Gammera the Invincible (1966) Review

An American producer imports a giant monster movie from Japan and splices in new scenes. Godzilla, King of the Monsters? No… Gammera!  The result is something kids will enjoy and adults will find very silly. Park your brain – you won’t be needing it for this movie about a 200ft tall flame spewing turtle. And just what is the mysterious Plan Z? UPDATED September 2012 with DVD screen captures and revised text.

In 1965, Daiei Studios released Gamera the Giant Monster to cash in on the giant monster craze started by 1954’s Gojira. It was a decidedly low budget film that surprisingly did well and spawned a series of sequels. While never as big as the Godzilla series, many a kid watched the films about Gamera, the children’s friend.

The version reviewed is the first Americanized one distributed by NTA, not the even more heavily edited Sandy Frank one most of us saw on TV back in the 1980’s. This one is only mildly incoherent by comparison.  On to the review!

Gammera the Invincible begins with an overly serious narration introducing the setup. Dr. Hidaka (Eiji Funakoshi) is in the Artic to conduct some serious research. On what, I do not know. But he is a serious scholar and don’t you forget it! There he and his lovely assistant Kyoke (Harumi Kiritachi) meet an Eskimo chief. Pleasantries are barely exchanged before a squadron of Soviet bombers fly by at low altitude.

In Defense of Fantasy and Sci-Fi B-Movies

In which I opine on the merits of B-movies of yesteryear, their decline, and how they haven’t really gone extinct.

Being a child of the 1970s, I was fortunate to grow up during a transitional period in cinema and before VCRs (along with cable television) changed how we see movies. The only places to see movies were at the theater and on broadcast, so a lot of very old movies were my main diet. Hey, movie tickets cost money even at the third run small town theater. Unlike other kids, it was rare to go out to see a badly faded and scratched print.

So I got to watch the badly faded and scratched prints cropped to television box format via the miracle of pan and scan. Most of the movies were much older than I was, so black and white flicks were watched nearly as much as color. Do not get me started on Ted Turner’s colorizing old films in the 1980s. The words “brain dead” would be the beginning of the rant which would veer into zombie killing at some point.

So what is a B-movie?

Fractale Episode 5: Journey

The series slows down considerably to show some not so obvious character development and let comedy take center stage.  Phryne slowly opens up, while Clain discovers manual labor.  But where is Nessa? Fractal: Reiterated continues with HD screencaps and revised text.

One of these days I’ll try to make an animated GIF out of the opening sequence.  Fractal patterns have always fascinated me and I really like the opening credits. By this point, the opening theme had really grown on me as well.

At first Journey feels like a filler episode, albeit one with some good character moments. After all the madness in the prior episodes, the pacing mellows out and in some ways it is a slice of life story. Most of the story is about normality, but most telling is how alien that is to Clain.

The episode takes place on board the Granite’s fascinating airship, which is not named.  The sheer size of the thing is impressive and we get something of a tour of its insides throughout this installment of Fractale.  Being on the run from the Temple attack that happened in the prior episode, the rebels are carefully staying in the dead zones of Fractale’s failing coverage. For the moment, there is peace and an opportunity to see their daily lives more closely.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956) Review

While Gojira was a serious film about the horrors of nuclear tests, Godzilla, King of the Monsters turned the Japanese original into a mere monster movie of the type so common during the 1950s. It isn’t without its charms, however. The spectacle of the title monster trashing Tokyo is complete and the human suffering that causes is still there to elevate this slightly beyond a normal B-movie. UPDATED August 2012 with better screencaps and expanded snark, err… text.

From the comprehensive booklet included in the 50th anniversary DVD release, we find how the American version came to be. Harold Ross and Richard Kay brought the film to America on the cheap to take advantage of the explosion in B-movies.  Described as “Hollywood bottom-feeders,” they had one problem with the movie – all the Japanese in it.  At the time, hatred of the Japanese was still strong ten years after World War II and a movie starring “Japs” couldn’t make money.

