Escaflowne : Une fille sur Gaïa

Escaflowne the Movie while visually stunning and aided by an enchanting musical score just seems to fall short of being as epic as it could have been. With a running time of 98 min. events and character development seem rushed and unfulfilled. We never really get to know the characters and even though many viewers will have already seen the TV series that's still no excuse for the lack of content. Hitomi seems to shift from a depressed school girl on the verge of suicide to a strong supportive heroine without much coaxing or personal experience. The full legend of the Escaflowne and Wing Goddess as well as the mythology of Gaia are also never fleshed out for us. The final confrentation between the two brothers is a far cry from what could have been. And the ending leaves something to be desired as well, not as fairy tale as some might have wanted. However inspite of these problems I still enjoyed Escaflowne the Movie. It is a feast for the eyes and ears, and as a theatrical adaption it has no problem standing on its own. Definitly recomended ^_^

First of all, I watched this movie once before I even saw any of the series, so I was fairly confused--especially by the amount of characters who appear for a few minutes and then disappear. I knew it was supposed to be a retelling and not a summary of the series, but even on that level, I didn't really "get" Hitomi's reason for caring so much for Van all of a sudden, why that blonde captain (Allen, as I learned later) was even there, or what the hell Dune (or Folken, take your pick) was all about. The confrontation with Dune was so incredibly anti-climactic that I almost hoped for that old horror cliche of the villain coming back to life a few times to up his kill stats. No such luck, though.

Having just gone through a marathon session with the series (all twenty-six episodes in two days), I decided to watch the movie again this morning. Well, I had fun identifying all the characters from the series, who were all--down to the cat girls--developed into realistic characters throughout the television series, and it was kind of interesting to compare Hitomi's character (in the movie, she's totally depressed but realized the pain she was causing others; in the series, she was lively, but in being so, she missed the signs that she was hurting people). However, the story (which recasts Hitomi as a "Winged Goddess" figure instead of a girl with skills at fortune telling, and Van into an uncontrollably violent person, but sweet and gentle when he's not killing people) isn't all that interesting (and seems to have been more influenced by the Evangelion series and movies than by Escaflowne), and 96 minutes is far too short a time to tell what should have been a sweeping epic. Instead, despite the claims that it is a retelling, it ends up feeling even more like a truncation of the series.

That said, I thought the animation was good (in an anime genre sort of way--I wouldn't expect a lot of other people to care too much for it, the way that even anime haters tend to like Studio Ghibli films), and the design for Hitomi, though not as kawaii as the series, really did fit with the darker tone of the movie.

6/10

I have to say as far as the animation goes the movie was well done, great art work, but the plot itself was poorly thought off. The movie might resemble the series with the characters and the setting but the plot itself was not the same. So if you guys are expecting to be like the series, is not, I found it to be a waste of time, and for those who think that the movie was good, it was just a knockoff of the series just to make money of you.

The first thing that struck me about this film was the detailed animation and vividness of the colors. The TV series was known for it's quality animation, and the movie is far better. The story, however, is completely different from the TV series. If you watch this movie, don't compare it to the series, since it's a different story that uses the same characters. The story is fairly dark, but compelling. For action fans, you will find a lot of that in this movie, but romance fans may walk away disappointed. Overall, not great, but a good movie. 6 of 10.

I haven't seen the entire series `The Visions of Escaflowne'. What I saw I really liked, but it needed something. It needed to be a much darker and more grim story. Well, this movie has a grim and dark story, with plenty of graphic violence to boot (now why did it get a PG-13?). Even though it kind of is a condensed version of the series, it does tell it's own story in a way. Though some `Escaflowne' fans may be disappointed by how much different the movie is, many people will be happy with the style.

The story is basically the same as the series: A normal high-school girl named Hitomi is transported to the world of Gaea to help the survivors of countries that fell to the powerful Black Dragon empire in one final battle that will determine the fate of their world.

It's actually a pretty good story with amazing animation and characters who are much less annoying in the movie than they were in the series. The music is also stunning with several great tracks.

Every way I look at the movie I love it. It's even kind of a cute romance movie. If you have a friend who wants to see some anime, show him this. If you liked the movie then get the 3-disc DVD. Well worth watching, but do get the subtitled version. Dubbed: C, Subtitled: A.

Rated R for graphic animated violence/gore, language, and sensuality. Suggested for ages 15 and up.