Appleseed Ex Machina (Single-Disc Edition) Reviews

• Worth the watch.

  
  By A16T3JEEDK4JLI on 2008-03-04
  The visuals are nothing short of stunning, especially in HD. It's worth the download just to check out how beautifully the cg animation is rendered. The action scenes are tight, with Matrix-esque slow motion shots, crazy camera angles and an emphasis on heavy gun play, indicative of producer John Woo's style. One drawback on the cg animation though is that when characters interact with each other physically it seems awkward. They don't feel like they are touching. I imagine that when you make something with animation like that you'd run into clipping issues when the characters intereact heavily. In fact, it reminded me of cut scenes from Eternal Sonata, a video game using similar animation techniques but on a bigger scale obviously.
  
  The story is an upgrade from the first movie, although the main antagonist borrows heavily from classic Star Trek villain, the Borg. There's even a Borg like cube of sorts that serves as it's foundation. The subplot consists of a triangle between Deunan, Briareos (the main protagonists from the first movie) and Tereus, a biroid created mostly from Briareos's DNA who becomes Deunan's new partner after her lover falls in battle.
  
  If I were to make a criticism I'd say that the main antagonist was revealed a tad too late, making the final resolution a little anti-climactic. At a runtime of about an hour and 40 minutes I felt like another 20 minutes would have been justified. When it was over, I couldn't quite believe it at first. Also, and this may be a good thing, events from the first movie go almost completely without mention. This means that you won't have to have seen the first one to appreciate this, but at the same time there is a lack of continuity for those that did.
  
  All in all though, it's a good film and worth a watch.
  
  

• Inferior to its predecessor in every way.

  
  By AM4UVNWCW9NJE on 2008-03-15
  The producers of EX MACHINA have robbed Appleseed of its uniqueness and given us something that resembles a video game cut-scene. The shiny cell shading that made the previous film so visually appealing is completely gone. Everything looks like it's made of rubbery plastic and the people look and move like dolls. Deunan's cute anime look has been removed. Her eyes are much smaller and her lips are too thin. The corners of her mouth are turned down much of the time, giving her an odd pouty look. Briareos now has green "eyes" instead of red. The streets are no longer paved with reflective material and the vehicles, for the most part, move on tires rather than hovering. The city of Olympus has only one mirrored dome rather than two. Furthermore, the music is nothing special. There are no Boom Boom Satellites or Paul Oakenfold tunes to accentuate the action. The English voices are all different and the dialogue is peppered with profanity. Yet, much of the commentary track is devoted to telling viewers how "rushed" the 2004 version was and how much better this version is. And the features on the bonus disc are devoted to telling us how great anime is, despite the fact that this sequel has been stripped of all its anime-ness. Sorry guys, EX MACHINA is okay, but the first movie was not broke and therefore should not have been fixed. Simply put, if you loved Appleseed 2004, you will most likely be disappointed with this effort.
  
  

• Better Than The First? Yes and No

  
  By A3OND36Q71G76D on 2008-04-09
  The first Appleseed film (from 2004) was quite a treat. The cell-shaded CG graphics looked very good for the time. Complementing this obvious standout aspect was an intriguing story and an excellent soundtrack. It's worth noting that the story, in particular, felt like a genuinely original re-animation of sci-fi concepts.
  
  Fast forward to today and we have the sequel, Ex Machina. It's pretty simple to separate what works and doesn't in Machina:
  
  GRAPHICS:
  The level of detail in the graphics has improved dramatically, and characters look less like geometric objects with textures painted on and more like genuine people. The cityscapes are even more impressive. Furthermore, the action is more frequent and looks even slicker.
  
  My two gripes with the visuals are these: First, in what is all too common in action movies like this, the best scene is the first one. Hands down. I don't understand why so many directors feel the need to frontload their movies. I will say that the movie is less guilty of this than its predecessor. Second, movement outside of action scenes still looks a bit jerky. Some might fault mo-cap technology, but for my money, Final Fantasy: Advent Children boasted some mighty believable movement.
  
  STORY/WRITING:
  Here's where Ex Machina falls apart. The story here isn't anything you haven't seen executed better in anime/other entertainment. Compared to the plot of the first movie- which created a unique sci-fi framework, this one felt like a filler episode. The villain was cliche, the story far less complex/meaningful than the first, and any intrigue or mystery the story might yet have held was ruined by the horrible writing. The film tasks itself with letting the viewer in on a number of concepts necessary to the plot, but rather than integrate them seamlessly into the dialog, it bashes the viewer over the head with them.
  
  MUSIC:
  The soundtrack wasn't bad- I just didn't notice it most of the time. This constitutes a slight letdown considering how often I return to the soundtrack from the first movie.
  
  OVERALL: Ex Machina is a sight to behold and warrants a blu-ray purchase. Just don't expect it to expand much on the ideas introduced in the first Appleseed.
  
  

• You're my partner, no matter what happens

  
  By A1D2C0WDCSHUWZ on 2008-03-11
  One of the more underdeveloped storylines from "Appleseed" was the relationship between Deunan Knute and her cyborg love, Briareos.
  
  Well, "Appleseed Ex Machina" more than makes up for that. In fact, this CGI action flick boasts upgrades in every area -- a tighter plot, more complex conspiracies, and more lifelike animation. It's a stunning experience with loads of fiery, spinning action scenes, albeit with a slightly improbable villain.
  
