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Armitage III Poly-Matrix (Geneon Signature Series)

Armitage III Poly-Matrix (Geneon Signature Series)

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Overall: Great
Review: I have seen many anime's (and own a lot as well) and I must say that this one definately suprised me. I thought it had great animation (definately theater quality) As for the dubbing, you got some big names doing the voices. I feel that kiefer sutherland did great at doing his part. As for elizabeth berkley, it took me a while to get use to it, but while the story unfold's, you realize how great her voice fits the role as well. Not to mention, this movie has great re-viewing properties, I was more than happy to watch this movie twice in a row (which I did!) Not to mention, it can get a little confusing, but the plot by the end is easy to understand, and the movie stays in your mind. It's hard to compare, but it's easy to prove that's it's good. You should for sure buy this if you are a anime fan. If your trying out the genre, this is a great start to your collection along with akira and ghost in the shell. Also, there definately is violence, but when the rating says "brief nudity" they mean it, there really wasn't much nudity at all, maybe 1 or 2 scenes that I can remember, which lasted for a few seconds. Not to many extra feature's, but the menu screen is put together very well. This movie is all around good, I don't know if the best, but definately on the top row of my collection!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This could have been one of the great classics...
Review: I only gave Armitage 3 stars as it does not come close to it's incredible potential. It is a good retelling of Bladerunner from the replicant/robot perspective. Yet it lacks so much. The character design was unusual for anime as it tries to make human features as real and imperfect as possible to contrast the artificially perfect beauty of the robots. Yet the animation and art seemed rushed and almost shoddy. The "slide show" jogging scene is a good example. The plot was deep and complex but was grossly undeveloped. Jumping from scene to scene without lead-ins or connections made the movie disjointed. The relationships that are so pivotal to the movie appear out of nowhere. Kiefer's dubbing is a little stilted. He pulls off the strong, but silent detective role perfectly, but when emotion is called for he can't make it work. Elizabeth Berkley's performance was really good, though. Most of my complaints can be blamed on editing. My first thought when the movie finished was that it should have been at least 10 minutes longer in order to fully develop the plot and characters. Before writing this I read a few of the reviews below and now it all makes sense. It turns out that this movie should have been twice as long since it was first a full series which was edited down to a mere 90 minutes. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, but I see so much that could be improved. If you enjoy anime definitely buy this as it is better than 80% of what is available. I only gave it 3 stars, but I am really picky. The DVD itself is very well put together. The menus are quite good. There are some extras, but not a lot. The "jump to scene" menu is a real treat as it has 10 separate screens, each of which has a different song from the soundtrack. I will now go and search for the series as I really want to see this work as a whole.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Skip This -- Get The OAV
Review: There are tons of great reviews for this movie. That's understandable if none of them have seen the original OAV series this came from. See, back in 1994-1995, a 4-part OAV series called "Armitage III" came out in Japan. "Poly-Matrix" takes that 140-minute series and hacks it down to ~90-minutes. Thus this 1997 dub-title is born. So a lot of the story gets cut and things aren't nearly as good as the original. If you've seen the original, you'll be annoyed at all of the cuts and poor edit choices.

As to the dub cast (there is no Japanese cast on a dub-title as they simply re-edit an original Japanese product for American consumption), having big stars lend their voices makes it a better dub than a lot of anime titles/series. But it doesn't make up for the complete and utter hack job the series was given to form this movie.

Bottom line: If you thought this was good, the OAV is tons better. If you haven't seen this, get the OAV instead.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sophisticated Bladerunner type movie
Review: I recently saw the uncut Bladerunner after 10+ years. It triggered a desire in me to rewatch Armitage III after a couple of years. A3 was one of my first anime, when I caught it on television. I thought it was good then, but didn't watch more anime because of it's lack of availability and my lack of further exposure.

Vivid animation. Great action. Strong emotions. Famous, good voice actors (may be easier convince non-anime friends to watch). [Side note, I really liked Keifer Sutetherland in "Dark City"]

After seeing it again, I must say there are strong resembelences to Bladerunner's vision of the future. Human-like, thinking and feeling androids are being systemically persecuted and assasinated. A human cop who's partner had been killed by an android is assigned to investigate, with his new partner, Armitage. She is very strong willed and emotional, but is also revealed to be an android. I really felt for Armitage, who is a good person, when she suffers an emotional breakdown because she thinks she is a worthless because she is an artifical life.

The story moves at a much faster pace than Bladerunner. I enjoyed it the second time as much as the first, since you then understand the fairly complex story from the beginning.

