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Whistle Stopper - Tekkon Kinkreet
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List Price: $19.94
Our Price: $12.73
Your Save: $ 7.21 ( 36% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Starring: Yoshinori Okada, Nao Omori, Min Tanaka, Sanchu Mori, Yusuke Iseya
Directed By: Michael Arias
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Sony
EAN: 0043396190689
Format: AC-3
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 99
Release Date: 2007-09-25
Running Time: 111
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing images, so-so plot
Comment: Even though I loved this director first American feature in the Animatrix I have to say I was rather dissapointed with the overall feeling of this movie. Great scenarios and control of the camera but sometimes the overall sluggish look of the characters got annoying. Also, even though this is an anime the movie was moving utterly slow.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Thin Storyline, Good Theme, Nice Artwork
Comment: Tekkon Kinkreet
This was based on the Manga Black and White. I have to say I was a little disappointed in this one. I enjoyed in, but it left a gaping whole where I wanted closure. The art style is unique to say the least. The action is brutal, yet subtle. The story is barely even a major factor. This movie is more based off the relationship between Black and White. It obviously is a symbolic representation of Yin and Yang; you must have both to function correctly.
Black and White are kids known as the Cats on the streets of Treasure Town. Treasure Town is an extremely undeveloped town, run mostly by the Yakuza. Black and White usually cause havoc while trying to protect their territory and there town. Black is a serious warrior. He develops well throughout the course of our story. At first he is fighting to protect White, but soon we see he has his own demons. White is a slow child. White doesn't do much except act weird. For some reason, he has "all the screws Black needs." You will find out what that means through the course of the movie.
A new boss takes his place at the top of the Yakuza. He demands that Treasure Town be reborn in his image. He wants amusement parks, casinos, and other moneymaking machines to flood Treasure Town. Obviously, this does not sit well with our ally dwellers, Black and White. Black causes chaos for the Yakuza, which causes them to sent giant super-human type men after them. White is almost killed by one of them and eventually taking away from Black. Black oddly enough, falls to his demons and allows for White to leave. I will leave the rest of the plot to your observational skills.
The plot may sound thick, but it isn't as deep as one might think. There is another whole side-story with a man named Rat, a Yakuza member, being caught up in the new plan for the city. He hates it, but knows he can do nothing about it. That story plays a less significant role though. The main picture is more of a man VS himself type plot. Black needs White to keep him in balance. Can Black defeat his demons and return to White? That is the basic concept of the entire movie. I like this idea, but a dense story in the background didn't help this movie out.
The art in this movie is great. Everything looks very detailed, except for the actual people. The people have a styles all of their own. They are less detailed, but have a certain appeal to them. This was probably one of my favorite art styles I have seen so far.
The extras on this one are a commentary track and a few other small things. There is nothing that I really felt was worth looking at. The film has a great theme, that you need to keep yourself balanced, but a thin story brings this one down for me. The Yakuza wasn't even really part of the main plot, so their existence felt almost meaningless to me.
Customer Rating:
Summary: From here you can see everything...
Comment: Based on a Japanese manga and created by a Japanese studio, yet written and directed by Americans, this movie still doesn't lack authenticity like I was worried that it might. The story it tells is fairly universal, focusing on the bond of brotherhood.
The 2 main characters, White and Black (friendS? brothers? the movie never really makes it clear) live in Treasure Town, a very vibrant city that's easily one of the most amazing things I've seen in animation. Yet this city, despite looking like a huge playground, is actually a bit of a wreck, where gangs fight for control and where crime is rampant. The first half of the story focuses on Black and White's bonds and their life as the Cats, the gang that owns the city. The second half features a new mob boss entering and attempting to gain control with his alien cohorts who seem nearly invincible.
