Mr March

Breathtaking! It's very impressive seeing something like this. Great work!

I've read two reviews for this series and it sounds very interesting. However, I'm looking for a little more description and detail before I take the plunge. I do very much enjoy a good mecha series, but I most often enjoy the more serious anime series. Macross is my all time favorite mecha franchise, and I absolutely love the three Patlabor films and Gundam 0080 War in the Pocket. Escaflowne was good, but a bit too "cheery" for my tastes. I absolutely hated Gundam Wing with every fiber of my being. Full Metal Panic and Gasaraki just don't do it for me and I've digested six episodes of each to give them a fair chance. I love Cowboy Bebop, Vampire Hunter D, and Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind. Akira is okay, but not one of my favorite films. I disliked Evangelion because of the fanservice and weak characters and even though RahXephon seems to share some elements of that show, many people have been calling RahXephon "Eva done right." Typically, the more mature an anime is, and the more serious the story is told, the more I like my anime. Would I enjoy RahXephon? *Aside: I noticed good old Shoji Kawamori worked the storyboarding for the series. Wonder how much Macross influence I'll notice when I watch this show*

LOL I'm sure ROTK will be great.

I must say I agree with your critique. It is an interesting show at first, but the episodes are very hot/cold. I watched the first six episodes and it appeared to me as though the series could never quite make up it's mind what it wanted to be. The mecha action was great, but didn't jive with the humor. The humor was great, but felt misplaced in such a dour plot. The story was penned as dramatic, but the characters didn't mesh with the roles. Overall, I'd give Full Metal Panic 6/10.

I would be much less critical of the film's length and more critical of the film as a whole. Attention Deficit Disorder aside, we Tolkien fans should feel damn lucky we are getting theatrical releases of the Lord of the Rings films that are as lengthy as they are. Any other film would have been criticized as too long and boring (which many non-fans are still calling LOTR) but luckily LOTR gets away with it. However, Jackson knows he's stretched audience attention to its limits and is aware that he cannot shove all the books in a film...no one can. Also, the film has to be marketable. Sorry to say this, but films need mass appeal. We have not yet reached a point where the population can make a film profitable based on fanboy attendance alone. Films like Wing Commander, Final Fantasy, and numerous other examples prove that. So LOTR, for better or worse, must work as a piece of commercial entertainment first and foremost. If Jackson can bend the rules as far as he can without breaking them and satisfy as many fanboys as possible with the quality and detail of the story, consider that a victory.

That's a great concept. It looks good.

I'm fine with that. As a filmmaker myself, I totally understand Jackson's reasons not to dwell on the previous film and set up the hereto mysterious Sauron as the main villain he actually is.

The oracle said that Neo and Smith were two sides of an equation trying to balance themselves. Neo was the true anomaly and Smith was that part of the Matrix trying to correct itself. When Smith absorbed Neo, he was really sealing his own doom since Smith's only purpose was to balance the equation..even though he didn't know it or really understand it. Once that happened, he was self deleted to serve that equation.

I'm a huge fan of fantasy artwork and have been ever since I was a child. It was inevitable I'd run into this film and Frazetta's work. Great fantasy tales are rarely animated here in the western world, despite the great library of fantasy work that is produced every year in the form of books, games, and art. Fire and Ice holds a special place in my collection of great fantasy.

there has yet to come anything better out of "western" animation which is sad considering it's age Well, we all know the western stigma surrounding animation, so that should give you a good idea why Fire and Ice still stands alone. It'll probably take a while before anything else that good ever comes along.

Yeah WTF is the Region 1 version of this on DVD. My VHS is so old it will probably tear apart if I try to watch it again. I feel your pain my friend. But to be quite honest, there's still a ton of stuff not yet available on DVD. Like where the hell is Schindler's List? Hopefully Fire and Ice will come out soon.

Of course I know this film. It's one of Ralph Bakshi's best animated features. I want a north american release of this film on DVD. I owned a VHS copy for many years, but as we all know how well VHS stands the test of time it's redundant to say I am currently without. Classic fantasy tale of good versus evil. The artwork was amazing.

HELL YEAH! I've managed to watch the first two episodes at my friends place. It's fantastic so far. Looks like another great season is gearing up.