  Olympus has a new threat -- brainwashed cyborgs that are kidnapping officials, and disrupting planetary peace. During a rescue mission, Briareos is injured and hospitalized for awhile -- and Deunan introduced to her new partner Tereus -- a warrior bioroid cloned from Briareos' DNA. She's furious, Briareos is depressed, and all three are confused by Tereus' similarities to Briareos.
  
  But when President Athena calls an international conference, E-SWAT only narrowly stops an attack force -- of cyborgs and ordinary humans who have somehow been possessed by a mechanical goo. Their message: "I am Halcon... all will be one." And worst of all, Briareos is somehow being affected by the baddies, so he decides to do some investigating on his own. Now Deunan, Briareos and Tereus must join forces despite their tension, and stop a malevolent conspiracy that threatens the entire world....
  
  While the first "Appleseed" movie had a rather simple plot, "Appleseed Ex Machina" tends toward complexity. Everything is bigger -- the conspiracies, the mad scientist stuff, the potential warfare, and even the love story. And despite its fuller plot, the sequel actually manages to cram in some quiet moments between robot battles and personal scuffles.
  
  Director Shinji Aramaki does a pretty good job with a pretty good plot -- he unrolls it gradually, filling it with tension and horror at all the right moments. It kicks off strongly with an explosive, fire-and-darkness battle in an abandoned cathedral, and doesn't slow much down. Lots of explosive battles and zombiesque attacks, but not so many that it overwhelms the storyline.
  
  Along the way, Aramaki drops in some very "human" scenes, such as a funeral and Hitomi's glammy birthday party. In fact, there are even some funny, cute moments such as Briareos and Deunan tussling over some monitoring wires in the hospital. These moments keep them acting like people.
  
  What's the problem? Well, while Aramaki succeeds in surprising us with the main villain, it's revealed rather late in the movie, and there's never much of a motive.
  
  But the CG animation is stunning. There's everything from mid-air shootouts to serpentine silver tentacles. Even the settlings are striking, with their Greco-futuristic marble, columns and sci-fi gadgets. And there's a breathtaking level of detail -- reflections, light, raindrops on Briareos' metal face, and tiny facial chances. Some character still have "doll face," but not as much.
  
  But this movie gets its heart from the love triangle, which is thankfully handled in a mature manner. Deunan and Briareos' loving, intense relationship gets plenty of cute moments, despite the confusion that Tereus causes them. And Tereus is a well-drawn rival, with a lot of Briareos' rough kindness, but also the insecurities of being a "copy."
  
  And Aramaki particularly concentrates on Briareos' fears that Deunan will prefer a flesh-and-blood lover, and that he is gradually losing his sanity. There's an undercurrent of raw pain when he screams at Tereus, "why do you have everything I've lost?"
  
  "Appleseed Ex Machina" is a worthy sequel that actually tops the preceding film -- a stunning CGI shell around a solid sci-fi/love story. Definitely worth checking out.
  
  

• Looks like another Steelbook for the 2-disc edition!

  
  By A29R3O02O0PON4 on 2008-01-12
  So I'm looking at my "Open and Recently Shipped Orders" and I wonder why the price on this item is still so high. So I come here and see the new pic for it. Looks like another Steelbook, just like the one from the first movie's 2-disc edition. Which is good because it'll fit next to the original quite nicely.
  
  
• Unwatchable
  By A1BDJK501QH72G on 2008-03-11
  Much like the last installment, this movie has a couple big action sequences that may excite the small child within you followed by an hour and a half's worth of pandering, formulaic writing you'd have to actually be a small child to sit through without rolling your eyes. It's like they took the first Patlabor, added a couple of subplots from Star Trek, tacked on some insipid romance dreck and then threw in a re-creation of JFK's funeral just in case they'd still failed to evoke any semblance of emotion. This fails on more levels than I could even hope to count, and the already weak story's progressive disintegration into "techno-zombies are very slowly attacking the city!" is just painful to watch.
  
  Shirow clearly had little to no involvement in either of these films, which is a shame because the original story (as he wrote it) was actually fairly interesting. All this is is a committee designed licensing agreement and you can pretty much shut it off after the first 8 minutes without fear of missing out on anything important. The packaging is nice at least.
  
  
• Disappointing - save your money
  By A31BA7R2C0FMEK on 2008-03-14
  Truly disappointing in so many ways it's hard to know where to start.
  Dialogue - The worst aspect of this movie is the unbelievably horrible dialogue; so bad it will make you cringe.
  Story - As others have noted, you get the feeling there were multiple writers for the story and they kept getting fired and only using half of the previous writers work; a few almost interesting points are brought up in the movie and then abandoned before they can be explored. It should also be noted that the movie steals (without adding or improving) quite a lot from other movies, the matrix, the borg cube, etc.
  Animation - While it's admittedly a nice clean HD transfer, the actual CG animation used looks like it's from one of the straight-to-video Barbie movies; half the time the characters move in a very unnatural, stilted way.
  
  My recommendation: instead of purchasing this, just watch the previous Appleseed movie again, it wasn't that great either, but much better than this.
  
  
• Correction
  By A2VC15CHZ321JF on 2008-03-01
  correction to Mr. (The Bandit King) this is the blu-ray format and not the HD-DVD, so have fun everyone this one is a great movie.
  
