Robot Carnival

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.

I wasn't a die-hard anime fan back then as an 18-year old young man, but I happened upon this movie on VHS at an independent video shop after moving from another state. It was placed semi-obscurely at the bottom rack of the animation section but the strange cover artwork case of the VHS edition made an impression on me.

So I rented the videocassette to pop it into the VCR. I was mildly impressed with all of the 'weird' shorts except one short that is so lyrical and surreal it moved me like no anime ever did (except for Spirited Away years later which I admit to having seen 7 times in theatres). That short is called, if I remember correctly, "Cloud".

Independent video shop have since 'closed' (sold its business to a competitor) a few years later and I never had a chance to see the movie again since it's out of print.

Cloud segment is one of the most haunting films (short or feature-length) I've ever seen. Even though I remember *nothing* about the movie, I still recall the Cloud segment.

It's an unforgettable experience witnessing the aesthetically mind-bending short sitting in the darkened living room in the basement on the sunny afternoon day.

The black & white animation...background...strange but haunting ending. I barely remember what the story is about (must be silent) but I understood what it *is* about -- loneliness and requiem for love.

I think it must be seen on the large screen to experience the full effect of emotional tranquility. One of the best examples of surrealist & moving cinema on the meditation of loneliness and love as conveyed by sublime emotional transcendence, animated or not, and one that stamps indelibly in the memory base of the human brain when the viewer is still youthful as a child or adolescent.

Cloud short is an incredibly transcendent work of art in cinema that make for an utterly unforgettable visual experience. One that have the honor of magnificent art among the grandest 2-D dimension paintings of the 17th century Naples and Golden Age of Dutch Art in conveying profound emotions through the magic of artistic motion picture in silence.

ROBOT CARNIVAL is a breath of fresh air from the bloated, overdone, exploitative sagas Anime is known for and presents us instead with a series of short films which have nothing to do with each other except that they all star robots. I especially like the intro with the mechanized carnival running over the village...heh heh heh. Very nice, well-animated and leaves a lasting impression on the veiwer. A must-have for anyone who likes Japanese animation or the very curious.

eight stories from japanese anime directors. they all show off their talent through mini movies. when i first saw this, i thought it was something i would like to do when i get older. now, i'm 18, and creating my own anime comics and mini movies. my personal favorites are "Starlight Angel" "Deprive" "Presence" and "A Tale of Two Robots" see this if you want to get into anime directors heads

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.