The movie does lose a bit of interest as it beings to verge into the supernatural (those alien things really didn't fit in at all, I didn't think,) and the resolution, involving, like many anime's, a trip inside of the head of the main character, may leave mixed feelings on some viewers. The pacing's a little off as well...the first half may be too slow for some while the 2nd half doesn't ever really stop with the action and the chase scenes, which may wear some down. Still, we have a great anime here where the city's the star of the show. Somehow my favorite scene in the movie takes place during the second half of the credits, where you simply see shots of the city as a song from the Asian Kung-Fu Generation plays in the background. It's an amazing setting and even though it was only made for 5 million dollars, it looks, to me, much better than most hundred-million+ CG movies made today. It's not perfect (Despite the R-rating it seems to play it a bit safe at times...Black never seems to kill his rival gangsters even though the script and direction seems to act like he does,) but it's definitely a movie worth seeing. The first half hour in particular is just stunning.
Note; there IS an option for an English dub on the disc. The director (in interviews) has actually recommended the English dub, and while I don't agree with him, I will say that it's much better than the dubs you find in most anime. That said, though, a lot of the dialogue (especially White's) seems extremely corny when spoken aloud in English...and overall it does dampen the story a bit, so I'd recommend the Japanese language with subtitles. If you MUST hear it in English, at least you can be assured that the performances are good and it actually fits fairly well.
Customer Rating:
Summary: style trumps confused narrative
Comment: ***1/2
"Tekkon Kinkreet" is a sporadically engaging, though frequently confusing, anime gangster film from director Michael Arias. The story, based on the comic book by Taiyo Matsumoto, focuses on two homeless orphans, one named Black and the other White, who live on the streets of Treasure Town, a seething cauldron of criminality, vice and corruption. Black fancies himself a superhero crime-fighter, while White, who is given to extrasensory knowledge and visions, dreams of one day moving away from the city and getting a home of their own on the beach. Thanks to Black's insistence on taking on the bad guys, both youngsters get caught up in a turf war between the Yakuza and some robot-like killers who are duking it out for ownership of the city.
Fans of anime will find much to enjoy in this film, which is marked by beautifully detailed urban landscapes, exciting action and chase sequences, occasional lyrical flights into fantasy, and a sometimes touching tale about commitment and friendship centered on the two young boys. On the other hand, the plethora of characters and occasional narrative incoherence can make it difficult at times to understand what exactly is going on, particularly when the story takes a decidedly metaphysical turn (with imagery taken straight out of "Contact") in the final half hour. Still, the visuals alone make it worth a gander.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Extremely creative.
Comment: I was really surprised how good this anime was. I'm a casual fan of Anime, but liking it more and more.
This story is kind of hard to explain. It's basically of two young boys living by themselves in the big city in the poorest part of town. They are orphans. One older than the other. The older one looking after the young one. It's very depressing and sad through most of the story. Kind of reminds me of the mood in "Grave of the Fireflys". A lot of violence as you could imagine.
The art work in this is as good as I've seen. Beautiful coloring. You cannot look away it's so good. And the creativity that went into the story along with the art is the best it can be.
All I can say is you have to see for yourself. Give it a try. I think you'll like it.
Really good music at the end when the credits appear.
Very unusual Anime. Highly recommended. Worth watching many times over.
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Editorial Reviews:
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From the creators of Animatrix comes this visually-stunning new anime film based on a popular Japanese manga written by Taiyo Matsumoto. In Treasure Town where the moon smiles and young boys can fly life can be both gentle and brutal. This is never truer than for our heroes Black and White two street urchins who watch over the city doing battle with an array of old-world Yakuza and alien assassins vying to rule the decaying metropolis. TEKKONKINKREET is a dynamic tale of brotherhood that addresses the faults of present day society true love lost and the kindness of the human heart.A brutal elegy for our changing times as well as a tour-de-force of visual artistry TEKKONKINKREET is a deeply resonant story with a heart. The title TEKKONKINKREET is a play on the Japanese words for concrete iron and muscle and it suggests the warring images of steel and concrete cities amassing against the powers of the imagination. Until now at least in imports abroad anime style has almost entirely been characterized by wide-eyed heroes big robots and uninspired plotting. TEKKONKINKREETjettisons these stereotypes in favor of a more realistic European ethos successfully incorporating engaging child characters and a complex action plot into a poetic engaging story.System Requirements:Run Time: 111 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/ADULT SWIM Rating: R UPC: 043396190689 Manufacturer No: 19068
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