Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

NIGHT 6

       "Did you ever watch The Twilight Zone?"

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), is an anthology film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis and is a theatrical version of the the long running Twilight Zone series.

The film contains four stories and a prologue, all the stories are based on episodes from the original series except the first and even that resembles a couple different old episodes. The stories are directed by John Landis, Stephen Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller.

One of the consistently good things about Twilight Zone: The Movie is its direction. This is the one way the stories consistently top their original television episodes. These are all good and well seasoned directors well along in their careers by the time they came together to make this and it shows.

These are fair adaptations of the original stories, I still have some preferences that go back to the original series episodes, but I think that comes from my personal attachment to the Rod Serling series (and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way.)

The first story after the prologue, "Time Out" is the only original story of the lot and I feel like it shows. It's not really bad, but it's just clearly not as good as the others. It seems very surface level, I think what it's missing is a resolution with the main characters, I think if this was an original series episode we'd see the main character have a complete change on screen whether (its too late or not.) This one just seems super unsatisfying.

Meridith Burgess, who starred in four separate episodes of the original series, does most of the narration in the film filling the Rod Serling role of the series and I think she really nails it. She somehow does her own thing with it and still subtly suggests Rod Serling's voice over. Steven Speilberg or whoever made that decision really nailed it.

The other thing I really like about this film is that their selections of stories, and variety of tones really do feel like the perfect tribute to The Twilight Zone series!

Twlight Zone: The Movie (1983) is a bold undertaking that is largely successful. It's totally worth a watch.

3.5/5 Stars.

 Happy watching!




This review is part of my 2014 run of 13 Nights of Macabre Movies! Tune in tomorrow as I review another horror anthology sequel Creepshow 2 (1987).

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Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000)

NIGHT 23

     "Because I'm a dhampir. I don't get to have a life, not like you."

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) [バンパイアハンターD] is a Japanese horror OVA anime loosely based on the third novella of the Vampire Hunter D series, D - Demon Deathchase written by Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano. This is the second film based on the novellas, following Vampire Hunter D (1985). This film was directed by Yoshiaki Kawaijiri and produced by Madhouse inc.

When a young woman named Charlotte is abducted by a vampire noble, her father hires the vampire hunter D to bring her back or kill her. Charlotte's brother also hires a group of hunters known as the Marcus brothers. These two hunter teams race to win the bounty but sometimes things aren't as simple as they seem.

I'm not a big fan of the Marcus brothers in this film. They're fine, they're far better than half the characters in the previous film. But they get a lot of screen time and I'm not sure why I should care about them at all, really. The film uses Leila quite a bit to try and make you feel for these characters and she's done better than the others, but just having her as an emotional character doesn't make you care at all when her friends die.

The other good thing about this film is it really works on its own! You can watch this film by itself, before the previous film or after and with or without the books and you'd be fine. Although if you have seen the previous film, it probably enhances this one because of the similar plot and themes and the reversals in this one will really surprise you.

I really like the vampire noble of this film, Meier Link. He's vicious, cool and yet still sympathetic. I love the scene early on when he goes out into the sunlight to try and protect Charlotte. This scene just says so much about this character and makes you realize that he may not be as evil as you were originally led to believe.

Also gotta mention how much I love the score of this film. It's super chilling and very much has a "classical" vampire feel to it and in this world of reinvented vampires and post-apocalyptic ghouls it's awesome to have some epic organ music over the film.

I don't understand really what was the deal with Carmila and her plot at the end, it's not that interesting or prevalent to the the rest of the cool things in this film, and I think this is supposed to be a more "dynamic" twist because the original plot kind of resolves itself in the end on its own. It also gives them a chance to talk about D's lineage but, really don't think it was necessary and just feels a bit shoe-horned in.

I love the animation in this film. Japan seems to be the only country to find a good way to integrate a combination of CG and traditional animation and have it really work well. This film is absolutely beautiful and the less traditional "anime style" really helps a lot.

Bloodlust creates a beautiful enhancement of the world I loved so much in the previous film. This film seems like they took more from Yoshitaka Amano's original designs and illustrations and the darks seem darker, the evil seems more evil. Of course the budget was of course way higher in this film, so that helps. But I love the opening scene of this film with the vampire carriage rolling into town with lights flickering out and crosses bending, and time seeming like it stops. It's directly out of the books, and a really successful effect that just draws you in to this world from the very beginning.