  
• Looks pretty but this is not the same Appleseed
  By AGQH4ZNVHJMVR on 2008-03-12
  This looks very good. The visuals are amazing on an HDTV. I am about 30 mins into the movie and I have to say that the story, acting and animation is horrible.
  
  First the actors from the first do not lend their voices to this one.
  Some of the characters seem to be different than from the first movie. The acting is pretty stiff and cliche (the tough cyborg guy is annoying).
  Some of the fights are just stupid for stupids sake. I mean does Duenan and Briarious need to spin and do cartwheels while shooting? It doesn't even look cool, just stupid.
  
  Why did they go with CGI models 100% this time? Did the old animated cells not work anymore? It sure looked a LOT better.
  
  The events from the first movie don't even seem to play a part at all which is a shame.
  
  I loved the first movie but I wouldn't consider this deserving of the same name. I will be selling this shortly as I regret buying it.
  
  2 stars just because if you mute it, it looks very sharp.
  
  
• This movie will define HI-DEF Animation
  By A35WUII8F8DBE8 on 2008-03-12
  Ok, first of all, if you're not an anime-fan, you'd feel a bit lost on what's the big deal with this.
  If you don't know Shirow Masamune, then you'd definitely feel lost.
  
  If you know John Woo and had followed his work...then this will catch your attention. thumbsup.gif
  Imagine, Mission Impossible 2, Face Off, Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow 1,2,3, The Killer, Once a Thief and Hard Target in animation.
  
  If you like The Matrix cyberpunk story, this is for you, except its not dark to hide its flaws. This movie actually celebrates details. And details are abound in here. Even if its a close up in the eyes, the mouth, the lips, the jawlines.
  
  If your a gamer that starves into details; who spends $500 on a videocard so you can see the textures of those leaves in Crysis, then this movie is definitely for you. This movie does not cut any corners in textures and details. If a character is wearing a leather jacket, you'll see leather. The CGs in this movie is tremendous. I've seen it twice in a 24hr-span I'm still seeing things I've never noticed in the beginning. The motion capture technology is simply amazing.
  
  Ok, but does it have a story?
  
  Does Jason and the Argonauts have an interesting story?
  Is it really ground breaking? When Gene Roddenberry introduce the communicator, he brought in the cellphone.
  Shirow Masamune introduced a theory in sci-fi, brings a story into this, but continues by illustrates it also.
  It tackles a love story, technology available now and the future, politics, ethics, ideology, and the dilemma that each brings into the story. If you look closely at the armor protections, paddings and vest, you'll see them in current Blackhawk vest, and those riot gears worn by cops worldwide. Even the the FN PN-90 resembles one of the Seburo PDW
  
  With all talks about eye-candy, then maybe perhaps this is a guy movie. The hero in this movie is a woman.
  The people in power are women. The women here are powerful in the sense of strength, character, and conviction.
  This Matrix with Trinity as the center of the movie.
  
  Is this a date movie? Was Open Water a date movie? I thought so, since it deals with emotions on both the joy that a relationship brings and the love of separation, of acceptance. Bioroids/synthetic body parts/cyborgs may seem cold, but the emotions in each character are delivered. Despite one of the major character, Briareos Hecatonchires faceless facade, his body language are enough to say or deliver his lines.
  There are topics that discusses the nature of being a human vs a clone. Would you continue to have feeling towards someone who is a clone? Would you let someone go to save your own?
  I bet the ladies will notice the style and textures differently from guys.
  The guys in these forum will love the shooting gallery scene
  
  
  Shirow Masamune's mind something to be admired and ponder. Here he writes a story about the future, yet he discuss are slavery towards technology like the Bluetooth earpiece. I know ppl who seems to sleep, shower, and have sex with a Bluetooth earpiece. Politically, he shares the idea a utopia where everything flows like clockwork and smoothly, yet vulnerable to terrorism, as we are now. He brings the technology in medicine that allows us to continue life and existence, yet prone to the devices that makes the delicate-geniuses-in lab coats criminally insane.
  
  If there is a movie that deserves to be in HI-DEF, this is that movie.
  
  
• The Future of HD Anime
  By A235A731TRUPIC on 2008-03-13
  What a cool flick, much better than Appleseed 2004. Great actions sequences it has John Woo written all over it. It even has some scenes from the Matrix trilogy. See it in HD my friends, beautiful vivid picture.
  
  
• 3 ½ - Stars: Pure Popcorn Entertainment, NOTa Slice of Complex Japanese Anime...
  By A2UUP58XPQW3GF on 2008-03-23
  Appleseed Ex Machina is a sequel to 2004's Appleseed; produced by John Woo and directed by Shinji Aramaki, the duo comes with an entertaining futuristic thriller adapted from the manga by Shirow Masamune (Ghost in the Shell). The revolutionary CGI animation is astonishing, combined with awesome action sequences reminiscent of John Woo movies, Appleseed Ex Machina looks very promising. Thankfully, you do not need to see the 2004 film to appreciate and comprehend this new film's premise. The plot itself lacks depth, it is so predictable that everything is laid out for the viewer; this animated feature is more about CGI and action than anything else. It definitely feels to be geared to international audiences than to Shirow's native land.
  
