By the year 2001, we know this much to be true: there are animated films (or what passes for an animated film), and there is “”Akira,”” the technologically superior mind-screw that undoubtedly will be considered ahead of its time decades from now.
Proving their worth in the DVD race, Pioneer has released the cult classic in a digitalformat that finally gives the masterpiece justice, a full 13 years after the film’s originalrelease. Trust me, the wait was worth it.
Set in the year 2019 – which we’re told is 31 years after WWIII – “”Akira”” dumps us smackdab into the heart of the futuristic, war-torn shell of Neo Tokyo, a ravaged metropolis. Avirtual military state, Neo Tokyo plays home to corrupt government officials, misinformedscientists and teenage gangs who wage death-defying motorcycle battles through the city’scluttered streets.It’s at the conclusion of one of these duels that Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki) encounters apale, abandoned child with devastating powers. The child blows Tetsuo off his cycle, andbefore he can recover (but not before his friends can witness it), both the rider and thechild are abducted by an unidentified military organization.Tetsuo’s gang members – a futuristic version of the Jets from “”West Side Story”” if thatgroup abused LSD – vow to rescue their friend from the unknown assailants. Theirunofficial leader, Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata), makes very little progress in his search beforeTetsuo shows up again. But something’s very different. Tetsuo has powers, presumablygiven to him by the group that abducted him, and he may not be strong enough (or livelong enough) to control them. Before they can get to the root of Tetsuo’s problems,Kaneda and his new friend, Kei (Mami Koyama), will have to solve the riddle of Akira, anage-old mystery that has the power to reduce the city of Neo Tokyo to a pile of dust.””Akira”” belongs to that unique and bizarre group of films that actually deserves theaccolades heaped on them. Dipping into my “”Critic’s Thesaurus,”” I’ve come up withinnovative, miraculous, groundbreaking, spellbinding, mystifying and revolutionary, forstarters. But “”Akira”” earns one other adjective, and that’s gory. The graphic,adult-oriented material rarely pulls punches, as characters are gunned down, impaled,sliced and imploded. Tetsuo even loses a limb, only to replace it with wires and computerbits. And that says nothing of his gargantuan fate, which I’ll leave for you to explore.The film is drawn in classic Japanese anime, which is slightly different from the””Pokemon”” features you or your kids have plodded through. The animation here is equallyunpolished, but sharp. The scratchy, rigid edges seem deliberate, and the film’s visuals aregorgeous. Cleaned up digitally, the colors sing and the backgrounds command yourattention. “”Akira,”” however, does boast a few too many original ideas, contributing to the film’slength. At 124 minutes, the film overstays it’s welcome by about 20-odd minutes, leadingto not one but two conclusions, with the second confrontation between Tetsuo andKaneda being far less satisfactory than the first. But even “”Akira””‘s weakest moments holdour attention, proving that this classic will be winning over fans for years to come.GRADE: A-THE EXTRASPioneer packaged the 2-disc “”Akira”” collection in an unprecedented metallic case. It feelsfuturistic, but it also feels heavy. The books that accompany the disc don’t really fit intothe case (they’re too small), the cardboard outside is too big for the case (and it detaches,which is annoying), and the name of the movie in not listed on the case’s spine. Visually,it’s snazzy, but far from practical. But who worries about the case? (I guess I do…)What we really care about is the extras, and there are plenty. “”Akira”” carries over 100minutes of production footage, from an interview with director Katsuhiro Otomo tointerviews with the restoration team. There are “”Akira”” Sound Clips by Geinoh YamashiroGumi, a production featurette, as well as five trailers and TV spots from Japan (withsubtitles, of course).But “”Akira”” knows its strength lies in its visuals, and the DVD packs in 4,500 capturedstill images from the film. They’re spectacular to view, and they show how much time andeffort went into the film’s restoration.GRADE: A-OVERALL EXPERIENCEHaving never seen “”Akira”” before watching the disc, I am very surprised how much Ienjoyed it. For all the talk about the film’s animation and visuals, it also has an extremelyengrossing story boasting classic “”good vs. evil”” elements, and characters you can getbehind. “”Akira”” encompasses so many different genres – from anime to sci fi, from actionto thriller – that it’s hard not to find something (or several things) to like.FINAL GRADE: A-