SUMMARY
Neo-Nazis have a
plan to engulf the world in darkness. They are going to use a young
woman named Tomoko to awaken Tenja-oh, goddess of evil. Once that is
done, the world will be plunged into hell!
Only one man can stop it, Tomoko's brother Akira. He is also
known by another name, Kujaku warrior of the light.
In Tibet, the final battle between light and dark will be decided as
brother and sister fight for control of the world.
DVD
VISION TEST
VIDEO: Decent. The colors
are clear and the image is sharp although there are some light moments. While there
is film grain and specks, these are from the source material.
AUDIO: This DVD has 3 tracks. There is very little
difference between the Japanese and English 2.0 audio tracks. What
difference there is will depend on your equipment.
The Japanese 2.0 directors commentary is center speaker
based with Rintaro's and the interviewers voice coming from the
center. You do not get any audio from the movie.
EDITS: The Japanese opening and closing titles have been replaced with
English titles. No other edits have been noticed.
EXTRAS: What extras. There is the CPM trailer for Spirit Warrior,
and an art gallery. Ho hum. There is also a directors commentary,
with Rintar.
WIDESCREEN
REVIEW
STORY: The screenplay
by Kazuhiro Inaba and Tatsuhiko Urahata is pretty basic. Based off
the manga my Makoto Ogino, Spirit of Darkness is your typical good against
evil anime. What little plot there is takes a back seat to the
action.
ACTING: The English cast is okay, but it sounds better in
Japanese. No one really stands out, but they do a fine job.
FAN SERVICE: Well, there is the lovely Tomoko giving us plenty of butt
shots. We also get to see one of her boobies!
I am sure there are plenty of references to the manga, but I don't know
what they are.
CONCLUSION:
I'm sure everyone
has had an instance when they are flipping around channels, and they come
across the end of a really cool movie. Your are there, totally
engrossed in the events going on, and then it's over, leaving you disappointed
that you didn't see the first part. That's what viewing Spirit
Warrior: Regent of Darkness is like. It's a cool flick, at the end
of the story.
Noticed I said cool, not great. This is nothing new at all.
We have seen these kinds of battles in countless films. From "Twilight
of the Dark Master" to "X". What makes Spirit of
Darkness cool is the visuals and Rintaro's lighting paced action.
The animation is nothing less that what we have come to expect from
Madhouse. Very detailed, with clear and distinctive
characters. You know exactly what they are about just by the way the
look. Combine that with Rintaro's excellent direction, and you have
one of the slickest looking anime ever to be produced.
I wish there had
been more with the Nazis. Like any good villain, they look really
cool and very evil. From the black Captain Houshoffer to the heavily
armored Storm troopers, they fit the bill perfectly. They seem to be
really evil, but as this is the end of the series, we only get to see the
tail tell end of their reign.
I think that CPM should do a better job at
marketing this film. They neglect to mention that is the second half
of the Spirit Warrior (Peacock King) story. If they had, I would
have gotten a copy of volume 1. Then I could get the whole story,
and not feel like I was watching half a movie.
I was a little disappointed
with the directors commentary. It had very little to do with the
movie, and more to do with Rintaro. The interviewer devotes too much time
to talking about the origin of Rintaro's name, the different meanings of
the word "Shin", and why Rintaro doesn't like big breasts
(answer: he is an ass man!).
Spirit
Warrior is an great looking action flick! It's just not a well
written story. Don't let the name "Rintaro" influence you
into buying this movie. Other wise, you may feel like I did watching
"Red Planet"; "Where did the first half of the movie
go?"
For
a different take on things, visit our friends at Destroy All Monsters.com!
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