The solution was to shoot new material starring an American actor and splice it in.  About 20 minutes of the 80 minute movie would consist of the new scenes and insertions, heavily diluting the original story.  But that didn’t matter because audiences would be going to see the “King of Monsters” not the story. The result raked in $2 million and turned a tidy profit while making fans of Godzilla such as Gomer Pyle.

Now on to the review starring Raymond Burr and his pipe!

The Americanized version starts with the sound of explosive footfalls and the new title appears over the sea. In a jarring shift, the first scene of the movie is the devastated ruins of Tokyo in miniature.  A voice over narration by Raymond Burr begins while he makes his first appearance pinned under rubble.  After failing to free himself, he passes out.  Not an auspicious debut for the hero of the movie.

Gojira (Godzilla 1954) Review

In 1954, Gojira hit Japanese theaters and was a sensation that eventually spread world wide. For those who don’t know, Gojira is the original Japanese Godzilla movie that started the series. This first film is a serious movie, unlike nearly all the ones that followed. In 2004, Toho Studios decided to restore and remaster the epic for its 50th anniversary DVD release. So now that I have my hands on it, does it live up to its reputation as a classic? UPDATED:  August 2012 with expanded text and better screen captures.

As a kid, I grew up with the later Godzilla movies and it was not until I was a teenager that I saw the heavily recut American version of the film starring Raymond Burr. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise, being a darker and more serious story than I had expected. Once the Internet age dawned, I found out that it paled in comparison to the Japanese film it originated from, but there was no way to see it.

Years went by and then rumors of a New York City showing of the original movie for the 50th anniversary of Gojira got my attention. Hopes of a DVD release turned into reality thanks to ClassicMedia, but it ended up being out of my price range. Time went by and a sale at a Target in Indiana landed the very nice deluxe release in my hands. This review applies to it and to the discs in The Godzilla Collection also put out by the same folks.

The movie starts with a strident and bombastic theme by Akira Futabe that fits the tension that permeates the entire production. After the credits roll, an idyllic scene of a merchant ship’s crew relaxing on deck seems very serene.  A bright flash of light draws their attention to a strange glowing mass in the water. Another flash and the ship explodes into flames. The distress call of the Kingo Maru results in the Eiko Maru being sent to find it, whereupon it promptly sails into a glowing circle of water and explodes like the first ship.

1987 Looks at 2012

Twenty five years ago a group of science fiction authors were asked to predict where the world would be in 2012. Most of them were off and not by a little. Orson Scott Card got the closest, with Roger Zelazny next best. Isaac Asimov and Tim Powers were so far off as to be laughable.  Still, it is a fascinating glimpse at the difficulties of prognostication even from the most imaginative of us.

Fractale Episode 4: Departure

Clain reunites with Phryne, but the light hearted adventure is gone when the price paid for the carnage ending the last episode begins to hit home for the Granite clan. While there are comic moments to be found, the series is darkening quickly as the Temple responds to the terrorist attack. Fractale: Reiterated continues with HD screen captures & revised text.

After the shock, if not whiplash, induced by the change in tone at the end of the third episode I had wondered where Fractale was headed.  Departure shows that the change is no fluke and integral to the storyline. More than that, it depicts that there are consequences for what you do in this fictional world. Harsh consequences…

Fractale Episode 3: The Village of Granites

Fractale finally earns its TV-14 rating as the tone of the series shifts dramatically from light hearted adventure to a darker and more serious story in this pivotal episode. Innocence is lost when the truth about the Temple is revealed to Clain in an episode centered around the Granite faction of the terrorist organization Lost Millennium. Fractale: Reiterated continues with updated HD screen captures and text.

I originally avoided Fractale when it started streaming because the promo art looked too “kiddie” to me. It was not until I read posts talking about the dramatic ending to the third episode that I was sufficiently intrigued enough to sample the first episode. If I had not been browsing message boards in search of intelligent anime, I would have never seen what ultimately became my favorite one. The Village of Granites is a game changer in the series, one that shocked quite a few viewers.