  The year is 2133, civilization is recovering from the global war that almost devastated the world. Utopian cities are on the rise, technological advancements are dominating the world and humans have a fresh new attitude to match their new surroundings. Cyborgs are very common, machine parts are used to replace severed limbs and body parts. Bioroids are being cloned from humans to use as soldiers that lack human emotion and violent tendencies that often get humanity in trouble. Quoted as " incapable of hate and anger, will only fight and kill when absolutely necessary..." or are they? The passive bioroids are intended to keep order so that the world can maintain the peace without the hostile influences of hatred and rage.
  Special forces specialist Deunan and Briareos are partners from the days that Briareos was human. Briareos is a special case, since he is the only human being who managed to survive being 100% cyborg without going insane. When Briareos was injured (or damaged), he becomes replaced by Tereus, a bioroid cloned from his human DNA.
  When an unknown enemy plans a stealth attack by reducing common folk into technological zombies who turn the city into a war zone, the trio must settle their differences to quell this threat.
  
  Appleseed isn't as bad as I first thought it would be. Renowned action scribe John Woo definitely showed his hand with most (not all) of the action sequences. The action is visually stylish and definitely looks cool. Woo's usual gimmicks are omnipresent in the proceedings; bike stunts, stylish bullet ballet and helter skelter action sequences are what's in store for the viewer. "Ex machina" also has the same mecha action in its previous installment. The film definitely feels like it is geared towards an specific audience and therefore lost some of the atmosphere and depth that contemporary sci-fi anime has been known for. "Ex Machina" is about the action, it is a straightforward film with one-dimensional antagonists with motivations completely predictable and something that has been done through the years.
  
  The emotional aspect of Deunan and Briareos' relationship is quite interesting and serves as the film's main premise. Despite the fact that Deunan has kept her humanity and Briareos has lost 85% of his body, their commitment and love for each other remains strong. However, their relationship is thrown into a loop when Tereus gets into the mix, since he is a clone from Briareos human DNA. Yes, there is a bit of a sappy love triangle here that has the same elements that we've all seen before.
  
  The animation is quite good. The film sidesteps the usual anime style and effectively combines modern and contemporary anime. The backdrops are astounding and definitely catches the architecture of the future. The characters look almost photorealistic without the usual "over expressive, super fair complexioned characters. Deunan is rendered to look like a lethal but sexy woman, with the designer, Prada taking a hand in one of her outfits. The graphics are definitely an improvement over the 2004 film, but still falls short to the quality of "Final Fantasy Advent Children" and "Biohazard:Degeneration".
  
  Appleseed Ex Machina is overall a success I suppose. Fans of the 2004 film will definitely appreciate this sequel and newer fans will be impressed. I'm not saying that this film should be your first experience with anime, there are definitely more worthy titles than this film. This film is more about entertainment and not the usual philosophical and existential fare that contemporary Japanese Anime has been famous for. It fell into the usual plot holes and predictability that is so reminiscent of animated films geared for a younger audience. It is a popcorn movie more than anything else. APPLESEED Ex MACHINA is good but NOT essential.
  Recommended timidly, rent it first. [3 ½ - Stars]
  I considered the fact that the entertainment value is extremely high for this film, and rated it slightly lower than "Vexille". "Vexille"Vexille - Movie had more of an intricate plot while "Ex Machina" is slightly better in animation.
  
  
  
  
  
• Mrr?
  By A126CXFBOAZ9O5 on 2008-03-10
  alright...so ive been lookin around the web and find a lot of people who have a large number of complaints about the original appleseed from 2004. IMO, the first was AMAZING. The voiceovers, in english and japanese were if you ask me very well done. the animation was unique and cell shading felt like the perfect type for the movie. The new appleseed...Ex Machina, just didnt have the same feel. The voiceovers are by new people for both Deunan and Briarious, and honestly, if you liked the originals, i dont see why you would like these. i began watching parts of the movie and just didnt feel satisfied with it so i skipped ahead to just see the end and understood everything that had been going on through the rest. No filler felt needed and everything just seemed so...rushed? My other big complaint, in the first appleseed there is a short clip (dream from Deunan's perspective) which shows a bit of Briarious and if you ask me, in this movie, his 'clone' looked far from the same.
  
  This is all just my opinion. I loved the first one and would reccomend either a rent or download this. Not worth the 20 dollars and space it takes to keep.
  
  
• A good follow to the original
  By A2P2FDMZV2K7CW on 2008-03-11
  Back in 2004, Appleseed came stateside, after being in Japan for years. For it's time, it had great special effects alongside some of the best CGI seen. Now its 2008, and Appleseed Ex Machina is here. I must say, CGI just keeps getting better, and this is a shining example of that. Animations, facial expressions and the lip-movement when the characters are talking help bring this anime life. Since John Woo helped produce the sequel, expect to see some of his trademarks, like the doves and slow motion sequences. But they all fit into the movie perfectly. For being a sequel, I am surprised how this turned out. However, if I have to pick out one gripe, that would be the dialog. Some of the lines can get on the cheesy side. Other than that, be sure to give this a look if you've seen the original. Otherwise, if you are the least bit interested in GCI/Anime, still give this one a chance.
  
  
• really pulls you into the world
  By A2P7AJ0GJF5YM4 on 2008-03-17
  usually when u watch a movie, u just kinda sit there and absorb it all in without moving around at all. i don't know about anyone else, but i could hardly sit still watching this. there is SO much to see and experience, i doubt anyone could take it all in one time through. the world is just absolutely stunning, and that is putting it lightly. the story is right along the lines of previous appleseed installments, it makes ya think, makes ya excited, makes ya sad, takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. the voice-actors did a superb job. not a dull moment in this one. highly highly recommend it!
  
