Robot Carnival

A man from my old film days recommended this film to me. I took chance on it, and the recommendation delivered. What we have here is a poetic expression of tales woven together to form a tapestry about an extension of ourselves; the robot.

The robot is brought to us through a visual feast of respectable animation that shows us worlds and times beyond our imagination, and how those arenas and their players might play out.

Each one is touching in its own way, and delivers a nice message that can be appreciated by all. Whether you like action, some youthful romance, the tale of years, comedy, or just plain adventure, this film is for you.

Reminder, this is an anthology, so the pacing is going to be a little slow. But the showcase revealed to the curious minded audience that has a hankerin for good "Japanimation" will be very pleased.

Me, I happen upon the film a year or two after it was released. I then bought a VHS in the mid to late 90s, and happened upon a special edition DVD from Japan when the film was first reissued. The DVD gives a magnificent picture and overall rendering of this incredibly beautiful film.

I'm not certain I would call it family friendly, but kids over a certain age (pre-teens) and maybe just a little bit younger, might appreciate it. There is some mild violence and just some plain wacky and bizarre situations that might spook really young viewers, so guidance is suggested here. But, boys and girls and parents alike should find this an interesting watch.

Me, I like it on its own merits. I think it's an intimate look at how people might interface with technology in a variety of settings. This is anime before anime became an international sensation; i.e. during the time when the US, Canada and the UK were the primary export markets for Japanese films.

Please watch and enjoy this film. You won't regret it.

This is a great Japanese animated collection of seven creative and imaginative stories done by many directors including Katsuhiro Otomo ( of "Akira" fame) which tells a creator trying to create a Frankenstein-like creation, a romantic tale in a disneyland-esque place, a robotic kid walking through clouds, a romance between a toymaker and his toy, a planet western with robots, a hilarious duo between bad guy and Japan in the 19th century and a nightmarish city runned by robotic creatures.

These stories are quite interesting and very well made works of arts, the music score is outstanding which is one of the best in anime music scores. This is definitely Japanimation's answer to "Fantasia", if only this would be released on DVD then that would be great! if you love anime, i strongly recommend this movie.

Also recommended: Akira, Ghost in The Shell, Metropolis ( Anime), Memories, Heavy Metal, Fantasia, Fantasia 2000, Roujin-Z, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Transformers: The Movie, Ninja Scroll, The Professional: Golgo 13, Vampire Hunter D, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Sin: The Movie, Spriggan The Movie, Slayers The Motion Picture, Creepshow, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence, Kiki's Delivery Service, Fist of the North Star.

9/10.

Almost every story in this film was very well done and enjoyable. I just wish I could get a hold of a DVD of this fine film so I can do a better review of it as there are a lot of the stories I can not remember to clearly as it has been a while since I last saw this film. I remember it starting with a bang as a giant robot carnival comes to town and begins to blow up everything in sight and this is also part of the ending tale too. There is a story of a woman kidnapped and a mysterious young man comes to save her, I enjoyed this one as the music was very good and this one had good action as well. Another one I remember is a Frankenstein one that is the shortest of the bunch if I remember correctly. Then there is one where a girl goes to a fair and somehow a ride she goes on ends up as being an action sequence. The funniest one involves two robots as a mad engineer does battle with kids using what was intended to be a float for a fair. Then there is a strange one involving a guy and this female bot, this story made the least sense, but I am guessing a lot of it was cut as I watched it on TBS so I am guessing it would make a lot more sense if seen in its entirety. The final one I remember is one about a robot that looked a bit like Mega Man just walking through the clouds, very simple but well done. I think there was more, but this is all I remember, like I said I would love to get a hold of the DVD so I can watch it all again and uncut this time.

This remains one of the best Anime feature films I've ever seen, and, in a stroke of great luck, was also the first Anime feature film I ever saw. While a little (well, a lot) on the artsy side at times, Robot Carnival is a great example of the reckless imagination and superb craftsmanship that Japanese animation at its best is known for. Unfortunately, it's also an example of a kind of film that is becoming very rare in the anime world today. Robot Carnival mops the floor with the ever spreading hordes of Dating Game adaptations/Merchandizing tie-ins that are never the less dominating the industry. Robot Carnival ought to be one of the most well known Anime in the world, not the obscure relic of hardcore geeks that it seems in danger of becoming. If you see a copy of this, buy it on the spot and see what animated film making ought to be.

Like all anthology films, some of the segments are better than others, but there are enough good ones to make this film worthwhile for animation fans.

The framing sequence which opens and closes the film is nicely animated, certainly one of the most original ways I've seen for a film to present it's title. The great Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) contributed to this sequence, you can really see his touch. Two of the segments, "Starlight Angel" and "Deprive" are pretty typical sci-fi action anime, albeit nicely animated. A lot of anime fans complain about the "Cloud" segment, I find it kind of interesting, like a piece of animated art. My favorite segment in the film is probably a tie between "A Tale of Two Robots, Chapter 3: Foreign Invasion", which made me think a little of Wild Wild West (a lot better, of course), and "Nitemare".

I think having all but two of the film's 8 segments (I'm counting the opening and closing as one segment) dialog-free was an interesting choice, it allows the viewer to concentrate on the images, and precludes needless exposition. I really liked Aeon Flux a lot better before it became a regular series and added dialog. Of course, it also makes an English-dubbed version of the film more tolerable.

Some of the music for this film is by the great composer Joe Hisashi, the regular composer for both Hayao Miyazaki and Takeshi Kitano. I think the opening and closing themes are by Hisashi, as well as the music for the "Presence" segment.

This is one of the first anime films I saw when I knew or cared it was anime, I think it's a really good introduction to the genre. Also a worthwhile film for anyone interested in animation in general.