Mr March

Best wishes for you and your family. Congratulations.

I'd have to say I'm impartial either way. Some science fiction fighters look just as good now as they did when first designed, even those without contemporary aerodynamic considerations. The Starfury/Thunderbolt of Babylon 5 and the TIE Fighters/X-Wings of Star Wars are classic designs standing the test of thime, yet neither examples incorporate much in the way of conventional aerodynamics of their time. On the flip side, I can see your point with respect to other anime aircraft. IMO, none of the Southern Cross/Mospeda aircraft have aged well and designs like the Core Fighters/G-Fighters/Dopps from Mobile Suit Gundam look absolutely terrible today.

Looks fantastic! The animation is even better than the series which was already very impressive. I too would love to see a higher resolution version of this trailer. It was a little hard to make out some of the action.

It's "Infernal Affairs" Important distinction, since there is a film named "Internal Affairs" with a "t" that you might get it mixed up with.

Scorsese is the master, but I really don't think much of this new film. The title is very pretentious and Scorsese's last flick (The Aviator) was good, but not great. Watching the trailer, it doesn't look as bad as I had once feared, but it also doesn't look nearly as interesting as Infernal Affairs. I loved Infernal Affairs. It was a well conceived departure from the norm and not nearly as melodramatic as most Hong Kong action fare. The two leads Andy Lau and Tony Leung were perfectly cast and gave spot on performances. I also loved the visual style, perfectly shot for a creepy, dangerous type of thriller. If The Departed is to be any good, it's going to have to work extra hard to win me over.

The humans would have to apply "current" technology to the OverTechnology they acquired. As such, they would use conventional technology and their current level of aerodynamic understanding and merge it with alien tech. Macross was created in the 1980's. As such, you have aircraft that look like the F-14 but are powered by reaction engines and can transform. If the Macross television series was created in 2006, you'd have aircraft that look like the F-22 that had reaction engines and transformation capabilities. Current human tech adapted to the OT advances. Simple.

Well this is good news. A movie means I won't have to catch up on all that much compared to a third season

No, no, no..."frickin" lasers

No sooner do I speak, I find a hi-res shot (though it's a modified camera shot). http://www.snakesonablog.com/swp/wp-conten...ster-2small.png

Yeah! What Ladic said! I want hi-res desktop stuff

Hahahaha. That's a fantastic poster

One thing I do like about the Remix DVDs is the menu system. Faster and far more user friendly than the original DVDs.

I'm glad you all enjoyed the review. But make sure you see the film for yourselves if you're really interested. If you're an action movie junkie like me, you'll appreciate the film much more than the average summer action flick. If you're a film fan like me, you will find it lacking for a Mann film. Oh, and leave the 1980's at the door to the theatre

This was my concern. I'm glad you chose to keep the pod flush with the fuselage.

Moderation in all things. Moderation. If you're spending tons of money on Valkyries to the detriment of your life - whatever part of your life that may be - obviously something is wrong. It pays to have some other interests and a well rounded perspective. This is a 20+ year-old anime franchise, not a life altering event like meeting your wife. Treat it accordingly and you'll be good.

Miami Vice is easily the weakest Michael Mann film in over a decade. I'm a Michael Mann whore, I see as many of his films as I can, so you're in good company. If I had to rate the Mann films from my favorite on down, it'd look something like this: Heat The Last of the Mohicans Collateral The Insider Ali Miami Vice Manhunter

