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JediRaptoR
Reviews
Riven: The Sequel to Myst (1997)
an incredible game
Well, other commenters are certainly right - this is one hard game to beat!! I found the whole thing riveting, however; the graphics are superb and you feel as if you actually are in Riven while playing it. The story was excellent and the suspense caught on many times. You must play this game for yourself to experience the beautiful animation and intricately detailed scenes, it's just so wonderful. I can't wait to get the third game! And don't worry; it's not easy, but you can beat Riven without cheats or hints....it just takes a while that's worth every minute :).
Mononoke-hime (1997)
The Best Animated Film!
The first time I saw this movie (even the dubbed version, although it was exceptionally done) I was completely blown away. I had liked a couple forms of anime before hand, but was never totally interested in the subject until I saw the Princess Mononoke. After that, I dropped all the anime I had liked before. This movie is nothing like what Americans classify as anime. The movie isn't choppy, loaded with neon colors, and doesn't involve weird hybrid midget animals or gigantic robots (sorry guys, but Pokemon and all those kiddie shows ruined Japanese animation's rep). Instead it involves a piece of history, and true-to-life characters that nearly everyone can relate to. What interested me was that there were no black-and-white characters involved with the story: no truly evil or good people, unlike the popular Disney movies over here in the states. And the characters don't break out in song every five minutes either. On the contrary, this is a very serious film (something like ages 11 and up), and it isn't one of those stories where the most evil people on Earth are mowing through the forest of the cuddly, dewy-eyed animals.
I hear people complain that they're not interested in "that Japanese stuff", but I'll only respond with the fact that this is far from the quality of those kiddie shows, and it's only the style of how people are drawn that's foreign to American's style (i.e. Batman, Marvel stuff, Disney movies). Once you experience this film, however, what will really catch your eye (and I mean in an extreme way) is the beauty of the simulated backgrounds (there's even a bit of 3D-simulated scenes - very cool); the mist filled mountains, the wondrously painted backdrops of the forest, the detail in every scene is astonishing: you have to watch the movie 5 times plus just to make sure you absorbed everything! The animation itself is also incredible. The majority of each scene proves very smooth action and rarely is there a shot where there's more that 9 seconds of stillness.
If you, by now, have yet to see this movie, then by-golly why are you still sitting here?! Order it, or preview it first from your local Blockbuster or whatever's closest by. Better yet, go to the official site and download the theatrical trailer (they did a nice job with that too^_^).
Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984)
A Film of Strong Words
Even compared to the rising fame of Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, this film is by far my favorite out of his growing collection. As old as it is, I still watch it with a totally renewed interest, sinking deeper into it's sincere message of human destruction. And speaking of human destruction, I'm still ashamed with the dubbed version Warriors of the Wind. Hopefully, Disney will make up for that horrible mess and release a newly dubbed (and not mauled) version here in the states soon. Just in case you haven't seen this, DON'T see Warriors of the Wind. Try with all your might to find the subtitled version. I watched the butchered version and my eyes were falling out, for half the movie was cut to make it "action-packed", the plot was flipped around, and we have Rocky the Squirrel and a ninja turtle playing the (differently named!) characters. (*sob* Nausicaa is such a prettier name than Princess Zandra!)
Kung Fu Kenobi's Big Adventure (1999)
Liked it!
Kung Fu Kenobi's Big Adventure is a hilarious short. Evan Mather has a very creative and amazing talent. I get a kick out of this action (figure) movie every time I've seen it. This comedy is a must see. Mather certainly put a lot of effort into this, definitely a one-of-a-kind film. Reminds me of scrambled eggs.