Appleseed Ex Machina (Two-Disc Special Edition)

1 rating: 3.0

Art House & International and Science Fiction & Fantasy movie directed by Shinji Aramaki

Produced by John Woo and directed by Shinji Aramaki,Appleseed Ex Machina(2007) ranks as the most elaborate, stylish, and violent of the three adaptations of Masamune Shirow's manga. When it was released in 1988, the originalAppleseedfelt like a summary … see full wiki

Tags: Movies

Cast: Shinpachi Tsuji, Kôichi Yamadera, Ai Kobayashi, Yûji Kishi, Kong Kuwata

Director: Shinji Aramaki

1 review about Appleseed Ex Machina (Two-Disc Special Edition)

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Sequel to the 2004 Appleseed film

Nov 17, 2009

by ljaesch
posted in ASIANatomy

Rating:

Appleseed Ex Machina is the sequel to the 2004 Appleseed film that was directed by Shinji Aramaki. It continues the story of Deunan and Briareos, and also introduces a couple of new characters (Tereus and Aeacus).

The languages menu for the Appleseed Ex Machina DVD is a little on the frustrating side. It is done in such a way that the language option for each country is written in that respective country's language. Unfortunately, this means that the Japanese and Chinese options are written with the Japanese and Chinese characters. If you want to choose either of those as a language option, you have to have some familiarity with the written characters. Also, after you choose the language, you are automatically returned to the main menu. In order to indicate that you want subtitles, you have to return to the languages menu and choose the subtitles.

The regular release of Appleseed Ex Machina also has two short documentaries on it. The first is "Team Up: John Woo and Shinji Aramaki." This runs for about sixteen and a half minutes, and through interviews with Shinji Aramaki, crew members, and anime journalists, you find out what each of these individuals brought to Appleseed Ex Machina. The other documentary is "Revolution: Animating Ex Machina." This runs for about eighteen and a half minutes, and it talks about how the animation was done for the film, and it also delves a little bit into the English dubbing for the project. The trailers feature only includes two anime-related trailers (both of which are for the live-action version of Speed Racer). There is also an audio commentary.

There was also a two-disc special edition version released for Appleseed Ex Machina. The second disc includes two documentaries. The first is "The Appleseed Chronicles." It runs for about twenty minutes, and goes into the history of the Appleseed manga. Personally, I was a little disappointed that this feature never touched on the 1988 OVA version of Appleseed or the 2004 Appleseed film directed by Shinji Aramaki. The other documentary is "East Meets West," and it runs for about eighteen and a half minutes. This feature talks about how anime crossed over into the west, and how various terms and ideas involved with anime have been cross-pollinated between the Japanese and American cultures.

In my opinion, Appleseed Ex Machina was a strong follow-up to the Appleseed film. The computer animation used in this film is even better than in the first film, and there are some shots and sequences where you truly feel like you're watching a live-action film.

Appleseed Ex Machina is a PG-13 rated film. It's a violent film, so I really wouldn't recommend it for young children. However, if you're a fan of the first Appleseed movie, you won't be disappointed by Appleseed Ex Machina. It's a DVD that should be in the anime library of anyone who considers themselves a fan of Appleseed.

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