  
• Definitely worth your time...
  By A2A8IY4GTR7GWQ on 2008-03-21
  With so few anime movies made these days (and much less their CGI sisters), Appleseed: Ex Machina is a fresh addition to the sci-fi/ fantasy genre. But is it worth your time, effort and money? I will leave that decision to you. But I shall present to you my opinion.
  
  The one thing I loved the most about Ex Machina was the voice acting (eventhough the timing was a bit off at times). It has been done perfectly, right on top with the likes of FullMetal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell. Luci Christian (although I am not too fond of her) does a wonderful job as Deunan, BTW you may remember her a Kaname Chidori from Full Metal Panic.
  
  A new character, Tereus bring a fresh look to the cast. You can view him as the human part of Briareos. I, sometimes, felt that director Shinji Aramaki could have dwelled more into Deunan's and Briareos's romance (same thing with the first movie). Battle scenes are awesome, as expected from John Woo. Character models look like plastic barbies sometimes, but other times, they will blow your brains out.
  
  Although, people will view this sequel as just a fan service to the original movie, I believe it is definitely worthy of being added to your anime collection. I cannot say anything about its DVD counterpart, but Appleseed: EX Machina (Blu-ray) on a 46" Bravia played on a PS3 with 5.1 surround sound at 1080p will make you wonder if there is anything else better in life.
  
  
• Skim Milk from the Cash Cow
  By A2A5J21CI40RKT on 2008-05-03
  This would've made an *excellent* shooter/RPG. The CGI is almost identical to what you see in good video games these days, and the music is on about that level. The settings would've made for great game battles. As a movie... well, let me give you the good and the bad:
  
  The Good:
  *Getting to see Deunan and Briareos fight as a team. On their own, they're incredible. Working together, they're devastating. These two could take out half an army on their own.
  
  * The fight scenes in general are slick and polished, at times reminiscent of "Equilibrium" and "The Matrix".
  
  *The settings: We're shown a bit more of Olympus, and it's high-tech, without being overwhelming. Battle sites are appropriately menacing and--what I especially liked--flying debris/shrapnel posed an actual threat to the characters fighting, a degree of realism most anime, CGI, or even live action movies gloss over except when the plot calls for it.
  
  *THe comraderie between the ESWAT members. You really got the feeling they were a team *and* a dedicated branch of law enforcement.
  
  *Glimpses of the world outside of Olympus. Where the first movie gave us just a glimpse of the Badlands, here we had references to and characters from Poseidon.
  
  *Bioroids acting like...well, Bioroids, as opposed to escapees from 'The Stepford Wives'.
  
  The Bad
  
  *The changes in voice actors. I'm with pretty much everyone else on this. This movie would've been better if they'd kept as much of the old English-speaking cast. There are many familiar (to anime fans) voices in this movie, but they don't mesh well with memories of previous movies. I especially missed Jamieson Price as Briareos.
  
  *Changes in character design: Athena and Nike are recognizeable only by their hair color and name. Even Deunan's eye color looked different. Many of the characters looked more like rubbery 'posable dolls', or wax figures. (Especially that close-up of Deunan at the party. She reminded me of a Barbie doll.)
  
  *The music. I can't say much about it, as none of it made any kind of impact on me. It was background noise, nothing more. It didn't even help set the mood (aside from one awful attempt at choral music at a critical moment that failed badly).
  
  *Failure to develop current plots, much less include anything from before.
  The introduction of Tereus looked promising, but they did almost nothing with him. He looked like and often acted like Briareos, but there was no development beyond a single uncomfortable moment between himself and Deunan in a resturant. Briareos's later outburst seemed to come out of nowhere, as there'd been no interaction between Deunan and Tereus to warrant it. (That he'd witnessed, anyway.) Tereus is supposed to have 'taken a shine' to Deunan, but it wasn't portrayed very well at all. I saw very little that couldn't be called concerned professionalism.
  
  Tereus himself was lackluster, his sole contribution to the story was that he looked like the original Briareos. They could have used this opportunity to explore the ethics of the proposed addition to Bioroids to ESWAT, and what problems their emotional inhibitions might bring. There could have been an opportunity for debate over the ethics of using genetic material from still-living people to create Bioroids. (And what happened to 'all Bioroids have some of Karl's DNA in them'?)
  
  Even more disappointing, the key element from the second movie, the result of the Appleseed data, is non-existant. They're still growing Bioroids in vats. While the changes in the appearance of Olympus could have easily been explained away by the fighting in the previous movie, it then makes no sense to ignore that key plot point.
  
  Instead, we got a weak political plot, an enemy whose motivations made little sense, and a see-through conspiracy.
  
  Overall, I can't call this a bad movie, but it's a better rental than a permanent addition to your collection, unless you are a die-hard Appleseed fan.
  
  
• Appleseed Fans Beware!
  By A1ONM4ZFDW36A2 on 2008-03-14
  I hate this DVD. Ok why do I hate it?
  
  The story is all over the place, it seems like several people worked on the story and threw a final version together. Also the story does not follow any of Mr. Shirow's original books, which is a shame since his original story is such an Excellent original mix of CyberPunk and Greek mythology. I wonder if the movie writers read the original stories at all!
  
