Berserk : L'Âge d'or I - L'Œuf du roi

After enjoying the episodic Anime series ages ago and left bitter with the cliff hanger ending, I was definitely looking forward to this movie.

"Berserk: Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King" (That's quite a long title isn't it?) tells the story about a warrior named Guts, who wields a large sword and is quite skilled in weapon based combat, he is hired as a mercenary by kingdoms in the battlefield and gets paid for the job well done and then he drifts away. Just after his recent victory he crosses paths with a mercenary group named "The Band Of The Hawk" led by a very charismatic leader named Griffith.

I won't dip into the story any further because it would rob you the enjoyment of watching the movie if you are new to the series. The story progresses in a very interesting manner and it has it's twists and turns that keep the story engaging and makes you question the motives as it builds up the bigger premise behind it, with that said the fight scenes in this movie are quite fantastic and the gore level has been used to the max, the animation is very crisp and sharp and is definitely eye candy.

Berserk: Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King gives you a start on the series and keeps things interesting throughout the movie, I barely noticed the time and soon it was all over and I was left with the feeling that I want to watch it more and how the story unfolds, it gives you a preview of the second arc towards the end of the movie. I would most definitely be looking forward to it. Give this one a chance, if you like it and let yourself immerse in it's world, you would definitely have a good time watching it.

My final verdict for this movie would be a very solid 7 out of 10.

Berserk is a story that captures your mind & never lets you go. A dark fantasy admits no boundaries. It follows story of Guts born in battle, struggling to defy misfortunity. Setting in ancient Europe. A mercenary kills only to survive, digs his sword in enemy hearts going closer to death only to feel alive in his miserable life or has nothing to lose. Until he meets Griffith, beautiful & charming leader of mercenary Hawk that will change his life forever. It features horrific action, darker violence, grittier fights which exciting to see raw nature of humanity. Within first 10 mins you will to sink into it. Tension & gravity of actions didn't felt unnecessary terms of scenes. Literally anything goes from murder,love, hate to bare sex. Also, characters has friendship, causality, & admiration towards one another. You can just by looking into the faces & see their fear, dreams, aspirations without much to say. But animation is plain casual, colour frames are dull & poor, some theme felt show or overpaced that loses key values & makes it boring, As per counting it's not disappointing. In fact, excels in both execution and presentation. Some moments elevates the film climax & soundtrack.

The first in a trilogy of movies which follow the Golden age arc which is probably the most famous and well loved Berserk story. It's the origin of Guts, a hard as nails swordsman who joins a group of mercenaries called The band of the hawk and his relationship with it's charismatic leader Griffith. It all takes place in a semi-realistic medieval setting but it progresses to include supernatural and full on horror elements.

The movie isn't very long at 77 minutes so if you've seen the 1997 anime series which is based on the same arc then it might be a bit jarring at how quickly the story plays out and how it skips over important moments.

Just think of it as a streamlined version of the arc. The characters aren't as deep as they are in the series but it works fine for a what it is and the plot is easy to follow for non fans. Voice actors from 97 also return to play Guts, Griffith and Casca.

The animation is impressive with some beautiful backgrounds and the characters look crisp and vibrant, it blends 2D and 3D animation pretty much seamlessly. The large combat scenes are fast, fluid and more violent than the series with dismemberment, beheadings and eyeballs popping out. It's not for the faint of heart but if you like this style then it's pretty awesome. The animation in the original series is fine but hasn't aged all that well so it was a real treat to see such high quality work here.

I would say watch the 1997 series first because you will have a greater understanding of the lore and characters but this is still top notch action anime set in a dark fantasy world.

Guts is a great fighter. Who, of course, gets into fights. His sword cleaves and kills, the bodies fall in front of his wreath, till he meets Griffith, who becomes his leader. From now on, Guts will work under Griffith's orders.

The first film of the The Golden Age Arc for "Berserk" is an entertaining, and not very long, affair, full of well developed fights, nice action, and great depiction of the fights, but a plot basically non-existent: Guts fights, Guts meets Griffith, Guts fights. However, the atmosphere is quite good, and it is easy to connect with the characters and enjoy the world they live in.

With two more movies after this first one, "The Egg of the King" just feels as an appetizer. But one that will fill the viewer.

This movie is Short, whereas the runtime may be about 78 minutes but with credits and an opening "anime"-style intro, it's only approximately 70 minutes long. It's short, which Can work in certain films, the Main issue is that certain scenes that were Crucial in the overall Arc were rushed, badly. Especially one scene with Zod where this took up about 15 minutes in the 1997 series, a 10/10 series by the way, but the Movie made it seem less important than it was. Also, the lines are Very straight-forward, as in telling the audience exactly what happened with no room for interpretation. The Best way I've heard this described is "leaving no room for interpretation and just telling the audience what happened means bad writing," and there is a Lot of that within this film, compared to the series which is just superb. That being said, it is still a Great watch, especially if you like animation and anime-type cinema, and the story it goes on to tell is top notch... at least the 3 movie series and the 1997 anime which I recommend in English dub over the films; at least a first-watch. If the film was to be a 10/10, it would need to have edited the writing to make it more eloquent, extended the film to about 100 cinematic minutes Minimum, and certain Critical scenes needed to have been rewritten to be more obviously important rather than just line-dropping without time to absorb what was conveyed. Another great thing is many of the Original English Voice Actors Returned for this film series from the 1997 series! This is just amazing, as it was 15+ years and they came back. This is just Professionalism at its' finest.