Redline

Redline supposedly took 7 years and ~100,000 individual drawings to create, all hand-drawn, limited computer work, and it shows. It is without a doubt, the absolute no holds barred best visual achievement in 2-D animation ever, you could make a poster out of pretty much every individual frame of this movie. Aside from all that, it's a pretty standard plot about an underdog racer getting to compete in a big race, if you seen any movie like this you can probably guess every single thing that goes on in Redline. But it's the journey rather then the story that really gets you, Redline had memorable and likable characters, a gorgeous and original design, am amazing soundtrack and jaw-dropping racing, go see this if you haven't already.

Redline is one of those movies that is absolutely popping with adolescent joy, from the sleekly-animated racing sequences to the ridiculous bravado of the characters. It's a bold debut for director Takeshi Koike, and what really amazes is that it manages to be an epic story that at the same time seems to be only a sliver of a crazy and exciting universe. You get the feeling that any of the other racers, some of whom only get a sliver of screen time, could easily support their own movie, and that kind of overflowing exuberance is hard not to buy into. The only other media that comes to mind as capturing this sensation is the anime series Giant Robo, which seems like a clear precedent here.

Plot-wise, there isn't much going on, with the story a serviceable vehicle to get from one action sequence to another. It does, however, manage to use common tropes in a way that feels mythic and not derivative. Redline really only does one thing -- epic action -- and those looking for anything else will probably be disappointed. But man, does it succeed on that front.

This review would be incomplete without mentioning the amazing music, an eclectic group of tunes that completes the adrenaline rush. Hell, every character gets their own theme song. How cool is that? (My favourite is Machine Head's.) And, in the end, that's what Redline ultimately wants to leave you thinking: "How cool is that?"

In spite of the praise that has been heaped upon Redline, I was not actually expecting it to be that good. The movie's over stylized and exaggerated characters brought Yoshiaki Kawajiri (incidentally a mentor of sorts for the movie's director, Takeshi Koike) immediately to mind, and I have never appreciated Kawajirisan's work. Within 20 minutes of starting to watch Redline, though, all of my reservations were blown away. The movie, which seems to be at least partially based on Kawajiri's similar Running Man segment from Neo Tokyo, follows a car racer named "Sweet JP" as he competes in two large races, the Yellowline and then the Redline. The Redline race happens to be held on a planet that doesn't want it to be, so the Redline racers have to dodge not only each other's artillery, but also that of the entire planet's military. While the characters are mostly light on meaningful personality, and the story is little more complex than "he's in these two races", the movie turns out to be a flashy action ride that should not be missed. While on the hostile planet for the Redline race, the story does take an Akira-style turn for the bizarre, but with all the other weird and crazy things assaulting your senses throughout the movie, it doesn't seem as out of place as it otherwise might. Do yourself a favor and catch Redline on Bluray some evening and enjoy a ride that you won't soon forget.

But Redline is absolutely brilliant. It's an over-the-top, action packed movie with great characters that leaves you twitching with adrenaline.

The animation, visuals, sound, and music really bring this movie together. Once it starts, it's a non-stop rush until the end. The characters are great and are developed as much as they need to be. As far as the plot goes, it's fairly simple, but the writing will keep you entranced.

I've seen both the subbed and dubbed versions, and they're both great. I usually avoid dubbed foreign movies, but the English cast is actually pretty good here.

P.S. Watch this movie in HD with surround sound.

There aren't any spoilers in this review, but even if there were, the whole movie is on youtube cutesy of the creators. It's English dub, which is done really well, for a movie the dub really didn't even need to be good for.

Wow is this movie an experience. OK first of what everyone is going to say, the visuals are amazing, maybe the best I've ever seen. They spent 7 years(7 YEARS) drawing this film. So it's worth watch once to look at.

The other things that keeps you in this movie, besides the awesome racing scenes, the characters are entertaining, maybe more than the creators realized. JP is a kid at heart, and has high ambitions, a great protagonist for this movie. All the other characters are fun as well.

The plot was not deep, but like it needed to be at all for a movie like this. I actually felt the movie focused to much on the roboworld plot(anyone else get a Nazi feeling from them?). It's like they were trying to emphasize how crazy the final race was going to be when I'm sitting here like "hey you have cool characters here let's develop them more." But none the less you don't need a crazy plot for this movie.

Basically, if you enjoy anime, this movie is a must see. To everyone else, if you just want to completely lose yourself for an hour and half and go on a thrill ride, than buckle up and put on Redline.