  The Animation quality is not up to the standard of the first movie. The characters are not rendered is the same beautiful style of the first DVD. It is close, but it is different.
  
  One Star. There are alot of cool Mech models in this the 2nd Appleseed DVD movie. And the city models and sets are also quite awesome.
  
  If you are expecting a SHIROW Appleseed movie, forget it, it's not here.
  
  Very disappointed!
  
  
• Best Comedy of the year!
  By A1TNUAOV5VWD41 on 2008-03-17
  This is the best unintentional comedy of the year! I spent so much time rolling my eyes that it hurt. The movie has poor writing and bad dialog, not to mention horridly awful attempts at character development. Do not make a drinking game out of this someone will die of alcohol poisoning in less than 20 minutes. I started chuckling when I saw the talking killer but I had a hard time breathing when the Borg Cube showed up along with matrix drones. Not to mention the "go on without me" and "we're not leaving you behind" speeches as well as the collapsing fortress. This movie is so bad it is a laugh riot! The movie is pretty though. If the characters had SOME charisma or the action scenes had some emotional anchor it might have elevated this movie to being a bad flick. It does have one thing over the bad action movies of the 80's ... It is quite pretty to look at. I am glad I bought this it was the funniest thing I have seen all year! I can't wait to show it to my friends. This thing takes bad writing to a whole new level.
  
  
• Is Terrible the right word?
  By A21EIS7V38599H on 2008-04-07
  I don't understand what they were trying to accomplish with this. The character interactions are like something a first time writer made. Their so abysmal and disinteresting. The reactions to situations in the movie are like a bunch of teenagers. The entire character development (or lack there of) was even more disappointing then the first. The first had at least a little bit of redeeming qualities even though the dialogue was fairly weak. This movie just made me wanna change the channel if it was on tv. If you're oohed and aahed by anything flashy and shiny, you might get something from this movie. Even then I doubt it as the action sequences aren't close to the 2004 Appleseed. The fact that the voices changed was even more disappointing. Every single character was done by a different voice actor. I mean come on. To some people the voices are just voices, but to me and many others the characters' established voices were kind of like their identity. Sometimes I got lost in who was actually talking if the voice was from off screen.
  
  Basically take Applessed 2004 and smash it to death with a baseball bat and you get Ex Machina. A bastardized version of the 2004 make. I don't know if they just got too far in the film to turn and go, "It sucks lets start over." But I really wish they would have just done that. Overall a movie that leaves a gross taste in my mouth. I'll be honest and say that I couldn't watch it all the way through. I couldn't really see the ridiculous characters doing, saying, being anything redeemable. If you wanna see it, find a friend who has it and laugh at him for buying it after you watch it.
  
  
• The best of the remakes
  By A1CLAYGJRU176Q on 2008-04-15
  Wow, I have got to come down hard on the side that believes this is better than the (2004?) remake.
  
  My history with this series goes back to the late 80's when the Manga came over to the USA, and then the original OVA joined from Japan. These two remakes/reimagings are quite different from the original but carry the spirit and philosophical ponderings of Masamune Shirow with them as well.
  
  My thoughts: Appleseed (remake), the predecessor to Ex Machina had some stunning visuals however the combination of 2D and 3D art did not mesh for me. I had to get used to the downplay of philosophical/racial/political questioning which took a back seat to the action. The overall "scope" of the story seemed to have been collapsed.
  
  Ex Machina (The DVD here) brought back the original's heady themes, uses a cohesive art style, and has the best characterizations of the three main characters (one of which is new). We don't quite get enough of a view into their lives, but their relationships with each other are nicely developed. This will hopefully lead to a nice continuation in the third movie.
  
  For those who like to have something to think about, the politics are amped up in this installment and feel quite contemporary with current security states and the modern shifting boundaries between freedom in society and security.
  
  For those who like action, there is plenty as well, including (fashionably?) zombie-likes, John Woo influenced choreography and Matrix-inspired scenes.
  
  I highly recommend this DVD, and that means something coming from this jaded Anime and Manga fan. I can't wait for the next installment.
  
  A side note: there is lots of shooting, but virtually no blood or gore and the language steers clear from offensiveness and foul words in the English dub. Even the dub is one of the better-quality dubs I've come across though I always recommend rewatching with the original Japanese language track and English subtitles.
  
  5 stars from me, and hopefully not exaggerated due to my disappointment of the previous remake. I feel this is a worthy successor to the original story from the late 80's.
  
  
• great movie, nice CG
  By A2IKL5RRVV2MMP on 2008-05-02
  I thought I'd just grab a nice video game looking movie. While the prices are accessible (bye bye! HDDVD) not much of a big fan over anime, but must say that I am pleased with this movie.
  
  
• Great sci-fi fantasy
  By A319SKSB556033 on 2008-08-09
  I enjoyed the 80's version of Appleseed when I was a teenager and when I learned of the Appleseed (Widescreen) (2004) reboot I immediately went out and got myself a copy of the DVD. It was pretty damn good and figured that it was a one-off. But now we have this sequel which proves that there is actually loads of potential and imagination in the Appleseed universe and certainly enough to warrant further sequels.
  
  Denaun Knute and her mostly robotic, rabbit-eared boyfriend Briareos are still working for ESWAT in the Utopian future city of Olympus when a new personal device, a sort cross between a cell phone and a holographic visor, goes haywire and turns the population into a bunch of techno-zombies. Briareos suffers seizures of his own too and a duplicate of his old human form has been recruited to work with them and save the city from this mysterious evil.
  