If you like Bladerunner, you'll love A3.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Armitage III IS THE BEST ONE OUT THERE!
Review: I've been hooked on Naomi Armitage ever since I saw Poly-Matrix on Sci-Fi a few years ago. I quickly went out and bought the movie. The story is excellent, including the best anime soundtrack ever created. It is very easy to become attached to Armitage as you watch the movie, and you begin to feel for her. Kudos to Hyroyuki Ochi on this film. If you like anime, or even if you don't know much about it, see this movie, I guarantee you will love it! With the realease of the sequel, Armitage: Dual Matrix, I went nuts. Of course I didn't buy the double set, but I grabbed the Lunchbox set instead, since I have the original version of the McFarlane figure. Let me not that Poly-Matrix started as a 4-part series, and was broken down to make the movie. I recommend buying the 4 part series as well, that way you'll get the hour missing from Poly-Matrix. I fell in love with Armitage III, and you will too!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A Short and Hacked-up version of the OAV's
Review: I rented this DVD expecting a typical anime movie. What I got was a wonderfully animated film -with no plot whatsoever! The reason that I even sat through the entire thing was because the Japanese AND English voice acting was good, a rarity for anime. Don't get me wrong, the animation is top-notch, and the DVD has crystal clarity. However, there is one thing that absolutely shoots this movie into the toilet. Armitage III was originally a series of 4 original animation videos (OAVs), all of which added up to about 2 hours 20 minutes of animation. Well, on the DVD there is only 1 hour 30 minutes worth of animation. That's nearly an hour that was hacked off! This does not do wonders for the storyline, which resembles a movie that has been spliced and re-spliced about 20 different times with incongruous scenes. In fact, the movie's only saving grace is the fact that some of the good elements from the OAVs, such as the voice acting and animation, are still present.

Do yourself a favor. Do not, under any circumstances, buy this DVD! It does the OAV series, which is absolutely wonderful, no justice at all. Get the original series as it was meant to be seen, and I guarantee you will be much happier. I am, because I now own all 4 OAVs and have never again set my eyes on the Poly-Matrix "movie". I suggest that you do the same.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Skip This -- Get The OAV
Review: There are tons of great reviews for this movie. That's understandable if none of them have seen the original OAV series this came from. See, back in 1994-1995, a 4-part OAV series called "Armitage III" came out in Japan. "Poly-Matrix" takes that 140-minute series and hacks it down to ~90-minutes. Thus this 1997 dub-title is born. So a lot of the story gets cut and things aren't nearly as good as the original. If you've seen the original, you'll be annoyed at all of the cuts and poor edit choices.

As to the dub cast (there is no Japanese cast on a dub-title as they simply re-edit an original Japanese product for American consumption), having big stars lend their voices makes it a better dub than a lot of anime titles/series. But it doesn't make up for the complete and utter hack job the series was given to form this movie.

Bottom line: If you thought this was good, the OAV is tons better. If you haven't seen this, get the OAV instead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Thought provoking
Review: Armitage III - Poly Matrix is in a class all its own. Almost as if it were an anime version of Bladerunner, Ross and Armitage hunt down and destroy thirds. Similar in theme to Metropolis (2001), the characters are fixers in a world of technology gone awry. It is gritty, sassy and a bit graphic and is not for the weak of heart. Much has been said about the graphics but little is mentioned about the implications of the story of a sentient robot out to destroy her own. Unlike Ghost in the Shell, which focuses on the issue of cyborgs -- this one is steeped with robot lore. As part of the big four (Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Princess Mononoke, and the Armitage series) is a necessary element to appreciating this ever changing and very dynamic genre. Hyroyuki Ochi, although creating something short of a classic, has created a thought provoking saga.

Miguel Llora

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not solid but close enough
Review: The beginning of this video is quite slow. For about 25 minutes i wasnt impressed at all but once the plot kicks in a little bit things get a whole lot better. I didnt like how weak they conveyed Naomi to be though. Anyways the fight scenes are great and the animation isnt bad at all. The plot isnt to loose either. When i first saw it I was quite impressed and actually remembered the title only to buy it a year later. Still awesome. Naomi is hot too.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Buy This DVD, not the 2-Pack !
Review: This is my favorite anime movie that I've seen so far. I hear some people complain about the voices, but I love he voices. Especially Kiefer Sutherland's. The music is phenomenal, the action is great and perfectly distributed through the plot, and the plot is great if you can follow the last 10 minutes (just watch it two or three times tops and you will definitely have it). All this + Naomi Armitage is hot + Cool costumes = A perfect formula.

On a final note:
Dual Matrix [stinks], do not buy the 2-pack.


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