I also love the story of this one, it's a very simple premise and yet full of interesting twists and turns along the way. It also makes for a great follow-up to the previous film because the story is unexpectedly different situation than the likewise vampire-courted human in that story. And I love the simple little things that this film does with time, because D doesn't age. It's very simply done and not too much of a focus.

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) is one of the higher budget anime films, enhanced by the simple yet interesting story. It'd be hard not to recommend this one.

4/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




Tune in tomorrow on the 31 Nights of Macabre Movies as we're going to change gears a bit and switch to yet another horror sub-genre!

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Vampire Hunter D (1985)

NIGHT 22

     "What a wonderful night this has been! For the first time in one hundred years I haven't been bored once!"

Vampire Hunter D (1985) [バンパイアハンターD] is a Japanese horror OVA anime based on the novella of the same name written by Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano. This film was one of the first anime films to be released outside of Japan and still today is considered a cult classic.

Farmer, orphan and outsider Doris takes care of her brother Dan. Unfortunately for her she is courted by a nearby Aristocrat Vampire Lord, she then hires a Vampire Hunter named D to protect her and her brother Dan.

I've seen this film many times over the years but I only recently read the novella. It's very interesting to me to see how close of a direct adaptation this film actually is. There's a lot of really weird things in this film that are actually described in greater detail or explained in the book, but if you're just watching the film on it's own you'd (like the rest of America) just assume it's some more of that crazy and weird Japanese anime stuff. It's very clear after reading the novella that the creators of this film really poured over the source material in attempt to make it as truthful as possible to the original work. To the point of even just taking lots of lines of dialogue directly out of the book This doesn't always work though because some of the stuff like the "Time-Betwitching Incense," which kind of comes out of nowhere with no explanation and is a major plot point to foiling the Nobles' plans.

The most unfortunate thing about following the book too closely is the film doesn't actually feel like the characters are struggling though most of it. It really just like the characters are going through the motions as they follow the events from the book. For example, I don't buy the parts where D is trying to teach Dan to be a man at all. There's definitely something lost in the translation to the screen. And this is something I noticed before I ever read the book!

The film changes some of the characters from the book, for far worse. I really have always disliked the Rei Ginsei character. I think he's kind of a stupid character and a dumb villain. But then you read the book your realize he was actually kind of really cool, but in order to simplify the story they completely altered his character! One of the coolest things about the book is it's just not black and white, Good vs. Evil there's a lot of "gray parties" involved to the conflict! I also disliked the changes to the Count's daughter, Ramica. I understand they were trying to make her closer to D's character and show a way that D could live if he chose to do so. But the romantic interest between them in the novel worked perfectly I don't see any reason to change it.

Like lots of early Japanese anime films this one is overly sexual and violently graphic. Characters have breasts just fly out for really no reason, and multiple characters explode in a spay of guts and blood. Of course this is one of the things that set Japanese animation apart from the rest of the world's animation so I can't really hate on it too much.

I love the world of Vampire Hunter D, what other series beautifully blends the western, horror and sci-fi genres? Yes, a lot of this credit is due to the novels and the imagination of Hideyuki Kikuchi, but also this film does a great job at interpreting this world and bringing it to the screen with its own creativity and imagination. I love the scenes inside the Count's castle with all the crazy looking creatures and monsters in D's way, and although the costumes are very 80s', you must admit they're very original. The film also has a nice way of taking time to show you the world (especially early on in the film) and really let you take it all in, and lets you breathe in and marvel at the world rather than quickly moving on like most films would.

I can highly recommend the book, because it's really good on its own and will help you understand a lot of the random stuff that you're not going to understand and kind of just happens in this film if you watch the film cold. But be warned it will also make you dislike a lot of the changes they made in adapting the story.

It's easy to see why Vampire Hunter D (1985) was such a popular introduction to Japanese anime. Even today it's weird, interesting and yet very cool. It's kind of a double edged sword with reading the novella though.

3/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




Tomorrow on the 31 Nights of Macabre Movies we'll look at the loose sequel to this film, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000).

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The Whisperer in the Darkness (2011)

NIGHT 14

     "I've spoken to them, Wilmarth."

The Whisperer in the Darkness (2011) is an independent feature film based on the short story by the same name by H.P. Lovecraft. This is the second film by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, their follow-up to the featurette The Call of Cthulhu (2005).

This film is about Albert Wilmarth, a professor specializing in folklore who follows up on some strange events happening in the hills of Vermont and stumbles upon a conspiracy attempt to ensure he doesn't tell anyone of what he's been told or sees.