  Yes, it's nonsense. But entertaining nonsense and a weird cross between Robocop [Blu-ray], Star Trek: First Contact [Blu-ray] and The Ultimate Matrix Collection [Blu-ray]. But the animation is gorgeous and the story and action absurd enough to keep your attention.
  
  Come on, John Woo, give us another 'un.
  
  The Blu Ray features a very nice 1.85:1 1080p transfer with Dolby Digital Plus sound and a decent amount of extras. I recommend.
  
  
• John Woo Needs To Be Stopped
  By A1VDRK69F22YMN on 2008-08-20
  I've never been a huge fan of John Woo. I think Hard Boiled (1992) is one of the greatest action films ever made, and I liked The Killer (1989), A Better Tomorrow (1986), and Bullet In the Head (1990), but we need to be honest with ourselves and recognize that this guy sold his soul to Hollywood in the mid-1990s and hasn't made a great film since 1992.
  
  He has, however, completely destroyed a sequel to one of the best American movies of recent memory (Mission Impossible) by over-Hollywoodizing a uniquely non-Hollywood film made by Hollywood. That's quite an ironic feat that he should be particularly ashamed of. Now we have Appleseed: Ex Machina (2007) to add to the list of Woo-ish debacles over the past 16 years.
  
  This sequel to the exceptional anime drops the ball in a number of respects, yet still proves to be a marginally entertaining movie. The most obvious fault is that numerous events are near copies of science fiction movies from the West, thus making this endeavor much too conventional for a Japanese anime. In addition, the storyline wasn't as well-conceived as the original. Luckily, this movie has just enough positives to earn a watch. The protagonists are very likable characters, the plot is engaging, and the visuals are very good. The action scenes don't reach the levels of exoticism or quality of the original, but they are still moderately entertaining. In the end this is a very flawed picture that will only satisfy anime action junkies that can look around some mediocre elements.
  
  Now, there were some very specific Woo-ish aspects that really annoyed me. First and foremost are the doves. Yes, there are heaping amounts of flying doves in this Japanese anime film! Why the hell is John Woo so obsessed with doves? Yeah, they provide some ironic symbolism during action scenes, but using them to the degree that he does I have no doubts that he touches himself to pictures of doves when he's alone at night. And the fact that he uses these little birdies in almost every one of his movies proves to be almost as annoying as Rob Zombie's habitual use of white trash folk in his movies. Yes, it's that annoying.
  
  But wait. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions regarding just how much influence Woo had in this watchable (yet severely disappointing) sequel. So I fired up the Special Features option on the DVD menu and watched the 16-minute "Making Of" featurette that focuses specifically on John Woo's influence as a producer. It provided some much needed information regarding just how far this has-been shell of a director has fallen. Let me run down some of the statements made by the Japanese director and producers of this film:
  
  "This is the first time a big time Hollywood director has tried to tackle Japanese Anime."
  
  So Woo isn't even recognized as a director of Chinese cinema anymore. How quaint. No one in this "Making Of" feature even mentioned his Chinese filmography.
  
  "Japanese producers wanted to expand into the Western market and saw that working with John Woo would be a good match."
  
  Nice. If your name is dropped by someone as the foremost expert in Hollywoodization, would you really take that as a compliment? Man, this guy has really hit rock bottom.
  
  "John brought his years of experience in Hollywood to it."
  
  Well, he certainly brought all of the negatives of Hollywood cinema to this production. That was obvious from watching the movie. How many times do you see a Japanese Anime film copy scenes from I Robot and The Matrix Revolutions? Yes, it's really, really pathetic.
  
  The most enlightening statement was with regards to the preliminary Japanese storyboards.
  
  "John took a look at it and came up with some really great notes."
  
  What was particularly hilarious about this statement is that on-screen you see John Woo's head shaking in a disapproving, almost disgusted manner while watching the initial storyboards. It's almost like he's saying to himself, "This is way too Japanese for an American audience. We need more slow-mo shots and conventional elements to reach a wider audience and make more money." Nice job Johnny boy.
  
  Director Shinji Aramaki apparently conceived Ex Machina to be nothing more than a tribute to Woo's work. He says:
  
  "We devised the Cathedral scene before John showed up to pay homage to his work."
  
  It's really too bad that Aramaki was so accommodating to implementing all of Woo's ideas into the film. It effectively crippled a movie that should have been as good as the original.
  
  I hate to say it, but John Woo is a no-talent has-been who has only harmed the international film industry since making Hard Boiled in 1992. I have no problems with him making tripe in America. Heck, that's what American cinema is for. But don't you DARE to take your new-found money-grubbing mediocrity to Japanese anime - one of the most unconventional genres of cinema in the world today.
  
  Someone needs to stop this guy before he attempts to wreck another Asian movie.
  