Fractale Episode 2: Nessa

A ten year old redheaded girl pops into being and extreme cuteness follows when Clain meets the second girl to invade his solitary life.   A whirlwind of happiness, the girl tests the teen’s ability to cope at every turn. But who, or more importantly what, is Nessa? Fractale: Reiterated continues with updated HD captures and text – July 2012.

The information about day to day life in the world of Fractale continues to be revealed and the plot advances quickly. But it is character development that takes center stage, with much of it being surprisingly emotional. A complicated plot does not a good series make on its own and here we find out if Fractale has more to offer.

The Black Hole (1979) Review

After Star Wars was a huge success, Disney decided to try to try their hand at a serious science fiction film. The result was a very uneven, but visually impressive movie about explorers finding a derelict spaceship near a black hole. Filled with robots, lasers, and an underlying mystery, it was not a great success. But for those of us who saw it in the theater it was a memorable experience and I have a fondness for this very flawed film.  Come, enter The Black Hole with me…

UPDATED & REVISED July 2012: In memory of Ernest Borgnine

The movie has an overture that plays before it starts, which was a relic of a bygone era even in 1979. John Barry’s brilliant soundtrack is introduced here and can be argued to be the best thing about the entire film. It is grand, dark, and mysterious with stately marches mixing with somber swirling statements. An interesting statement of tone, it sets the mood in a very un-Disney way. This was an announcement that the studio would be branching out from their standard family fare.

Fractale Episode 1: Encounter

An ambitious anime aimed at an older and worldwide audience hints at its many layers in a very Studio Ghibli like first episode.  A remarkable amount of story is presented and set up, but just how much can only be fully appreciated after having watched the entire series.  What appears to be an innocent and light hearted series, Fractale is a much more complicated and multilayered journey into darkness. July 2012 – The Fractale: Reiterated project begins with here with new HD screen captures and revisions.

Having younger friends much into anime and being a Studio Ghibli fan myself, I decided to check out what the state of Japanese cartoons is these days.  I can’t say I’m impressed since most of what I found was childish, sleazy, mindless, or a combination of all three.  But I did unearth a few gems and this recently completed but commercially unsuccessful series is a crown jewel.  It reached for the stars and fell just short, all the while criticizing its own main audience, otaku’s (obsessive anime/manga fans) --  which was ratings and sales suicide. That alone would have made it interesting to me, but the complexity  and depth of emotion contained within Fractale’s storyline pulled me completely in.

Fractale is a science fiction story set on an unnamed island that appears to be Ireland roughly around the 32nd Century. Society is peaceful and people rarely directly interact with each other since they all have cybernetic terminals that links them through the Fractale system, that era’s version of the Internet. Holographic doppels (doppelgangers) that are the equivalent of current day avatars are the way people socialize, get around, and do everything without having to do anything.

The Prisoner (1967) Ep. 1: Arrival

In 1967, a surreal and cerebral television show unlike anything seen before debuted to the amazement of viewers worldwide. Ostensibly about an unnamed spy kidnapped and confined to a strange community on the sea, Patrick McGoohan’s deeply personal project delved into themes of individuality, totalitarianism, paranoia, conformity, brainwashing, and the struggle to be free. Still debated over nearly forty-five years later, it is arguably one of the best dramas ever put on TV, if not the best.

A first episode is always a tricky thing for a series and that is doubly true for one that aspires to be anything more than average. With the incredibly popular series, Danger Man (Secret Agent in the USA), wearing thin on him, McGoohan had a desire to do something different. Different only scratches the surface in describing The Prisoner and Arrival establishes that very quickly.

An extended version of the title theme by Ron Grainier (he also created the original Doctor Who theme) plays over a montage of a man (Patrick McGoohan)  in black driving a Lotus Seven roadster to a government building. Once there he angrily storms into an office while the sound of thunder accompanies his rant, which we do not hear. In fact, no sound other than the soundtrack is heard during this intense opening sequence. Slamming his resignation down on his superior’s desk, the man drives off while we see his record amended and filed away in ominously impersonal fashion.