The production value of this film blows me away. This is an independently financed film by essentially amateur filmmakers and it really doesn't feel that way for most of this film. Thanks to the magnificently chosen props, locations, sets and even low budget effects that really sell the story the film is telling.

The execution of bringing this story to the screen is really quite impressive. I think the first two acts are absolutely brilliant, and really intriguing. It's easy to get drawn into the mystery. There's a slight problem with the story in the first two acts in that the viewer is pretty much always two steps ahead of our protagonist who apparently is quick to take anyone's word for pretty much the entire film. But even this kind of works in the film's favor as the viewer pretty much suspects the typed letter and the strange events surrounding it is a trap and then the surprise of Akeley actually being there works very well and adds a strange and eirey level of suspense.


And lastly I have to mention the amazing score in this film by Troy Sterling Nies who also worked on The Call of Cthulhu and as you may remember, the soundtrack in that film was one of my favorite things about it. And the score here is also quite impressive.

The worst part of this film is the third act. I agree that the original story (which this film is  pretty truthful up until the third act) ends in a way that wouldn't make for a great film. But to me it's painfully obvious that the story strays in the third act. The third act is riddled with story conveniences left and right. Hannah's father who just decides to spill tons of relevant information and exposition to Wilmarth right before conveniently killing himself is just plain bad writing. This isn't to say I hated everything in the third act, I thought what the filmmakers tried to do by adding Hannah was a pretty decent addition (though not executed the best way) and I like the twist at the end quite a bit. But like I said it's painfully obvious that the third act doesn't fit the rest of the film.

One of the biggest improvements from The Call of Cthulhu is the acting. Sure most of the cast of this film was in that one, but here you can actually see they can act, it was just the silent medium that was holding them back. Overall I was impressed with the entire cast of this film, but I really got to hand it to Matt Foyer. I was really impressed with his work in this film as our protaganist, Albert Wilmarth he offers a very charming and delightful lead for the viewer to follow and get sucked into the world.

The other thing I love about this film is the cinematography. The black and white cinematography is really amazing here, far better than a lot of big Hollywood productions in my opinion. Great camera angles, masterful camera moves and editing (also done by cinematographer David Robertson) and and masterful use of light. It's absolutely beautiful and really one of the major reasons you should watch this film.

The Whisperer in the Darkness (2011) is a great follow-up to The Call of Cthulhu (2005) I think the HPLHS is really on to something here and I can't wait to see what their next film production will be. I also wish more independent filmmakers were making films like this because if they were I'd think the state of contemporary film would be in a much better place.

4/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




That's it for my Lovecraft film streak this year on the 31 Nights of Macabre Movies but tune in tomorrow for something different that is still heavily influenced by the work of Mr. Lovecraft.

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From Beyond (1986)

NIGHT 9

     "It... ate... him!"

From Beyond (1986) is a science-fiction, horror film based on H.P. Lovecraft's short story of the same name. This is Stuart Gordon's follow up to Re-Animator (1985), this film also stars Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton as Gordon wanted to do something similar to Roger Corman's Poe cycle with a series of films based on one author's work with a re-occurring cast.

From Beyond is about a couple of scientists who build a machine to stimulate the pineal gland in humans in order to interact with and see creatures from another dimension. What could go wrong?

Stuart Gordon is a great director. His direction in Re-Animator wasn't bad at all, but the direction in From Beyond is a lot better (and in only a year too!). Unlike Re-Animator, every camera move in From Beyond has a purpose and it's just a lot tighter camera work all around.

It's great to see Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton again, and thankfully they're playing significantly different roles than in the previous film. The addition of horror veteran Ken Foree is an excellent treat also, I just wish they had some better material to work off of!

The dialogue in this film is pretty god-awful. It wasn't much better in Re-Animator but this film doesn't have as much of the comedic element (or at least it's not as purposefully present here) which is what helps with a lot of Re-Animator's shortcomings.

The effects in From Beyond are pretty bad. It's really a hard line to walk because much of the actual horror in this film stems from the physical (and gross) transformations you see right before your eyes. But unfortunately a lot of the practical effects and slimy rubber suits don't look great when you focus the camera on them for too long in a well lit room!

The story in From Beyond isn't inherently bad, in fact the premise is actually very interesting and unique. But to me it's very obvious that this was adapted from a short story because the actual core of the film is really smart and interesting but then the film has long stretches where nothing is happening on an intellectual level and instead we get lots of gory monsters and weird things that don't really make sense at all.

