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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Kiriya Kazuaki’s spectacular Casshern is an impressive marriage of live action drama and animated effects that, taken together, look like something both very old and very new in cinema. A wild, science fiction tale with an echo or two of Bladerunner, Casshern is set in a dystopian future following a 50-year-long war between Europe and Asia. The latter wins, calling the resulting Eurasia the "Eastern Federation," but the high-tech weapons used in the battle have affected the whole of mankind through widespread devastation and illness. A geneticist whose son, Tetsuya (Yusuke Iseya), has gone off to fight terrorists, promises the military his work on "neo cells" will result in the cultivation of spare human parts for the wounded and afflicted. But two unexpected results occur: a small band of superhuman mutants rise up out of the scientist’s chemical muck, and Tetsuya--killed in battle--is brought back to life with his own superpowers. While the mutants rise up against the human race, Tetsuya, now known as "Casshern," takes them on against a fascinating psychological backdrop with Oedipal overtones. The film’s look of hyperreal, pop culture pastiche (in which action often evokes the look of 1930s movie serials blended with a whirl of dreamy, free-associating images) is reaching for the same thing as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. But it is much grander in its effort. --Tom Keogh
Product Description
After 50 years of bitter warfare in the late 21st century, a new crisis looms. A threat to the future and the overall existence of mankind. But, there is hope a savior will emerge… Casshern. Casshern is an action-packed, sci-fi thriller that blends Japanamation and manga-inspired live action to create a new hybrid form of filmmaking that is both visually stunning and thought provoking.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Please do yourself a favor, if you saw the action-packed trailer, forget it!
October 1, 2007
Format:DVD
CASSHERN is loosely based on the Japanese anime in the 1970's called "Casshan Robot fighter" which was in turn adapted into the live-action TV series. Highly stylized and visually stunning, "CASSHERN" gives you that first impression that it is a drag-out robot smashing action film as its trailer suggests. However, there is more to this film than first meets the eye.
Plot synopsis derived from the dvd back cover/slip sleeve:
An alternate world with an alternate history.
The world is divided between two opposing alliances. After fifty years of bitter warfare, the Greater Eastern Federation triumphs over the Europan forces and gains control over the Eurasian continent. However, this is a hollow victory. Years of chemical, biological and nuclear war have ravaged the land; draining its resources and left an exhausted population at the mercy of every pestilence and newly-mutated disease. With the war ravaged world, hope dwindles for humanity's future. Remaining leaders debate over the chances of finding some way to stave off the seemingly-inevitable decline of civilization. One man comes forward with a possible solution. Dr. Azuma is a geneticist who proposes a "neo-cell" treatment that can rejuvenate the body and regenerate humankind. He's driven in his studies by a desire to save his beloved wife, Midori, from the ravages of a pollution-caused rare disease. He appeals for funding to the government but the selfish politicians in the Health division rejects his proposals, fearing that the new technology may threaten their entrenched powers.
However, a sinister faction in the powerful military makes an offer to Dr. Azuma to provide the financial support he needs to further his research. When an incident occurs in the lab that sends the Professor's "neo-cell" cloning experiment haywire, a race of mutant human beings (Shinzo Ningen or Neo-Sapiens) is unleashed upon the world. Instead of being the savior of mankind, the Professor's miraculous technology looks set to threaten its very existence...
Desperate, the scientist exposes the dead body of his son, Tetsuya to the Neo-cell fluids. Tetsuya, now back from the dead with a new powerful body must become Casshern, to defend the GEF from the rogue "Neo-Sapiens" and their killer robots... (WHEW! I'm tired)
The premise of the film is the horror of war. It is basically a 140 minute anti-war movie. Casshern is a hard film to review, when I first saw it, it wasn't very clear what Tetsuya was fighting for. Now, I saw it for the 2nd time privy to this review, and I kind'a like its mythology. As with most anime, the film has its own share of philosophical storytelling; there are a lot of political, emotional, social, philosophical reasons for Tetsuya's struggle. He is very reluctant to fight again, being an ex-soldier. One might think that his goals are simple, that defending man's existence is his main goal. This is a Japanese film, so Tetsuya partly fights for something deep; Love.
There is a lot of content in Casshern. This fact may be good and bad. Perhaps I read too much between the lines, but its impact and message is too strong to ignore. The LAST thing this film is an action film. The film relies on provoking emotional responses from its characters; we see the horrors of war and what needs to be done to change it. The twist is; one MUST fight a war to effect such change.
Ok, I'm rambling. Casshern is a visual and aural feast for PS3/Xbox 360 fan boys. The visuals seem necessary to distract us from all the philosophy and the whole oedipal complex that is played heavily in the film. When Tetsuya starts smashing robots, with his one-on-one duels, the film takes a different tone. So, enough with the analysis! CASSHERN looks simply ASTOUNDING. The set designs, lurid cinematography and the CGI are all packaged in one cool film that is sure to be awe-inspiring. The top-notch eye-candy is sure to satisfy!
I own the region-3 release and I've seen the original region-2 Japanese release which both utilized the same impressive transfer. It is very likely that the U.S. release will look the same. I hope Amazon's specs are incorrect, the runtime amazon says is 80 minutes, the uncut film is 142 minutes.
VIDEO/AUDIO: ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN 2.40 RATIO. The picture is very nice and is intentionally enhanced to look almost like a `painting'. Colors are radiant, the contrast is sharp with very solid blacks. The Japanese 5.1 Dolby EX/6.1 DTS-ES is very powerful. English subs are excellent.
Parting thoughts:
Once you get over the fact that this is not an action film, viewers will appreciate the message that Casshern delivers. If you accept this film for what it is, you will be treated to an excellent piece of film-making. Casshern is definitely worth a watch, for CGI fans and even for those who aren't. This film takes its time setting things up so patience and attention is a must!