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999) Review

aka Awakening of Iris aka Gamera 1999: Absolute Guardian of the Universe

The final installment of Shuseke Kaneko’s trilogy of Gamera films aspires to be more than a giant monster movie when the giant flying turtle faces multiple foes – with the most deadly being a teenage girl. An unrelenting rollercoaster of a ride, Gamera 3 achieves the feat of becoming the most serious kaiju movie since the original Gojira stomped onto the screen. Combining an emotional plot, terrific pacing, and high attention to detail makes for a memorable movie whose images linger on well after the end credits roll.

Opening with haunting and evocative music, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris presents us with an unidentified location on the Ecuator in 1999. Doctor Mayumi Nagamine (Shinabu Nakayama) from Gamera: Guardian of the Universe has been called out to a remote jungle village where the body of a young Gyaos lays decomposing.  Absent from the second movie, the ornithologist has been spending her time researching the bird like monsters and now their return adds an ominous air to the proceedings.

Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996) Review

aka Attack of the Legion.

Everyone’s favorite fire breathing and flying turtle returns for the second chapter of the 1990’s revamp. When an alien menace threatens Japan, the Earth’s guardian gets his scaly hide kicked repeatedly by a superior foe. Brutal fights, massive destruction, and science fiction horror show this series is not aimed at little kids anymore. UPDATED for making of extras.

Gamera was always something of a joke to me while I was growing up. Of course I was a dedicated and loyal Godzilla fan, so a giant turtle that flew by spinning was sure to be a target of my disdain. It did not help that the movies were aimed at very little kids who could cheer him on in fights and revive him by doing so. It was not mere corn, it was buttered corn with sugar sprinkled on it. I prefer salt, thank you very much.

So when I declare the trilogy begun with Gamera: Guardian of the Universe contains the best kaiju (giant monster) films to ever come out of Japan, please note that there is no sarcasm involved. Gamera 2: Advent of Legion manages to do the impossible and that is to turn the ridiculous ideas of the original films into something cleverly entertaining. Attention to detail, character development, and excellent pacing are to be found in abundance. It is almost enough to convince you that a turtle can fly.

Like this post or the monster gets it!

Secret Investigation Record (2010)

aka Joseon X-Files: Secret Book

A stylish and intelligent science fiction drama from South Korea that offers up many questions and a few answers, Secret Investigation Record is highly entertaining  but all too short. Clearly a homage to The X-Files, it manages to be its own beast thanks to well fleshed out characters and historical setting. Being loosely based on real records from the era lends a Project Blue Book feel to it as well.

I was a big fan of The X-Files during its early seasons, having watched it from its broadcast premiere. Unfortunately, it became clear around the third season that the creator of the show did not have a clue to what he was doing and was making it up on the fly. So it was with a mix of curiosity and trepidation that I approached this Korean drama set during the Joseon Dynasty.

Luckily for me, the made for cable television show turned out to be very good right from the first episode.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Blu-ray

After a couple of low quality attempts to adapt Marvel Comics’ star spangled hero, Hollywood finally succeeds with this big budget period piece. Old fashioned movie making uses modern technology to portray the journey a sickly young man takes to become a super hero.  Nazis get punched out, evil rears its (very) ugly head, and lots of things blow up --  just like they should in a comic book movie. But the real message of the movie is that it is what is inside that counts.

It was something of an article of faith amongst comic book fans that Captain America was a hero who could not be successfully adapted for a modern movie. His appearance was too hokey, he was too bland, and most of all he was too American. Being a remnant from a more innocent and patriotic time, it just would not translate onto the big screen in a way that audiences could connect to.

Fortunately for us, Marvel did not listen to the naysayers and neither did Paramount Pictures. Be warned and settle in for a long read, for this is going to be a big review of a big movie.

