Kyaputen Hârokku

Wow, after reading some of the negative reviews on here I just have to say that some people really don't get it. As someone who has never read or watched anything about the Harlock universe before I have to say I found this film great. It is definitely on my "watch again later" list. The ship alone is badass.

A mysterious vengeful captain. An epic galaxy spanning journey. A fearsome ship. Plenty of action. Family drama. What more do you want?

Does it get a little complicated? Sure, but so long as don't wander in with preconceived notions about how this film "should be" and just follow along with the story as its given then you should find it enjoyable.

While there are a few plot holes that either weren't explained or weren't explained enough I think that overall it was balanced well enough to tell the story the director wanted.

Bottom line : if you are a fanboy of the Harlock universe then you had better brace yourself for something that apparently has little to no relevance to what you are expecting. If you are not, then get ready for a kickass ride and try not to ruin it for yourself by expecting to be taken by the hand and have every little detail explained. Its not. But is still enjoyable nonetheless.

Fans of the late 1970s Japanimation series Star Blazers will welcome Harlock: Space Pirate, an animated action feature rebooting yet another Japanese series of the same era, Space Pirate Harlock (see what they did there?).

In less than two hours of viewing, the audience receives thrilling depictions of steampunk-imagined spacecraft, visually arresting animated characters, and plenty of the action, turnabouts, and potboiling that anime is reputed to consistently supply.

This Harlock is rendered in 3D CG motion capture animation, leaving it occasionally astounding visually, occasionally off-putting in the way The Polar Express left us feeling, and occasionally looking like a coming attraction for PlayStation 5.

The backstory is interesting, but not much running time is given to fleshing it out.

After a brief expository sequence to open, followed by an election scene that puts the young leading man, Yama, onto the (badass) ship of the dread "space" "pirate" "Harlock," we're off and running into action sequences and (non) relationships as simple as a Chow Yun Fat crime film (the ones where Chow carries not one but two guns).

And it all works, because everything looks cool. Well, maybe not the bird resting on the pirate captain's shoulder, which to my tastes looks a little too Seussy to be acquainted with pirates.

The dialogue, more or less pedestrian, is the film's weak point. Perhaps after spending a reported $30 million on the 3D CG animation, the studio decided there weren't any doubloons left for rewrites or line polishing.

The film was released yesterday, Oct 12h at Sitges Film Festival, here in Barcelona. This is a brief summary of my impressions:

The first half hour of film announces an awesome movie: with a great intro the movie is presented visually stunning with a wonderful soundtrack, interesting characters, great action, but soon deflated by the poor script.

Note that this is a Harlock film where Harlock is not the main character!

The resources and ideas in some of the action scenes are weary of repeated over and over again...

The cinematography is great until after the first 45 minutes aprox. , then the film becomes very explanatory , with many dialogues and voice- overs. It's from there when the script becomes poor.

The changes in the character of Harlock are very large and they even betray the original spirit. In addition, i was tired with that "dark matter", an element of the movie used as a deus-ex-machina over and over again throughout the film.

A great opportunity is lost because the movies is visually stunning and the artistic design work is very good. If they had wrote a simple script , elaborated but not so complicated and keeping the essence of the character, the result would have been much better.

It's a shame, but i had an entertaining audiovisual 3D experience and i could discovered a beautiful soundtrack that i want to listen again and again imagining my ideal Harlock film.

I do not know much (nothing) about the universe, it was a first. Those with more knowledge might disagree with me, might find plot-holes or flaws in the events, for me as a stand-alone movie:

I find it strange ( due to the difference in culture maybe ) but rather enjoyable. The animation is great and detailed, the story is solid (again, strange for my acquired European taste, the values there are a little different than here), voice acting is rather good as well.

There is intensity, enough action for two movies, a plot-twist or two, some tears here and there, pretty much everything one could ask for. I for one liked it, enough to re-watch it in the future.

Loved the ship and the battles but the story and the dialogues were cringe worthy.

Also Harlock here is a twisted individual not the awesome hero it is in the anime.

:/