Casshern (2004)

In an alternate reality a military regime has taken over the eurasian continent. War and pollution threaten everyone's life and so a project is started to find "the" cure for all those people's problems. A scientist suggests his Neo-Cell technology, which is capable of rejuvenating, reassembling and reviving dead or injured men. A military sponsor is found and the early experiments produce a group of neohumans, who get loose and flee into the mountains. That is the point where the story throws in two ecstasy pills and the anime comic basis of Casshern breaks through and doesn't let go of our eyes ever again. The movie is extremely stylish and schizophrenic, it has a touch of the video clips in computer games, merged with a screen style like a musical (Pink Floyd The Wall)and action scenes that are a so unbelievably perfect "realization" of anime that it seems you are watching GhostitShell2 with TheMatrix layered over it. Don't even think you'd be able to follow the seemingly simple comic plot every scene, you can consider yourself lucky if you manage to process who is currently in the picture in front of which stunning background. Not everyone will like this, for sure, it far too outlandish and a real challenge, at the same time the seemingly comical story might scare some viewers away or the overall style of the movie, that seems almost like the distinct brushstroke of a painter, might not please everyone. Even animefans will need some time to get used to the fight sequences, as realism always steps behind for style and effect here. From an artist's point of view a great, challenging anime comic on screen.

Fmovies: This movie grabs you right from the beginning with its audio/visual bombardment that keeps your eyes and ears at maximum capacity. This doesn't last all the way through, there's interspersed moments of artistic pause. Those frozen moment scenes looked like a master's canvas come to motion, if not life. Don't blink.

The plot of the movie revolves around a battle of life and death, with the love story subplot on the main character. As many scripts set in Japan do, they revolve the drama around "honor" and whatever twisted concept the characters have of it. Often "honor" demands that everyone dies. A lot of people die, but the violence is pretty good, more conceptual than graphic, and it delivers its intended impact well. But it eventually gets over the top, and you start wondering if anyone is going to live.

There's more than a few plot-holes, and they are big enough to drive a Honda through. You get the idea they shot reels of film and thought about how to piece it together afterward. People do things for impossible reasons, and unlikely motivations (twisted sense of honor becomes a generic excuse). To their credit, with such a twisted plot piecing together scenes, they don't make the mistake of turning the plot on a dime anywhere, so you won't get lost. You know who the bad guys are (3 different groups!) and who the good guys are (the hero, his immediate family, and all innocents), and you know who it's going to come down to in the end.

To anyone who watches this with subtitles, blame the incoherent reasons behind character's actions on bad subtitle translations.... and it becomes a better than average movie, even good. Turn out the lights and crank the volume. Sci-Fi fans, this is a don't miss.

I have just finished watching Casshern and overall it was a visually stunning feast for the eyes with a beautifully woven fairytale at its heart. Unfortunately the fairytale was somewhat drowned under layer upon layer of heavy handed and mostly unnecessary exposition that ponders on for two long and mind-numbing hours, the result being that I am baffled by the entire experience. On the one hand I loved the movie; the style of the film was exceptional, every aspect of the world the director had created strained with the quality that is lacking in most western films. The cinematography was perfectly executed, the design work was breathtaking and the idea at the core of the narrative was ingenious. On the other hand these qualities cannot make up for the script, which is overly long and excruciatingly convoluted; taking an unnecessarily long and ponderous route to a conclusion that, in the hands of a better writer, could have been much more straightforward without necessarily losing any of the emotional complexity of the narrative or its characters. I would recommend seeing this movie if just to experience the spectacular visual feast that it is, but I can't help thinking that the story could have been treated so much better.

Casshern fmovies. If I hadn't already seen Zhang Yimou's Hero the previous week, I would have had to say that Casshern is one of the most beautiful-looking films I've seen in years (or ever). However, it'll have to suffice with second place. The CGI is highly stylised, with some green-screen shots looking purposefully false, but the real joy is in the production design - very evocative of Metropolis. Visual references are also made to the Nuremburg rallies of the 1930s, the Holocaust, Orwell's 1984 and those retro wind-up robots. A massive twenty-storey building is suspended in the air by hundreds of propellers like some overgrown zeppelin, and there's shots of a train so wide it requires five strips of rail side-by-side to accommodate it. The battle scenes are particularly awesome, and the combat scenes between Casshern and the Neo-Sapiens equally sharp.

However, the story primarily revolves around the drama of two families and there's very little affinity made with the main characters. Perhaps it was because the action scenes were so bombastic, but I found it very difficult to spur my interest in the character-driven moments, and this consequently made the two-and-a-half-hour running time feel a tad too long.

The final closing message, which runs contrary to the adrenalized mid-section of the film, is presented rather clumsily. But in true Japan-fashion, you can't help but be charmed by the sincerity of the whole thing.

My wife and I watched this movie last night. I love anime, for the most part, but realize that quite a bit of it is rehashing the same topics. Visuals are important, and I can look past some of the more trivial and view the entertainment. She likes some, but is more "willing" to see these movies than "eager".

Having said that. HOLY COW! this is one of the best movies we have seen. Visuals were stunning, the message real, the topics more than timely, the human story was touching. Even the non-special effect type shots were beautiful. You can tell that the filmmakers were not concerned about dumbing down the story for the audience. I fear for an American release (please quite assuming we are morons).

This was not "good anime" or "good superhero" or "good science fiction". This was a excellent movie and story that was told using all those as medium.

You can see aspects of "Blade Runner", "The Matrix", maybe "2001" even film noir but this movie does it right. Please give it a chance. The first thing we thought of after the viewing is that we want run out and tell everyone we see "see this movie".

See this movie.

Easily one of the best movies I have ever seen.

I am disappointed and yet not surprised at the low score given to this movie. It's not a typical action flick, as the trailer may lead many to believe. It is about so many things and the weak point is that it takes up so much, it is slightly difficult to follow.

I can't even express all the themes and things that flow through this movie. It takes up questions such as: Why do we fight wars? What is ethical? What would you do for love? What does it mean to be a father, a son, lovers, a citizen of a nation, a national leader, human, alive? Visually the movie is just breathtaking. It's gorgeous. Kiriya is not afraid to do what he feels does justice to the scene. He was the one behind the camera, not a common place for the director, to get the shot exactly the way he wanted it. Quite scenes are thoughtful and even the fight scenes are purely intense. Fantastic.

The movie is based on a 70s anime which is quite different. But it is interesting to note the places where the movie pays homage to the original anime.

The English subtitles are quite good and quite accurate. There are a few parts that I would have translated it differently, but over all, the integrity of the film is totally intact.

I highly recommend this film for true lovers of sci-fi who are looking something that is more than mindless battle scenes.