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) Review

Updating a rather ridiculous giant monster series that featured a flying and fire breathing turtle does not sound like a recipe for success. But this surprisingly entertaining film almost convinces you that a turtle could fly. While a mixed bag, it shows the potential that the trilogy eventually grows into. Time for giant monster destruction as Tokyo gets hammered yet again! UPDATED for extras coverage.

The popular Gamera series of giant turtle kids movies from the 1960’s and 70’s did not get an auspicious start with Gamera the Invincible. It was an obvious attempt to cash in on Toho Studios successful Godzilla franchise on an even lower budget. It had none of the gravitas or coherency of the contemporary Godzilla films, much less that of Gojira which started the whole thing. The movies got weirder and more juvenile as the years went on.

So when a director named Shusuke Kaneko was given the green light to restart the defunct property, there was not a huge amount of excitement from what I remember. It did not help that his resume was filled with cheap exploitation flicks filled with the late night cable fare of sex and violence. The idea he could update a kiddie movie and make a hit out of it was far fetched. Even more far fetched would be for it to be critically acclaimed.

Frankenstein (1931) Review

Halloween fun goes Universal with a review of James Whale’s subversive masterpiece that frightened audiences and packed the theaters. Return with me to a more innocent time when gore did not exist in movies, television was a science fiction idea, and scared kids still hid behind movie theater seats. Warning: This will be a monster of a review!

1931 was the year that made horror movies popular and proved they could compete for the pennies of Depression era movie goers. Early in the year, Dracula had come out and caused a sensation with its gothic atmosphere featuring an exotic supernatural villain. Known as a B movie studio, Universal Pictures finally had their chance to move up to the big leagues and they had to strike while the iron was hot.

So another adaptation of a classic horror novel was the logical next step. Having bought the rights to Peggy Webling’s stage play interpretation of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, the studio moved ahead at full steam.

The movie begins with a quaint rarity: a warning to the audience. Delivered by Edward Van Sloan, the actor portraying Doctor Waldman, it was added after a test screening in California shocked its audience. In this exceptionally jaded era of lost innocence, the concept of people actually have to be warned about content is alien. But this was a more civilized time and not only were children sheltered, many adults were.

So please watch this movie with that in mind.

The opening credits set an uneasy and creepy mood, with strange and unholy eyes being the focus behind the letters presented on screen. To modern eyes, it looks psychedelic, but it would have been nightmarish—even delirious to the eyes of the time.

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) Review

To celebrate Halloween season, Hammer Time begins with a review of the horror film that made the movie studio famous world wide. Plagued by last minute changes to the story and makeup, Hammer’s interpretation of Mary Shelley’s famous novel still chills and thrills over fifty years later. But do not think it a shallow experience, for there is a real story in there too.

In the late 1950’s, British film studio Hammer Films decided to revive the old Universal monsters for another go around. Known mostly for their Quatermass adaptations, the studio focused on remaking Frankenstein. But Universal got wind of the plan and that forced rewrites to the script to avoid a lawsuit. The planned makeup had to change too. Sounds a bit messy, doesn’t it?

Thankfully, a good director, a competent script, and standout acting by Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee combined to produce a true classic in the horror genre. Not to mention the movie was a killer at the box office, partially due to it being in color – a change made due to Universal’s threats.

That ability to use color is pressed into service right away with a nice matte composition featuring a lone rider on his horse. Right away the appropriate gothic mood is set and further expanded upon, for it is a dank and dreary prison that the rider has arrived at. The priest (Alex Gallier) has come to the prison at the behest of Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), a possibly insane inmate with a curious story to tell before he is executed.

Summer Wars (2009) Review

An extraordinary animated film that switches between real world rural Japan and an online virtual community provides laughs, tears, and the possibility of the end of the world – all during one high school student’s unexpected summer vacation. But looking beyond the protagonist, this science fiction film is also about the importance of family relationships, good and bad. UPDATED for Blu-ray details and HD screen captures.

