Appleseed: Alpha [Blu-ray] [Region B]

I saw the beginning of this film (about 10 mins or so) round a friends house a few months back and liked what I saw. So much so I decided to order my own copy..I like cgi movies and this one in particular has a good story and some lovely graphics. I wont spoil the story for anyone contemplating a purchase but will instead say the voice acting is of a very high standard and you do sympathize with the two main characters and the struggle they are going through. The film has detailed and varied locations and has great atmosphere and some emotional scenes. There is also action and suspense and I cannot recommend Appleseed Alpha enough to either anime fans, cgi film fans and (due to the nature of the film) videogame fans as well.

Review of the Appleseed Alpha [Blu-ray] [2014] [US Import] version. Very happy to find that this IS an all region disk! Phew! Bought on spec as I love this film and didn't want to wait for the UK release, so very happy to find it played perfectly on my non multi region Blu-ray player. An excellent film, the CGI format is getting better and better and difficult to tell, in places, that it wasn't live-action. I confess to being a huge anime fan and really enjoy the Appleseed series, this prequal is great fun as well as an excellent syfi film in it's own right.

I love the Appleseed movies and this latest Reboot/Origin episode is no exception. As stated in pretty much every other review here, the CGI & Animation sets a new bar for the genre, especially for the fraction of the budget of CGI-heavy films like Transformers. Animation is fantastic, though if I had one gripe, the lip-synch is nearly always off by a fraction of a second. Not enough to ruin the viewing, but enough to be noticeable. This film would have had 5 stars if it had had a little more depth. Its a strong, if predicatable 'safe' plot and enjoyable despite is slight shortcomings. The story is essentially an expansion of the 'Flashback' scenes from the previous movies. If you ever wondered how Deunan and Briareos found their way to Olympus, this film will fill in some of the blanks for you. Ideally, I would have liked to see a true origin story of how the two first met, the incident that caused Briareos his horrific injuries and the effect that his transformation into a Hecatoncharies had on them both in those early stages. There is potential there for much greater emotional depth and exploration. Instead we are dropped into their lives some time after, when they are both trying to find their place in the ravaged post-war landscape. With no army left to find they are left to put their skills to scavenging precious items and taking out problematic targets for dodgy linch-pins. Whilst the story itself is a fresh and more expansive perspective on their early days together, the premise itself is nothing really new to the Appleseed saga. A great film, diminished only by its lack of invention and its reluctance to begin even further back in the timeline, but highly recommended nonetheless. TIP TO THE WARY CONSUMER: Don't buy this directly from Amazon, they have it at nearly TWICE the price of the lowest competitor. I bought it new from "Logistics 101" for £12.41 incl. P&P - Arrived after 4 days.

Just watched this film thanks to my Prime account and I have to say that I'm absolutely blown away. Many criticize the story and the fact that it did not adhere to the manga... well that maybe, but the CGI effects are the best I've ever seen.... the movement of the hair or the expressions on the cyborgs... wow! someone also criticize also that the vehicles looked like made of paper or something... well, not sure which mangas have you seen where they looked any better. So that the story is weak?? well War & Peace it's not... that's for sure but it is OK. And with regard to the dialog...seen quite a lot of japanese manga and believe me it probably gets lost in translation because some times are soooo lame. So this one is kind of with the rest out there. Basically don't look too closely to the critics and just enjoy.

The arch of the story was good

As in the previous review the animation is amazing unlike any I have seen before the characters are well rendered as is the scenery in the opening sequence you would think you are watching a live action film this is how good the animation is.It has come leaps and bounds since the first Appleseed movies and far surpasses them.The story is before Deunan and Briareos came to Olympus and takes place in the world outside of Olympus in what is left of the world following countless wars.The story its self is fairly basic but has some content but the action scenes are truly amazing and this is what makes the film for me.it would not be an Appleseed film without the action.This is one for the fans of Appleseed but keep watching to the end as there is some extra footage after the credits have finished rolling. Specials include the making of commentary and previews. Languages are English,German and Italian 5.1 DTS-HD MA and Japanese 5.1 with English,German and Italian subtitles.

This film has taken CGI into another level. As a piece of art it is beautifully made, as a film it is amazing. The sound effects alone warrant an Oscar. Worth the money? = yes Will I watch again? = oh yes. Recommend = yes. One for the collection - a masterpiece. RJC.

I've been a big fan of Appleseed ever since I first bought the original VHS back when I was 17. The franchise saw reprints of the Manga come and go until the reboot and the 2007 sequel , both of which I also really enjoyed. This particular movie, despite being from the same creative team, is sadly not in continuity with the others and is a "soft retelling" of how Deunan Knute and her rabbit-eared cyborg boyfriend Briareos fought their way through a post-WIII America before arriving in Olympus City. It is by no means bad, but still a bit of a disappointment. I will chalk this up to the fact that Sony have gotten their dirty hands on the franchise since they have a long history of mis-managing pre-existing properties. This instalment honestly feels and looks more like one of the disposable CGI Resident Evil movies than Appleseed. There is a decent atmosphere in the empty cities and quiet, lifeless deserts but it doesn't have the gloss and tech that I am used to from this series. The tech on display here is old and war-scarred, adding a riff of grubbiness to it that I'm not used to. Plus, there's very little to identify with, Deunan seems to be the only pure human with no bio-mech augmentations. I know it's a cliched criticism to make of such movies, but it did honestly make me feel like I was watching a video game cut-scene. A bit more of the human element would have balanced things out and eliminating that truly, truly, utterly awful soundtrack would have pushed my final score a little higher. I don't know what Sony were thinking. I liked the Japanese textures of Appleseed, and their attempts to Westernize it just don't sit well with me as a fan. It's worth watching but definitely the least appealing in the entire series so far. The Blu-ray looks okay in 1.78:1 1080p. The brightness could have been lowered a little to make the movie look a bit more cinematic. The DTS HD-MA soundtrack fares better though. The soundtrack was honestly so awful I was disappointed that there was no Japanese track on this Blu-ray. I would have happily read subtitles if it meant the removal of all those terrible hip-hop sounding songs. A small amount of extras are included.