Unlike Re-Animator, the soundtrack of this film is completely fresh and original! Richard Band's soundtrack to this film is really quite great there was a lot of times where I found myself realizing the soundtrack was doing more for me than what was on the screen!

From Beyond (1986) is definitely the ugly, less-loved sibling of Re-Animator (1985) but you can learn a lot about what works in a horror film and what doesn't by watching them back to back!

2.5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




The H.P. Lovecraft films continue tomorrow on The 31 Nights of Macabre Movies as we finally get into the 90s' with John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness (1994).

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Re-Animator (1985)

NIGHT 8

     "Don't expect it to tango... it has a broken back."

 

Re-Animator (1985) (also known as H.P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator) is a cult-classic horror film directed by Stuart Gordon and based on H.P. Lovecraft's novel, Herbert West-Reanimator.

The story follows Dan Cain a bright, young third-year medical student at Miskatonic Medical School in Arkham, Massachusets who rents out a room to the strange, new transfer student, Herbert West. What he doesn't know is Herbert is about to create the greatest medical discovery of all time.

The direction in this film is really solid. This is Stuart Gordon's first big film and it's actually quite impressive. There's moments I thought could have been better if the director was more experienced (like the chasing the re-animated cat scene), but over all the film is quite good in that respect. His real ability shows in his skill at blending simple camera tricks, animatronics, acting, makeup and props to make for some very convincing reanimated corpses.

Yes this film is very gory, but in my mind it actually is just kind of a realistic amount of blood for the most part and it builds and has a nice progression as the film goes on and the events get more insane. This is actually gore done right as far as I'm concerned.

The theme of this film is mercilessly ripped off of Bernard Herman's intro theme to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). This is beyond tribute and in my mind huge copyright infringement and just plain not cool. So the movie loses points for that.

The only parts of the story I don't think work as well as the rest are that of the evil professor. I'm not sure if it's his acting or how forced it is in the story. I think this is a very important part of the story and it just ends up forced or over the top every time he's on screen.

Some of the effects and makeup don't hold up (not that they were that great in the mid eighties either, I'm sure), but it actually adds a lot to the camp and cult-classic nature of the film so I'm not sure I'd dock it as much as I would other films for this. And theirs parts where the acting and direction actually make the makeup and effects work effectively so that kind of cancels out a lot of this.

You should see Re-Animator just for the acting alone if nothing else. None of these guys were big named actors at the time and they're in a cheesy, extra gory, re-animation horror movie and they take the work very seriously. Bravo for that.

I love how the story is really simple, interesting and silly... it combines all three of those things in a really great way. I love the way it bookends almost unexpectedly, and I really like how it's essentially a tale about an unexpected friendship and how these two guys end up having to work together to defeat their greedy professor.

Re-Animator (1985) is a horror classic, and it's very clear why. Great story, convincing performances and a very fun premise all add up to a very enjoyable film.

4.5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




There's even more H.P. Lovecraft films tomorrow on The 31 Nights of Macabre Movies as we continue with Stuart Gordon's follow up film to this one From Beyond (1986).

And be sure to check out J.W. Ocker's very interesting post from last week about what happened when he made his wife watch this film. It's a great read, and I think his wife is very correct on her opinions and observations of the film, over on his blog OTIS.

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Oblivion (2013)

"Are you an effective team?"

Oblivion (2013) is the sophomore outing of director Joseph Kosinski following 2010's Tron: Legacy. Oblivion is a post-apocalyptic, conspiracy science fiction film about a man named Jack Harper, who believes along with his assigned partner Vic they are the only two humans left on earth after it was viciously attacked by Scavs and most of mankind was able to escape offworld to Saturn's largest moon Titan, the film starts with only two weeks left in Jack's stay on Earth before joining the rest of mankind on Titan. Jack however is starting to have second thoughts.

Let me start off by saying this is a hard film to talk about without tripping over any spoilers, so I'll do my best to dance around them and in my usual way merely vaguely mention and imply things but if you want the complete spoiler-free experience while watching Oblivion you'd better stop here, and for that matter don't watch the trailer either!

First things first, the music. I'd be lying if knowing the fact that M83 did the score for this film wasn't about 50% the reason I wanted to see it in theaters. (In that one respect, maybe my hopes for this movie were a bit too high!) Thus far I gotta say I really applaud Joseph Kosinski for his music choices of his filmography. The decision to have Daft Punk score Tron: Legacy was like the shot heard around the world, and for the most part Daft Punk delivered. The score for that film was amazing, however nothing like anything anyone really expected. Here again Kosinski picks an electronic band that's never done any kind of film scoring before, but has a rather cinematic quality to their music (much more than Daft Punk even!) Much like Tron: Legacy, Oblivion's score is not what I was expecting.