While some people enjoy blind buying movies, I am not one of them. This one is not quite a blind buy because I saw part of a fan translated manga adaptation and thought it looked interesting. It ended up on my Amazon wish list and was forgotten until scrolling through that to find it on sale. So did it become a purchase to regret? Read on to find out.

When the movie started, I wondered if I’d made a mistake. The opening scenes are shown as an online tutorial and introduction to a virtual social community called OZ. OZ looks like a cross between Facebook and Second Life, with cute avatars representing the users of the system. In fact, it goes through the entire creation of an avatar as if it were a real system.

But is more than just a riff on Facebook and other online communities. OZ is also the backbone of all communications in the world with government agencies and facilities using it as an operating system. It is like if Microsoft, Apple, or Google ran the entire planet’s infrastructure. Now there is a frightening thought!

All of this was presented in cell shaded CGI rather than traditional animation was extremely cutesy in a corporate way. By that I mean in a talking paperclip kind of style for those of you who remember that in Microsoft Office. Not my cup of tea.

Suddenly we are deposited in the real world, or more accurately the traditionally animated depiction of a Japanese high school computer club. In Japan, they have clubs for almost everything and they are a big part of a teen’s high school life. Here we meet two computer geeks who are part time administrators in OZ.

Then something happens that never happens in real life – the prettiest girl in school walks in and offers a paying job. No, Natsuki isn’t asking them to rig her grades. Instead the older student needs one boy to come traveling with her to the countryside.

And so our hero, Kenji begins his assignment of escorting Natsuki in a montage that manages to catch subtle nuances of every day life while interweaving glimpses of cyber life on OZ. We also find out the shy boy is a math wiz who narrowly lost out being the Japanese representative at the international math olympics. It also turns out he has been hired to pose as Natsuki’s boyfriend to meet her family.

And oh what a family she belongs to! The Jinnouchi clan are descendants of samurai and the matriarch Sakae is the one all orbit around. In fact, her 90th birthday is approaching and that is why the family has gathered together. Natsuki reveals a scheming side when she introduces Kenji to her great grandmother and unreels multiple lies about who he is. The biggest one being that he is her fiancé.

It is a scene that demonstrates marvelous comic timing as the clueless boy slowly realizes what is going on. But amongst the comedy is a sublime moment where Sakae stares at him with all the ferocity of her spirit to evaluate the lad. She sees something deep within him and gives her approval to the marriage. For some reason Kenji is rather upset about being misled, but Natsuki is determined to keep the ruse going.

Meeting the rest of the boisterous and varied family follows at dinner. Not even a flow chart can help him keep everyone straight. I loved this scene for it rang with the authenticity of how families behave, from the banter to the insults as we get a glimpse of each personality. All are believable, realistic characters – even Shota the second cousin cop with a crush on Natsuki. He’s there for comic relief and because every large family has someone like him.

Throughout the movie, we are shown the various family members interacting and many little things are planted for future reference. This is a very complicated movie. Also interwoven is a parallel to baseball presented in the television broadcasts of one of teens of the family in a high school baseball tournament. Keep an eye out for that.

But not all is fun and games at the Jinnouchi gathering. Every family has a black sheep and theirs is named Wabisuke. His appearance brings with it unexpected tension and seriousness to the movie, which had been light hearted until now. It is a foreboding scene and sure enough, things begin to move in a bad direction for Kenji and company. It doesn’t help that Natsuki has obvious feelings for her “uncle”.

Inability to sleep and a strange email with a cypher asking to be broken leads to Kenji being framed for hacking OZ. Suddenly a wanted international criminal, it is up to him to find out who stole his account and is vandalizing OZ. With help from Kazuma, a young computer gaming ace in the family, Kenji begins his attempts to clear his name while hiding what is happening from the family.

But with media being everywhere in modern society, that doesn’t work out so well. Exposed and arrested, Kenji’s spirit manages to shine when confronted before being hauled off. His family is small and doesn’t interact very much, so his gratitude for his experiences with the Jinnouchi’s says a lot about what the movie is really about.

