked, but they acted like ten year olds. I was embarrassed by them. By comparison, the kids at the Naruto movie were very well-behaved. You'd think it would be just the opposite!

And yeah, no subtitled text. Seriously, it takes very little effort to slap up some translations. But I really enjoyed the movie. Kenichi Matsuyama shined as L.
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maichips



Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Posts: 96
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 12:05 pm Reply with quote
ANBUx3 wrote:
Stretch2424 wrote:
I felt embarassed to be watching the same film as these people. At critical moments in the film wildly enthusiastic applause broke out, quite unlike anything you would hear at an ordinary movie. When L first revealled his face the girls squeeled loudly and one shouted "I love you, L"! An interesting experience, to say the least!


At my theater, kids laughed everytime someone died, everytime Ryuk was onscreen, they blabbed inanely throughout. They were around 17 years old it looked, but they acted like ten year olds. I was embarrassed by them. By comparison, the kids at the Naruto movie were very well-behaved. You'd think it would be just the opposite!

And yeah, no subtitled text. Seriously, it takes very little effort to slap up some translations. But I really enjoyed the movie. Kenichi Matsuyama shined as L.


For some reason, Ryuk's apple withdrawal drew the most laughter out of the audience at the showing I attended. I've never really found Ryuk's need for apples very funny, but I did laugh the first time he talked about his withdrawal "symptoms." After that, though, it provoked intense, forced laughter every time it was mentioned. In fact, a couple of girls in front of me were actually getting annoyed by it, and I heard one of them say (after a bout of particularly intense laughter), "I didn't think it was that funny." And ya know what? It really wasn't...
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tygerchickchibi



Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 1448
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 12:12 pm Reply with quote
I dunno, to each his/her own. She didn't have to find it funny, but it was okay if you did.

I suppose where I was at, we all laughed because we thought it was funny. Pfft...I probably would've hated being in the theater you were in.
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rizuchan



Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 974
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2008 8:20 pm Reply with quote
Seconded on the no on screen subtitles. But it was probably more of an oversight than something they just ignored and I'm sure the DVD will have them.

One girl in front of me 'cosplayed' Misa (By which I of course mean they did their hair in pigtails and wore goth clothing, which I can't bash since I did the same thing.) It was rather bizarre because she was with her mother and friend and I heard the mother ask "Is this where Misa is sitting?" x.x

It was so much fun, though. I was horrified by the thought that they were dubbing it, but it really wasn't too bad to watch, I just had to make sure not to look at their lips! Laughing luckily, Ocean Group is a very talented group of voice actors and they made it work. I can't wait for the DVD release, though. The couple of clips they had during the Making Of of the Japanese version sounded amazing.
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