  
• Not the most palpable anime out there
  By AHK9OF0TIX9QG on 2008-03-13
  Appleseed E.M. -
  This movie's cell-shaded style provides tons of eye candy for Appleseed fans. The CGI effects are excellent except when it comes to the animation of body movement and character interaction in non-action scenes. I'm not sure if it's the affects of the CGI cell-shading or if it's by design (cuz it seems rather glaring to me), but the characters seem to move like plastic dolls. There are scenes in which human flesh is depicted to come in contact with metallic cyborgs (such as the scenes between Deunan and Briareros), but because of the clunky animation of the bodies and the seemingly unresponsive physical contact between characters, I miss out on the emotional conflict of what it must be like to be in love with a machine. The action gun-fight sequences are outrageous, but that is to be expected with John Woo at the helm of production. Personally, I don't mind the over-the-top flipping, looping, twisting, whirling gun fights. Those scenes are fun to watch, for me. Buildings, scenery, character models, and vehicle CGI are top-notch. Overall, most people would be the animation style of Appleseed E.M.
  
  Now what I don't like,(perhaps this is due to the nature of Animes in general) is how little things just don't make any sense. For instance, in the first action scene, Deunan (the main female protagonist) launches a flash bomb into small group of terrorist before the order to attack was given. I understand a part of that scene was to illustrate she's an independent and strong woman not privy to the command of others at times...but the flash bomb really didn't provide any additional advantage to the ESWAT attack. Did I miss something? Why did she throw that flash grenade and jeopardize the entire mission? Then, after the scene in which Briareros grabs Deunan and jumps out of the chapel window, one of the ESWAT member holds her back from running to his body. Why couldn't she run to his body? Perhaps I'm too nit-picky, but for anyone who is like me, this ruins a movie. I would have given the movie at least a 4 were it not for those bits of the storyline which left a bad taste for me.
  
  
  
  
• Better than the first? Depends on the viewer.
  By A2XGQ86W1JUPN9 on 2008-03-14
  I like the film because the graphics were a better improvement than the first not that the first was bad in the first place. The story was a little more creative that the original because the first part was a little more slower paced in the begining (Not including the intro)and picked up more in the middle. While this one picked up more quicker in the begining keeps you in the suspense till the end. The voice acting i felt was a better improvement than the original as well.
  
  Is this movie worth buying? Yes
  
  Will it be better than the original? Yes
  
  Go get it and watch it you won't regret it. And for those who hated the first and writes that the sequel sucked. My reply is why did you see it in the first place if you hated the first? Leave the reviews to the ones who like the first.
  
  
• GREAT VISUALS, EVERYTHING ELSE BORING!!!
  By AHCYPUUR0F6J7 on 2008-03-15
  When i first heard about this release i was very happy to find out that it was going to be released in blu-ray, and given the first Appleseed Movie(conventional animation) i expected this one to have the same intense gripping action scenes and storyline. How dissapointed i was when i watch the whole movie, it literally bored me to death with the weak plot and lackluster action sequences, if it weren`t for the beautiful visuals and stunning CGI effects of this movie(first by anime standards on blu-ray) i would have given this movie a 1 star. There was not enough action and drama to keep you excited, the story was shallow and simple and the voice acting was mediocre, even the climax of the movie was pretty lame. Overall this movie is a must have for hardcore fans only, if not you be better off renting it from Blockbuster or Netflix(if they have it) or just buying the dvd version which is alot cheaper than the blu-ray edition. I wish they should just have released FFVII: Advent Children on blu-ray instead of this, i would have been alot happier.
  
  
• I wouldn't buy this one... but it's a good rent
  By A33WI9T4Z3CYUL on 2008-03-16
  I am a devoted fan of REAL animation. CG just doesn't do it for me.... but I must say of all the CG animation features I have watched, I found this one the most enjoyable. Obviously a lot of work went into this production, even if it wasn't created through sweat and blood over the drawing table. It's like watching a very long cut scene from a video game.
  
  
• Gorgeous visuals in Search of a Story to Tell
  By A2P0Y85C896QIB on 2008-03-17
  This film looks great, but it's story is about as predictable and hackneyed as most 80's-era action movies. It's predictable, bland, and boring. None of the complexity of Shirow's manga is present in this cash-grab despite a multitude of opportunities to expand the philosophical edge of the story. Unfortunately, this is one to skip entirely.
  
  
  
• Appleseed's sequel improves problems of the first, is fun, makes 80s anime cool again.
  By A12CBKRJA7E815 on 2008-03-17
  Appleseed Ex Machina is one of those good old school 80s style sci-fi animes with a lot of action, a lot of robots, guns and ridiculously acrobatic girls. The first movie was an acceptable (see: pretty and light) but standard anime, relying heavily on its look to distinguish itself. The cg in Ex Machina is far superior, the animation has improved quite a bit, and the storytelling is much more streamlined. Exposition is definitely there, just like the first, but the pacing is way superior. Sure, its got a lot of nonsense science, but any fan of anime in general will find something here. It's got stuff to appeal to girls and boys and in blu-ray it looks freakin' amazing. A great purchase, and a visual contender with heavyweights Beowulf and Final Fantasy TSW in the cg category.
  
  
  Pros +
  + More Briarios
  + Improved English Voice Acting Dramatically
  + Better Pacing
  + Amazing Visual Quality and Sound
  
  Cons -
  - English dialogue sync has an iffy moment or two
  - The story is particularly ridiculous
  - The final sequence's location is very particularly ridiculous and reminds me of Xenosaga.
  - People with an affinity for realism and diplomacy may find this irreverent.
  
  
  

• I Am Legend [Blu-ray]
• Appleseed (Widescreen) (2004)
• Vexille - Movie
• Batman Gotham Knight [Blu-ray]
• Beowulf (Unrated Director's Cut)