Stop me if you've heard this before: in the years following an apocalyptic war, an elite armed force finds itself fighting against vicious cyborgs and diabolical humans while trying to maintain order and discipline within their own ranks. Yes, it's a been-there/done-that anime narrative, but Appleseed: Ex Machina is a bit different with its subplot love story involving tough-as-nails female warrior Deunan and cybernetically-enhanced soldier Briareos, two members of the elite E-SWAT force defending the technological oasis-state of Olympus against a sinister conspiracy designed to turn humanity into pliable zombie-like creatures linked by a single consciousness. Since this is anime and not a Lifetime movie, the primary focus is, of course, on making war, not love. Based on the popular manga by Shirow Masamune, produced by pioneering action filmmaker John Woo, and directed by Shinji Aramaki, Appleseed: Ex Machina is rich in muscular action and heady adventure, but what truly elevates this film from the pack is the state-of-the-art CGI animation (which looks positively stunning on the Blu-ray version). Available in both single-disc and two-disc ($34.98) standard DVD versions and single-disc Blu-ray, the excellent DVD extras on this dual-language release, rated PG-13, include an audio commentary, a profile of Woo and Aramaki, a “making-of” featurette focusing on the new technology used in animating the film, and—on the two-disc and Blu-ray releases—featurettes on the history of the Appleseed manga/anime titles and on the cross-pollination between East and West in regards to anime. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (P. Hall)
Appleseed: Ex Machina
(2007) 104 min. DVD: $24.98, Blu-ray: $34.99. Warner Home Video (avail. from most distributors). ISBN: 1-4198-6382-7 (dvd), 1-4198-6384-3 (blu-ray). Volume 23, Issue 3
Appleseed: Ex Machina
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