Horrified by the turn of events, Natsuki surprisingly shows great concern for Kenji as it appears the shy boy has managed to make an impression on her after all. I suppose being hauled off in hand cuffs helps with the whole bad boy thing girls go for. I kid, I kid. Or do I?

Meanwhile things are going very wrong in OZ. Very wrong and what goes wrong in OZ will go wrong in the real world.

The hacker isn’t a hacker, but a rogue artificial intelligence unleashed from a United States university. Named “Love Machine”, it begins consuming accounts and interfering with everything from stop lights to atomic clocks. As the chaos expands, the entire country of Japan is paralyzed.

Enter Sakae and her very old fashioned rotary phone with equally archaic hand written address books. Her many decades of contacts with noble families and the government turn out to be very handy when modern communications fail. It is a tour de force performance, something I never expected to write about a cartoon character.

Her efforts and that of her family are traceable, however. Love Machine now knows he has an opponent and more importantly, knows the clan crest. The AI is cunning and growing even more dangerous.

Returned to the mansion due to Natsuki’s efforts, Kenji is on hand when things finally come to a boil regarding Wasibuke as secrets are revealed and a dramatic confrontation occurs. Later on, a card game of hanafuda changes one life as the shy teen is forced to make a fateful promise by the scheming matriarch.

Hanafuda is a way of life to the Jinnouchi’s and another reoccurring theme to watch for. This movie made me want to learn how to play it. I have a feeling I will be buying a set of cards.

Things go from bad to worse as Love Machine continues its rampage, the world itself is endangered, and Kenji finds himself accompanying the Jinnouchi clan into cyber battle. With the stakes being raised to that of life or death, the peaceful summer vacation has turned into a summer war.

Can Kenji save the world and maybe, just maybe, get the girl?

Thoughts

Summer Wars is a wonderful film, filled with all those moments that make families truly family. It is also a ripping good science fiction yarn; one of those that warns of a possible future already happening. The gradual takeover of everything by the Internet includes our electrical power plants and hackers have already accessed them. The potential to bring things to a grinding halt is not very far fetched anymore.

But the heart of the movie is the Jinnouchi clan and all their colorful personalities. This really is an ensemble cast and the director’s having the voice actors together in the same studio really paid off. Come to think of it, this movie feels like a live action film in the real world scenes because of this.

The main message of  Summer Wars is the importance and strength of family. None of it is rendered in a sappy way and it is unflinching in showing the embarrassing sides of relatives. I also loved the character of Sakae, the matriarch. While it is not rare to see the elderly shown respect in anime, it is unusual to see a woman of her intellect and fire combined with age. She alone makes the movie worth seeing.

Fortunately, there is a lot more that makes the film great.

The development and growth of the two leads is also well done and manages to be believable despite the short amount of time it happens over. Kenji’s becoming the young man Sakae saw in him is a joy to behold.  Natsuki gets her share of progression too, going from a selfish girl to someone willing to risk all for others – becoming more than a little like her great grandmother.

The Japanese voice cast is absolutely superb across the board. I do want to point out that Natsuki’s voice actress, Nanami Sakuraba, doesn’t sound like the typical cutesy anime girl, but like a real one. It makes her character and I couldn’t imagine her any other way.

Though I am on record as hating English dubs, this one has a very good one with a cast that rises to the occasion. The only complaint I have is that when they did the dub script, more profanity was introduced than was in the subtitles. This is something I have noticed in fan subtitling and it seems to be spreading to official dubs, unfortunately.

Because of the scatalogical profanity, I cannot recommend it for children. It is rated PG and contains violence, both in the virtual world and the Jinnouchi mansion. Older teens and up are the real targets of the movie, anyway. There are some scenes in the the virtual world of OZ that could give nightmares to little ones.

Speaking of children, this is a rare anime where the little kids are voiced by little kids rather than women.

