Buzz201
Mad Scientist
Another visit to the local World of Cine today to see a couple of films (just by myself on this occasion).
Did you say Hello to Jason Isaacs whilst you were there?
Another visit to the local World of Cine today to see a couple of films (just by myself on this occasion).
Have you seen Sunrise? That's my favourite Murnau film. In fact, it's one of my top 10 films ever.Nosferatu (1922)
For all the acclaim heaped upon the iconic, expressionist interpretation of Dracula, I honestly found it a bit ponderous. There are some truly striking individual images, and it's plain to see the massive influence this film has had on pretty much every subsequent adaptation of the story, but I found it lacking in tension for much of the running time - it only really came (briefly) to life during the final 20 minutes. Perhaps a better score would have helped (I think the version I saw is not the preferred one), but I missed the aggressive strangeness of Dr. Caligari and the epic grandeur of Murnau's later Faust.
Have you seen Sunrise? That's my favourite Murnau film. In fact, it's one of my top 10 films ever.
I had to study Nosferatu for my second year of Film Studies A level, and I agree the film does lack in places. I much preferred the other German expressionist film I analysed "Das cabinet Des Caligari". Some of the effects used the film are still pretty cool (the titular creature rising from his coffin on the boat for instance), and I found that the background behind the making of the film and its influences were probably more interesting than the film itselfNosferatu (1922)
For all the acclaim heaped upon the iconic, expressionist interpretation of Dracula, I honestly found it a bit ponderous. There are some truly striking individual images, and it's plain to see the massive influence this film has had on pretty much every subsequent adaptation of the story, but I found it lacking in tension for much of the running time - it only really came (briefly) to life during the final 20 minutes. Perhaps a better score would have helped (I think the version I saw is not the preferred one), but I missed the aggressive strangeness of Dr. Caligari and the epic grandeur of Murnau's later Faust.
Gantz (live-action)
This is the first of two live-action outings for Gantz, which I bought recently as a twin-pack DVD in HMV. (Recommendation courtesy of @bakum4tsu. Thanks again, man.)
So, at the halfway point, I'm really enjoying this. The way that the props from the original like the guns and particularly the suits have been brought to life is stunning. I love the way the small circular pockets on the suits light up when they're in use. The special effects are great, too, not just in terms of the designs for all the classic aliens, but also the "3D printing" effect when characters are transported in and out of "the room".
The mission to hunt the now-singular Tanaka/Suzuki alien was great! The way the original design was turned into an actual costume was spectacularly well done, I thought, and the decision to give it really comical movements was a stroke of genius. Even though there was only one of them in this version, I found it just as bloody terrifying as I did in the anime!
I wasn't sold on the characterisation, though. Main character Kurono, who was a brilliantly unique sort in the anime, seems to have been replaced with an off-the-shelf Unremarkable Guy type seemingly on loan from an anime harem comedy. He was a much more interesting protagonist when he was arrogant, pushy and amoral: you could easily see where his will to survive came from. Here he goes from being rather anonymous to being frankly smug once he's had a bit of a practice using the suit, and is suddenly imbued with the drive and ability to protect everyone. Eh? Where did that come from?
I haven't read the manga (at least, not yet), so I can't claim to be familiar with the character, but what's the deal here with Kojima? I know that this is perhaps especially rich coming from me, but this Kurono just doesn't make much of an impact. Yet she seems so very taken with him, even though he doesn't ever seem to notice her. Um, wouldn't it be more likely be the other way around? Another characterisation blunder, surely.
The film also makes the mistake of retaining Kato's backstory of having been looked out for by Kurono when they were kids, which was believable in the anime but not here.
And why is that guy with the glasses even here? What was his name again? Suzuki, wasn't it? He hasn't done anything yet! Where is he hiding during the missions?!
Kishimoto's death didn't really illicit that much of a response from me, I'm afraid. To this day, I remain haunted by her death scene in the anime; it's something I'll never be able to forget. It was just such so sickeningly tragic and horrific. Here, though, the best emotional moment was Kurono's reaction to Kato's demise. That was really well done.
Another thing that this film does well is communicate the characters' hesitance and uncertainty over pulling the trigger. I spent so much time watching the anime wanting to yell at the screen "Just pull the trigger, for god sake!" But in this you could feel the participants' fear of what these aliens actually are. The characters are overall comparatively more willing to actually pull the trigger this time around, though, and that's no doubt due partly to the factor of the unavoidably tighter running time, with missions timed at around 20 minutes as opposed to an hour apiece in the anime, leaving no need for time-filling.
Another thing I found actually superior to the animated version were the actual setups of some character deaths. The way Kurono and Kato actually end up being hit by the train happens in much more convincing fashion here, in my view. The same applies to Kishimoto; in the anime, she runs all the way around Kato and stands in front of him waiting to be hit, rather than just shoulder-barge him out of the way or something. In this film, she really does make a split-second decision to take the blow herself to save him.
All in all, I really enjoyed watching this, and would recommend it to anyone interested in seeing how anime or manga properties are realised in live-action. It gets extra points if you're already a fan of Gantz in some other form, as I am. Also, I'd like to give special mention to the fact that the video and audio quality on Manga's DVD release is excellent.
The thread title says to rate the film, so I'll go for a solid eight out of ten. I could end up watching this again pretty soon, and I'm looking forward to part two.![]()
Thanks, @bakum4tsu. I hope I get the chance to see it one day.Now watch the GCI Gantz-O.