Miami Vice (2006) Genre: Live Action Film – Action Drama During it’s run in the 1980’s, the Miami Vice television series distinguished itself via a stylized cast, sharp action, and some strong characterizations. With a 2006 feature film update from Michael Mann – who executive produced the series – the movie retains most of the series’ virtues in spirit if not in practice. The result, an unabashedly Mann film shot with style, cast with grace, executed with skill, but suffering from too many vices of its own to create a solid film like Mann’s previous hits Heat and Collateral. Lacking credits and even studio logos, Miami Vice jumps right into a night club under surveillance by undercover narcotics detectives James "Sonny" Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Ricardo “Rico†Tubbs (Jamie Foxx). In the process, an old informant of the duo calls Crockett about an FBI setup to catch some drug dealers that’s gone bad. The FBI wants to take down the crooks but their internal security has been compromised, so they recruit the two outside detectives Crockett and Tubbs. Acting undercover as drug transporters the pair infiltrate a large drug organization, Crockett becoming emotionally involved with the shady Isabella (Gong Li) and culminating in a big drug deal that puts Tubb’s girlfriend at risk. Vice does a credible job of dumping the two characters into a larger crime circle normally outside their beat in Miami. The film first visually carries the audience along for a ride then drops pieces of dialogue to fill out the story. Again working with his digital cameras from previous work Collateral, Mann creates a very dark world of undercover narcotics investigation that retains focus and style without sacrificing the image. Farrel and Foxx are well cast and up to the challenge of portraying the ever-so-serious characters of the script, each bringing a grounded, realistic performance to match the nearly documentary style shooting of the film. When the movie works as a down-and-dirty, in-the-trenches story, it works well. When more cinematic drama is required, this is where both the shooting style and the script hits a few speed bumps. Director Michael Mann’s choppy, on-the-fly editing for Vice is his method meant to simulate the main character’s undercover life as a fluid, ever-changing playing field; it’s do or die. Sounds great in theory, but in practice the film feels very disconnected from one scene to the next. Miami Vice lacks a coherent flow and during the lengthy middle scenes of the film the movie just can’t create any subtle buildup and the actors can’t create any feeling leading to a dramatic climax. The film does have an explosive finale with all the you-are-there camera work and visceral energy we’ve come to love from Mann’s films. Yet without a compelling ride, the payoff feels like too little, too late. This new Miami Vice does have style, the characters do their cool act, and the villians are sufficiently menacing. Problem is, film audiences have seen style, cool, and menacing many times before nearly every summer. Vice doesn’t bring anything new that hasn’t been done in the past, especially by Mann himself. Those expecting anything as iconic as the clothing in the original 1980’s series will be disappointed and film fans expecting some drama to hold together the brief action will miss out as well. Rating: 2.5 out of 5. A better than average summer action movie, but a less than average Michael Mann film.

Purty

That doesn't help us Canucks It's $74.14 CAD on Deep Discount's Canadian website. http://search.deepdiscountdvd.ca/search?p=....x=0&search.y=0 Damn, I really did luck out getting the first one for $60 CAD. That means I purchased it for $52.08 USD. I thank my lucky stars

You DID pay for it, right. 419938[/snapback] LOL Of course I did. I've never stole anything in my life. Thanks for the tip about LE Patlabor 2 at HMV. I'll get it there once I start working again.

Indeed. I know a lot of anime fans in north america are angry about the anime distribution companies releasing special editions of their long owned properties. It does limit the amount of new anime being released, especially stuff that a lot of anime fans have wanted to see for years (thinking Legend of Galactic Heroes here). But I really do enjoy properly mastered DVD editions with special features WHEN it's such a DVD for an anime I really like. I mean, if this was a special edition of most other anime I wouldn't care. But I adore the first two Patlabor films, so I've been expecting a proper, uber-edition DVD for a long time. Same thing with stuff like Nausicaa, GHost in the Shell, and Akira. Naturally, I'm waiting for a damn fine edition of Macross Plus

Before the bottom of page 5 of this thread, Jay-Lew's model is shown with arms rendered. I'm assuming the gunpod (the way Jay orginally had it) is recessed to suit and is flush with the arms. IMO, I would think it would look better that way.

Yeah, I just moved to Ontario recently. I'll probably get nailed on the LCE Set for Patlabor 2 though. I doubt I'll be lucky enough to find it so cheap again. But you're right, for these movies, I'd pay a little extra to get a nice edition on DVD.

I honestly don't think the gunpod being recessed is a problem. You're working on a CG representation of the VF, so there is no way it can look exactly as the 2D lineart with all the magic that goes on in anime. Ultimately, you should be doing what's best for the model. Personally, I think the fighter looks better with the gunpod in tight and recessed so that it's flush with the underbelly of the craft.

Wow, all these SDF Macross CG models coming out all of the sudden. I wonder what it is. Something in the air Nice work. I'd love to see more.