M83's score is somewhat lost between being too subtle most of the time and what sounds like trying too hard to be Daft Punk's Tron: Legacy score. Now both being helmed by the same director it's possible to assume that Kosinski gave the same direction for both soundtracks or that he is perpetually set on using the same type of soundtrack in his films (god I hope not!) But more than likely I feel like M83 listened to Daft Punk's score a bit too much before taking on this gig, and as a result I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed. Oblivion's score isn't bad even by a long shot and it definitely has its moments, but knowing M83's music... hell go online right now and listen to any tracks (at random!) from their most recent album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (2011) and I have to say I think no matter what tracks you picked it would have worked better over this film than most of this score.

I can't think of a better word to describe the acting in this film over all than "good." I think my favorite actor in the whole movie is Andrea Riseborough, playing Vic Jack's partner who doesn't want to mess anything up by breaking procedure this close to being done with the mission, even though she's such a tiny part of the whole film. Oh and Melissa Leo as Sally is pretty unmistakably amazing for her small role as Sally, Jack and Vic's only contact to the rest of humankind at the beginning of the film. Tom Cruise kind of seems out of place at the beginning of the film but as the plot unravels and you see the whole picture he works for the role pretty well. But even though Tom is good for this role and really works, it's nothing we haven't seen Tom Cruise do a million times before. Oh and Morgan Freeman is completely wasted in this role. All in all he was fine, I can't help but feel they just needed another big name to put on the posters and sell the movie around the world. Frankly this kind of role is kind of bellow him.

Also much like Tron: Legacy, Oblivion suffers from all sorts of holes, inconsistencies and gaps in logic ranging from small to HUGE. (Warning this is probably the most spoilerish I'm gonna get in this post.)

Let's go through a couple shall we? There's moments where Vic says "don't go there I don't have eyes on you!" and then the next shot is of her watching Jack on a her flat screen from the camera on the Bubble Plane? There's a point when Vic locks Jack outside and he's demanding for her to open the door, next thing you know we cut to him inside with no explination at all. What the heck? Major cut or jumps in continuity like that are completely inexcusable. There's a moment when Jack is looking for a single drone in the vast wasteland, and he even says "it's like looking for a needle in a haystack..." then he switches from flying a jet over to a tiny motorcycle? That makes NO sense even remotely, and just feels like an excuse to show off more technology, also inexcusable. For the first part of the film the "Scavs" wear this supposedly stealth armor technology for the first part of the film because it helps them hide from drone persecution "most of the time" up until they reveal what's actually going on... after that they never put on their helmets (even once!) for the remainder of the film, even when battling what? You guessed it drones! Jeez guys, don't you think those stealth suits would help with what they're made for!? And then there's the whole bit about the ending that pretty much undermines the awesome foe we've spent the whole film setting up. The enemy has pretty much no reason to let the heroes get as far as they do, especially when I'm pretty sure the enemy was just going to kill them anyway! Ugh I feel like I could go on all day with little things this film messes up on!

There's also some very predictable things that occur in this movie, especially if you're a fan of science fiction films. But I gotta say that for the most part I was impressed and when they went down a direction that seemed cliché or rehashed, I was usually pretty impressed that the film chose to turn and go a different way along the way making the story seem just original enough.

I figured going into this film that the visuals were going to be worthwhile. Joseph Kosinski comes from a background in industrial and architectural design, and in my opinion is far better at that than telling stories. I have to say though that I was very impressed with the way this film mixed real physical sets and scenery and CGI. Coming out of a world of Tron: Legacy which is understandably mostly shot against a blue screen I was rather impressed with how much of this movie is actually shot in and against the real world! Kosinki made the right choice in again working with the amazing designer Daniel Simon who was the lead designer on Tron: Legacy and designed this films Bubble ship, towers, weapons and general "sci-fi tech."

Another great choice was to continue working with cinematographer Claudio Miranda who's filmography pretty thus far pretty much only has hits, but also worked on last years Life of Pi (2012) and previously with Kosinski on Tron: Legacy. Miranda really knows how to place and move a camera. I found myself constantly in a state of awe with the simple but effective camera work in this film. Even during interior shots inside Jack and Vic's sky cabin where they live, Miranda always seems to find a new and interesting place to put the camera, which isn't easy if you watch most sci-fi films where the majority of the story takes place aboard futuristic ships.