I highly recommend Summer Wars, as it is a true delight and holds up very well on repeated viewings. In fact, I recommend purchasing it outright. Not bad for a semi-blind buy, eh?

Technical

This is a review of the DVD, so I can’t say if the Blu-ray is even more spectacular, but I would hope it does full justice to the gorgeous transfer. Make no mistake about it, this is a beautiful film and after adjusting to the CGI world of OZ I found that impressive as well.

UPDATED: Yes, the Blu-ray is even more spectacular. Animated content gets a huge boost in quality in this format and everything is better.

It is presented in 1.85:1 ratio with a full 5.1 Dolby Surround mix for both Japanese and English dubs. Sound is excellent with full use of positioning and ambient noises that are very effective at making you feel that you are in the countryside. On the Blu-ray the sound is in Dolby TrueHD and is even better.

The soundtrack fits the film perfectly, especially during the sequences set in OZ. Madhouse has created something to rival Studio Ghibli in every facet of film making.

Funimation issued this as a two disc set with the movie on one DVD and the extras on the other. All are on one disc in the Blu-ray release. The extras are well worth looking at with interviews with the main cast members and the director. It is interesting to see behind the scenes of how voice work was handled, normally you get extras on the animation.

The packaging has to be mentioned. Summer Wars comes in a sturdy plastic case that doesn’t skimp on plastic to save costs. A separate plastic leaf holds the movie with the extras DVD on the inside back. The case is clear which allows a rather unique insert to be used. On one side is the front and back while the inside of the insert is a mini poster of the lead couple backed by the rest of the cast. The Blu-ray case is smaller and only has one disc, but the rest applies to it.

Taking things a bit further, the case comes with an embossed slip cover which shows the same characters on the cover but as their OZ avatars. The back is the same reversal. It is extremely clever and testifies to the quality of the issue. Oh and the artwork is very good.

Funimation deserves kudos all around on the effort.

BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS!!!

 

 

 

 

The death of Sakae is handled wonderfully as she becomes the sole casualty of Love Machine. Here is where the movie becomes more than just a lark, but something deeper and sweeter. With the loss of their matriarch, the Jinnouchi clan both pull together and splinter at the same time – mainly along gender lines.

The panning across the porch conveys the loss powerfully and how it affects everyone differently. It is one of the best scenes in the movie.

And it is here that Kenji and Natsuki start becoming a couple. Having been spurned Kenji when trying to comfort her earlier in the movie, Natsuki’s request to have her hand held is a sweet moment as he enables her to release her grief.

Having been through enough family deaths to outnumber the amount of weddings I have been to, the way Sakae’s death is handled by the family rang true. It was all too familiar, especially since my immediate family was bound together by my mother.

Another sub story I enjoyed in the movie was that of Kazuma, the kid with the laptop. His alter ego, King Kazma is the champion of fighting in OZ and a direct outgrowth of two things: his being bullied in school and being taught kung-fu by his uncle. His frustration and despair at failing to save his family from imminent death is what finally unites the family.

The prodigal son arc of Wabisuke is deftly handled and another highlight of the film. His creation of Love Machine was meant to restore the family fortune lost by the great grandfather, but like the biblical figure he came to calamity in a far off land. His return and guilt make this a redemptive movie on top of everything else.

Seeing Natsuki pull herself together and support Kenji in the last stand while death was hurtling down upon the mansion showed her growth. Becoming the champion of her clan, the power up in the final battle of hanafuda conveys her blossoming beauty and stature of soul. Here she becomes worthy of the boy chosen by Sakae to be her husband and protector.

Then there is our hero of the story, Kenji. Sakae took pride in being able to assess a person’s character by looking at them and her confidence in him was well placed. Calling upon strength and leadership he didn’t know he had, Kenji ends up leading the clan into battle by rallying the men to fight back. One gets the feeling Sakae was looking for a strong man to restore the family after many generations of women running the clan.

The ending was fantastic, except for the very last moment which went to slapstick comedy. But I’ll forgive it. After all, how many happy endings feature a funeral?