Customer Reviews

Black Magic M-66

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Masamune Shirow scores another home run in Black Magic: M66. This is one of his earlier and sometimes lesser known works, done in collaboration with Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Blood: The Last Vampire). Shirow is probably better known in the U.S. for Ghost in the Shell, Dominion Tank Police, and both versions of Appleseed. All of these were Manga before being brought over to the video media, and all of Shirow's titles make you think, with deep reaching social issues that transcend the animated action.

Black Magic: Mario M66 is the story of a journalist who falls into the middle of a top-secret Government experiment with robotic assassins. One robot malfunctions and goes rogue - and sets off to assassinate it's pre-programmed target. In this case, the daughter of the scientist who designed the assassins. Over the next 50 minutes, the journalist must protect the girl and uncover the secret of the assassins.

Black Magic follows Shirow's tradition of creating a strong female lead character who takes charge of the situation and does her best to save the day. Shirow's women usually breach the gender gap as Law Enforcement officers, Government agents, soldiers, and in this case a hard-nosed news woman who won't take no for an answer.

Black Magic is an excellent, if short, example of Japanese Animation. I highly recommend it's addition to your collection.

The government with the help of its engineers created the ultimate killing machine; two robots, virtually indestructible, armed with auto-defenses and very intelligent. Both robots were being shipped by secret plane, but a thunderstorm causes the plane to crash land. Both robots escape the wreckage undamaged, except that they are malfunctioning, they want to kill all humans. They end up wiping out a military platoon and killing more innocent people, until a news reporter gets involved to help stop the two robots. The character design are pudgy faced and a bit ugly, so are the robots, but the action sequences are very exciting. My biggest disappointment was the fact that BMM66 is way too short. The whole movie was so exciting that I wanted it to be longer. It is rumored that American director James Cameron, got the idea for his, Terminator movie from this anime. You too will notice the similarities when you see this anime. Violence and blood at mild levels, but nothing extreme- for teenagers and adults. I also recommend the anime called "Cyber City Oedo"

If you can find this movie used or really cheap, it's a good deal. It's not the best transfer or the deepest story, but it's got action and a cool robot that destroys things. It's a bit short, but that's okay. If it were longer, it would probably need a better story to justify sitting through the whole thing. It's a fun, old-school anime for those who want just that.

This is a good "starter anime" that portrays what is possible in this genre. A decent story is brought to life through terrific animation and non-stop action. My only complaint is the length...or lack of. Rent it. Or buy it if you can find the rare combo version which packages Black Magic M-66 along with Riding Bean.

This is a five-star classic anime, but the DVD looses one star for having a not-so-great video transfer.

Black Magic M-66 is loads of fun and beautifully animated. The story is very similar to that of The Terminator movie, but more fast paced. What gets me about this show is just how scary the killer robots are. You will feel a very real sense of danger when you see these robots in action. Just the way they move is creepy.

This classic anime is a very entertaining ride, while it lasts. Unfortunately, the video quality is poor; it looks like a low-resolution video you would see on the internet with noticeable pixelation. I'd love to see Black Magic M-66 remastered some day, because it's a great show.

This is a finely tuned entertainment engine that showcases excellent vehicular, 'bot and character designs. The protagonist has a nice normal feel to her: she can't leap fifty feet into the air and she doesn't carry a twelve foot sword--she doesn't even have a sword. She's a photo journalist on the trail of a hot story that just might involve some sort of military screw up. Even the androids, terrifying as they are, are designed with an eye towards making them much more believable than they might otherwise be. They are my favourite animé robots, and I place them amongst such fine company as Gort (The day the earth stood Still), Robbie (Forbidden Planet) and Rotwang's Robot (Metropolis, 1926)

For my Yen, M-66 boasts the best fight scenes of any animé, specifically a nighttime battle between the fearsome female warbots and human military units. That said, the animation quality is on par with other shows from the early to mid 80's such as bubble Gum Crisis and another of my favourites, the Crusher Joe movie. Some may be turned off by the rougher animation quality, but be assured there is an excellent if pared down story from the mind of Masasumé Shirow, the creator Ghost in the Shell and Dominion: Tank Police.

This is the only show that for me actually generated and built honest-to-god suspense during the final, spectacular sequence. Full marks to the killy robo babes modeled after the Dirty Pair's kai and Uri!

This is a real gem, 50 minutes of pure joy and brain-massage, ahhhh.

In a nutshell, it's Terminator gone animated, with a cutesy cast and some great fights with the killer robots - keep your overblown plots and twists which don't make sense, this is what entertainment is all about.

I don't care if this is a short film to me it's still good. A journalist gets caught up in mess and now shes the one that is protecting the girl.

Typical anime. Not bad, not amazing though. I still buy it again if i could go back.

To me, Black Magic M-66's biggest flaws come in the plot holes (sometimes laughable) and it's extremely short length. However, I can't say that I'd want the movie to run much longer than it does, because it seems like it paces itself well enough...it's just that the story is pretty cut-and-dry and the majority of the movie is a wild goose chase after an inventor's daughter (who is the one being targeted by the assassin-robot)...so, it ended when it should have, otherwise it could have become extremely tedious.
The assassin-bot is definitely freaky as all hell,and there is a lot of good suspense in this flick, along with some occassional gore and some brief nudity.
Overall, I must say that you should NOT spend the money on this DVD unless you're looking at it's historical significance in anime...find a dog-eared VHS copy, or, if a friend has a copy then duplicate it.
To me, this flick doesn't feel essential for most of the casual anime-viewers out there...hardcore fans however -- enjoy.

this is the worst movie manga ever made in the previews it look like it had a lot of action when i got home to see it i was very disapointed it was a boring triller i brought it back and exchanged it the same day