For what it's worth I gotta say I really enjoyed the story of this film, especially the basic set up. Which is something I gotta say I never thought I'd say. I'm a big fan of Wall-E (2008) and the seemingly identical nature of the setup for this film was almost a huge turn off for me, but I'm glad to say that I think beyond the general similarities the film goes on to do it's own thing. Sure there's references and homages to a ton of other films in this movie but more often than not the film doesn't choose to go down those paths too far and kind of just hints at the homages rather than dwelling on them, which I appreciated.

I found the basic setup captivating and even though it's told in a voice over with lots of exposition, it really drew me into the world and didn't let go. I can't promise this experience for everyone but it really worked for me. And I'm glad the trailer didn't tell any more than it already did.

Lastly I got to say that for every stupid little thing this movie misses, there's just about as many cool little things it does too. For example, I love the way the film turns the initial exposition on its head with an unreliable narrator and by the end of the film what you realize something unexpected about the narrator from the beginning of the film. I like the way the drones are used throughout the film as something cool, and heroic and then gradually very terrifying. In the same way I also liked the way the film used the Sally character initially as this lovable voice of "home" and gradually transforms it into something else completely menacing and unexpectedly sinister.

Oblivion (2013) isn't the most original film ever, but for what it's worth it's a fun ride and a perfect rental or matinee. 4/5 Stars.


Happy watching!





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Trigun: Badlands Rumble (2010)

"Nothing is gained through death."

Trigun: Badlands Rumble (2010) is a film based on the Trigun (1998) anime series and Trigun/Trigun Maximum manga by Yasuhiro Nightow though this is an independent story that takes place somewhere in the middle of the series so it doesn't mess with any of the main plots from the anime or manga much like the Cowboy Bebop film, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (2001).

Vash "The Humanoid Typhoon" crosses paths with the vicious and deadly thief Gasback mid robbery and ends up saving his life. Twenty years later, the next time their paths cross he may regret that decision.

They were smart to create this film at the studio Madhouse who originally adapted the anime in 1998. The film looks just like the anime: the animation and characters look great, the story has the same feel as an anime episode and they kept a lot of the original things that made the anime feel really original and fresh. It's also really nice to see Trigun with a higher budget, the animation is very smooth and there's more room for explosions and better battle scenes!

The movie adds two new characters that really fit the look (even if the character Amelia seems to look slightly more like the style of some of Madhouse's more recent anime) and act and have a motivation/story that really fits into the Trigun world.

But that being said, I'm actually really glad that this movie is a stand alone story that doesn't rely on the anime's plot. Also because the movie came out 12 years after the anime finished! I watched them probably that far apart also, so I was relieved that not too much called directly back to the anime. And they give Vash a good enough entrance/introduction that you could be introduced to Trigun through this film. When I was first getting into anime, it was much harder to find and see than it is today, so I'd hear names of popular series and not have access to them, but then maybe I'd find just a film or OVA and that would be my introduction to a series, and I'd go back and watch the stuff that came before it, if I liked it. So I really like how you could do that with this movie.

Something that is probably just a result of trying to adapt a 20-something minute an episode show into a 90 minute movie the movie is the movie really slow for the first half and they take a lot of time with things they would have normally just skipped or done faster. Also the plot twist is pretty unspectacular.

I'm not sure if this is true, but apparently this film was marketed as "Vash vs. Wolfwood!" originally. I'm sorry to anyone who walked in expecting that because though the film does deliver that. It's done in a really crappy way. So much so that it's pretty much just humorous in retrospect. The action lasts less than a minute, so seriously don't look forward to the film just for that. I actually think though they could have put a full fight in there (or maybe even just half?) and I would have bumped this film up at least half a star or so!)

If you know anything about Trigun, you know that they couldn't kill Vash in a movie that takes place in the middle of the series, so when they "kill off" Vash in this movie it's no surprise that he comes back. But what I really liked about his "death" is that it allows the other characters to really contemplate and give a deeper look into Vash's 'no killing' rhetoric and the vows he tries to live by, this in my opinion was the best part of the film and made the whole movie worth it.

Trigun: Badlands Rumble (2010) is a good stand alone movie to one of my top anime series of all time. I actually think this could be something they could keep doing and making more movies that are stand alone and take place in the middle of the series somewhere (and hopefully they'd get better), but unfortunately this anime wasn't actually that big of a hit inside Japan so this may be the only movie this series will get. But for what it's worth it's a decent story and a cool watch whether you've seen the anime or not. 3.5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!





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