review
Avalon
Review By: Matthew Anderson
Cinema: Japanese (Filmed in Poland)
Company: Miramax
Running Time: 107 minutes
Region: 1
Rated: R (Violence)
SHORT VIEW
Avalon is a virtual
reality game where players immerse themselves in
simulated combat. Part of a team or by yourself, the more you play,
the more money and points you can earn. When you earn enough, you
can move up to Special A, the toughest level of the game. However,
if you are not careful, your mind can become trapped in the game, unable
to "reset".
In Avalon, Ash is one of the best players around. She is constantly head hunted for either her skills, or because taking her out will help a player move up a level. Once she belonged to a team called "Wizard", the best of the best. Yet after one fateful mission, the team disbanded.
On her way to play Avalon, Ash encounters former team mate Stunner. He tells her that there is a ghost, a bug in the system, that might be a portal to Special A. He also tells her that former Wizard leader Murphy has "lost his mind", and is now a vegetable.
As she investigates this supposed ghost, Ash encounters a group that is trying to make it to the next level. They need her and her skills to draw out and kill the ghost.
Ash soon discovers that there is more going on than what she sees. If she is not careful, then she may find herself trapped in the virtual world, unable to reset.
THE LONG VIEW
VIDEO: This is direct
transfer of the source material.
There is a lot of film grain through out the movie. As most of this movie was
filmed in sepia tones, most worries about color errors are nonexistent. There are no
noticeable pixels or technical
errors. It is a lot better than the original VHS release.
AUDIO: This DVD has 3 tracks. The English 5.1,
French 5.1 and Polish 5.1 are all exactly the same. Each has a rich, full bodied quality, and plenty of surround
sound. As this is a dialogue based movie,
there is not a lot of need for surround sound.
EDITS: No edits to the actual movie. There is a lot of additional exposition on the English dub track, and they use dub titles instead of direct translation subtitles.
EXTRAS: There is an interview with director Mamoru Oshii and a very in-depth look at the Special Effects of Avalon.
STORY: Writer Kazanori Itoh once again tackles many of the themes
presented in Ghost in the Shell. What makes a human? How do
you tell the difference between what is real and what isn't? There
is a lot of deep introspection, heavy handed social commentary, and very,
very slow pacing.
ACTING: The acting of the original Polish cast is pretty low key. Every one is either too cool to speak, or busy trying to kill each other. Many of the characters prefer to speak with body language than actual words.
Malgorzata Foremniak pretty much has to carry the movie, and she does it well. In Avalon, she is a kick ass heroin. In the "real world", she is a introverted, bookish woman, who occasionally forgets that she is not in the game all the time.
The English dub is not that great, and the French dub is okay.
FAN SERVICE: Well, you see Ash in her undershirt and panties, but it's not very sexy. A German Mauser, like the one used in Oshii's other live action films is used by Ash. There are also more than a few passing visual references to "Ghost in the Shell".
Like all his movies, Mamoru Oshii's basset hound makes an appearance.
THE 2 VIEW
Avalon is
one of the better live action film by prolific director Mamoru Oshii. Like all
of his movies, this is a deep film, with strong visuals, intriguing
concepts, and lots of dull moments.
It starts off pretty cool, with an impressive action sequence. While it may not be as gee wiz as "The Matrix", it's better than most low budget films. From there we enter a large amount of slow time. When Stunner arrives, things start to pick up, but only just. Oshii uses this down time to establish mood. He shows a bleak and under populated world. The only places people seem to congregate is at the Avalon game rooms or the government cafeterias. He shows a world devoid of culture, color, and even friendship. He shows a lot of things, with a lot of quiet.
As you can guess, this is not an action film. It's one of those kind of films where you can find a lot of meaning in almost everything. The visuals are striking with out being flashy. They communicate a lot of information about the world. When the action sequences start, they are pretty cool and really pick things up. The CG and live actors are blended so perfectly you can't tell what is real and what isn't.
Malgorzata Foremniak is very sexy with out being overtly so. She is a tough looking, hard core fighter, at least in the game. Yet, despite her bookish and quite persona in the real world, she retains her sexiness. With the glasses, she reminds me of the Baroness from G.I. Joe. Here is hoping that if they do a live action G.I. Joe, she is their first choice for her.
Fans of Mamoru Oshii have been waiting for Avalon for quite a while. Yet, these same fans were not sure if they wanted a US release. Many were worried that it was going to be English dub only, and that Miramax has an annoying habit of releasing Hong Kong films in a dub only format, and heavily edited at times.
Miramax actually did a decent job, but it's not perfect.
On the positive side; the original Polish language track was retained. Truly, it is the only way to really enjoy this film. I never knew Polish would sound so cool. It's hard like Russian, but it has a melodic tone, that makes it almost poetic. I have heard the Japanese track, and the voices were all wrong for the characters.
Technically, the audio and video are very nice. As this movie was pretty gritty, it may appear that the transfer is bad. It's the source print that makes it so. The intensity and mix of the audio is the same on all three tracks. Give it up to Miramax for ensuring that part of the DVD was top notch.
The extras were more than what I had expected. The feature on the special effects was quite informative. You see exactly how much hard work went into the movie. The Oshii interview was like his films, informative but boring. It seems that France embraces Japanese films more so than the US. This is the second film (Verses being the first) that had special features from the French release. I do wish we had gotten the trailers, concept art, and other things that make the DVD format so interesting.
Now, we get to the negatives, and there are a few. First is the dub. It's pretty weak. First of all, there is no need to adopt Polish accents. If you are going to watch it in English, do you care they are from Poland? Second, the acting is not that great. The voices don't match the characters very well, and some of them give a pretty dull reading. I will say that the sync is one of the best I have ever seen, anime or live action.
Moving on from the dub is the ADR script. As typical with many foreign releases, a lot of exposition is included in the script. This is usually done to help explain some of the cultural issues and plot points that may be a little too obscure to figure out. However, part of what makes Avalon such an interesting movie is that Oshii doesn't spell it out for you. I suspect that Miramax was going for a "Blade Runner"/Sam Spade kind of vibe with Ash. It doesn't really work.
Last, and perhaps the biggest issue
with fans, is the subtitles for the film. There are two; a dub title
of the English track missing the opening voice over, and a dub title of
the English track missing the ending voice over. The fact that it's
not a direct translation is bad enough. By screwing up the
subtitles, there are gaps where people are talking, and there are no
subtitles, or people are not talking, and there are subtitles.
Frankly, I am surprised that this disc passed quality control.
Avalon is not a movie for everyone. While a slow paced, methodical film, it has an intriguing concept. It makes you tap into the right side of your brain. If you only buy two Oshii films, make it Avalon and Red Spectacles. The first and last Oshii films truly represent his best work.