Just saw the film. It's noon here in Calgary and my friends and I just got back from seeing the morning screening. It was a blast. I really liked most of the film and the plot threads were all resolved. The only thing that left the series hanging a little was the... MINOR SPOILER Still there? I bet you are part about Neo. Not really sure what to make of it. I'll keep my thoughts relatively spoiler free for now. Needless to say, the film was very good and plenty of fun. Overall, the Matrix trilogy still isn't my number one film collection, but it's definitely a favorite. Can't wait for the DVD!

Well, we can look at it this way...from what we have now, there's nowhere to go but up I very much like the look of the punisher costume for this new film. It's very subdued, yet that dirty skull is unmistakable. The only thing I'm a little worrried about is the film appears too bright. It would be nice if the film features a darker pallette than the trailer. Then again, we all know how too much darkness can ruin a film. *insert one of many examples here* Hehehe

I took tomorrow off work and I'm going to see it in the morning with a bunch of friends. Should be a great time.

I'm very impressed with the casting so far. Like others have mentioned, Jane has the look of Castle. I hope he can pull off the role. As for the script, I haven't read it as yet, but I'd love to take a look at it. I am wary of any film adaptation of such a great character as the Punisher and I disliked the last film. I can only hope for the best in 2004.

I watched several episodes of this series at Otafest this past summer. It wasn't all that great. Maybe the series picks up, but I wasn't too excited about seeing anymore of it. However, I do agree the CG with Cel art was very well done. A nice merge.

Here in the city of Calgary (in Canada) a film at the best theatres on regular weekend showings will cost about $12.00 (that's $8.87 US Dollars or 7.66 Euro). The big chain theatres can be expensive, but I have to see the best movies at the Imax theatres with perfect picture and sound everytime

Hell yeah

Very true. I was just listing the western influence mecha from anime I could remember off the top of my head. I've actually delved into cross-culture influence in mecha design before and come up with a large number of interesting design influences. Lots of fun. Good eye on your part GobotFool.

On topic, I do like the toy and think it's impressive. However, as far as design goes, the thing is seriously lacking. Yet, the design is very fitting for the setting of the humans of the Matrix universe.

I couldn't disagree more. I beleive the problem comparing western vs. japanese mecha designs resides totally in the mindset of the fans and they way they choose (or should I say DO NOT choose) to classify mecha. Many of my friends look at the Japanese mecha and use them as some sort of benchmark by which all other giant sized humanoid mecha should be measured. And therein lies the problem. A mecha to them means "giant sized, humanoid mecha" and nothing else can fit. I mention the terminators, from the James Cameron films. Probably one of the most frightening and easily recognizable mecha in science fiction film history, and they look great. To which the response is always "Well, they aren't real mecha if they aren't 20 meters tall and piloted by humans" Then comes Star Wars and the great desings of the AT-ATs, AT-STs, and the Clone Armies AT-TE. Then the response is always "Yeah but they are slow moving slugs and aren't really mecha cause they can't fight with martial arts" Then I look at the innumerable examples of powered armor, a concept created by early western science fiction. This concept includes countless examples of talented designs appearing in electronic games like Starcraft, Unreal, Halo, or the brilliant designs that grace the pages of science fiction pen-and-paper role-playing games Rifts, Shadow Run, and the like. The design for Starcraft's Terran Marines or Rift's Glitter Boy can compete with the best of the japanese designs. I also find it interesting how many of the newer japanese mecha shows are now taking influence from western designed concepts. Kawamori's own Escaflowne is a middle ages, european knight's armor made into a giant mecha and many of the other guymelefs are simply ancient suits of armor from Napal, China, Spain, and other countries made into giant mecha. Need I mention the obvious design lineages for shows like Gasaraki. I think western mecha stands up quite well to their japanese counterparts. The only difference I see is the presentation. Currently, western mechanical arts have no high profile "mecha" genre in film, animation, or electronic entertainment....so the idea of western mecha is passed over and dismissed in turn.

I currently own two Yamato 1/48 Valkyries, but I own FAST Packs for only one of them. I was holding out for a FAST Pack set to include those new hand sets featured with the VF-1J, but based on the responses I got about Yamato's intention, it seems low priority. So I figured if I have to buy a VF-1J, it might as well have the FAST pack set with it. You can always take the packs off, but if ya don't have em...

HAHAHAA! :)