RECOMMENDED! (4 stars)
Plot synopsis derived from the dvd back cover/slip sleeve:
An alternate world with an alternate history.
The world is divided between two opposing alliances. After fifty years of bitter warfare, the Greater Eastern Federation triumphs over the Europan forces and gains control over the Eurasian continent. However, this is a hollow victory. Years of chemical, biological and nuclear war have ravaged the land; draining its resources and left an exhausted population at the mercy of every pestilence and newly-mutated disease. With the war ravaged world, hope dwindles for humanity's future. Remaining leaders debate over the chances of finding some way to stave off the seemingly-inevitable decline of civilization. One man comes forward with a possible solution. Dr. Azuma is a geneticist who proposes a "neo-cell" treatment that can rejuvenate the body and regenerate humankind. He's driven in his studies by a desire to save his beloved wife, Midori, from the ravages of a pollution-caused rare disease. He appeals for funding to the government but the selfish politicians in the Health division rejects his proposals, fearing that the new technology may threaten their entrenched powers.
However, a sinister faction in the powerful military makes an offer to Dr. Azuma to provide the financial support he needs to further his research. When an incident occurs in the lab that sends the Professor's "neo-cell" cloning experiment haywire, a race of mutant human beings (Shinzo Ningen or Neo-Sapiens) is unleashed upon the world. Instead of being the savior of mankind, the Professor's miraculous technology looks set to threaten its very existence...
Desperate, the scientist exposes the dead body of his son, Tetsuya to the Neo-cell fluids. Tetsuya, now back from the dead with a new powerful body must become Casshern, to defend the GEF from the rogue "Neo-Sapiens" and their killer robots... (WHEW! I'm tired)
The premise of the film is the horror of war. It is basically a 140 minute anti-war movie. Casshern is a hard film to review, when I first saw it, it wasn't very clear what Tetsuya was fighting for. Now, I saw it for the 2nd time privy to this review, and I kind'a like its mythology. As with most anime, the film has its own share of philosophical storytelling; there are a lot of political, emotional, social, philosophical reasons for Tetsuya's struggle. He is very reluctant to fight again, being an ex-soldier. One might think that his goals are simple, that defending man's existence is his main goal. This is a Japanese film, so Tetsuya partly fights for something deep; Love.
There is a lot of content in Casshern. This fact may be good and bad. Perhaps I read too much between the lines, but its impact and message is too strong to ignore. The LAST thing this film is an action film. The film relies on provoking emotional responses from its characters; we see the horrors of war and what needs to be done to change it. The twist is; one MUST fight a war to effect such change.
Ok, I'm rambling. Casshern is a visual and aural feast for PS3/Xbox 360 fan boys. The visuals seem necessary to distract us from all the philosophy and the whole oedipal complex that is played heavily in the film. When Tetsuya starts smashing robots, with his one-on-one duels, the film takes a different tone. So, enough with the analysis! CASSHERN looks simply ASTOUNDING. The set designs, lurid cinematography and the CGI are all packaged in one cool film that is sure to be awe-inspiring. The top-notch eye-candy is sure to satisfy!
I own the region-3 release and I've seen the original region-2 Japanese release which both utilized the same impressive transfer. It is very likely that the U.S. release will look the same. I hope Amazon's specs are incorrect, the runtime amazon says is 80 minutes, the uncut film is 142 minutes.
VIDEO/AUDIO: ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN 2.40 RATIO. The picture is very nice and is intentionally enhanced to look almost like a `painting'. Colors are radiant, the contrast is sharp with very solid blacks. The Japanese 5.1 Dolby EX/6.1 DTS-ES is very powerful. English subs are excellent.
Parting thoughts:
Once you get over the fact that this is not an action film, viewers will appreciate the message that Casshern delivers. If you accept this film for what it is, you will be treated to an excellent piece of film-making. Casshern is definitely worth a watch, for CGI fans and even for those who aren't. This film takes its time setting things up so patience and attention is a must!
RECOMMENDED! (4 stars)
23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
"Casshern" is a long, live-action Japanese special effects ("tokusatsu") film with some spectacular CGI. It's also a difficult film because it's based on 20th century history - World War II and its atrocities - set into layers of visual metaphor that can bewilder an American viewer. It's set in the near future, as an endless war between Europe and Asia has nearly wound down, with Asia victorious in a world polluted beyond redemption by industrial waste, military destruction, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and political corruption without parallel. Mutations and disease are out of control, though the seemingly saintly Dr. Azuma is trying to discover a cure, based on cells cultured from a primitive ethnic group that might serve to rejuvenate and heal people's physical wounds. Dr. Azuma's wife, a classically beautiful Japanese woman, is going blind, and Dr. Azuma is hoping to find a cure for her when he is recruited by the military to work for them. At the same time, his son joins the Imperial Army to prove to himself that he is not a coward, and abandons his fiancée for war.
The long story that builds from these complex and contradictory motivations leads through disasters and destruction involving all Asia and Europe. Historical depth is developed in prolonged steampunk images and anachronisms (Imperial Army officers use samurai swords; aircraft are sculpted to carry the Leader's face on the forward fuselage; robots make war against dirty and tired foot soldiers). Dr. Azuma is culturing human body parts - legs, arms - in old fashioned vats, but by an unexplained error, these body pieces come together and coalesce into a new, synthetic species, the Neoroids, who escape amidst carnage and machine gun fire. Dr. Azuma's son is killed at the front and returned for a hero's burial, but Dr. Azuma brings him to the rejuvenation vat and the son is reborn as Casshern, the potentially immortal savior of the world.
I mention these details because they are so misleading. For Americans familiar with the tropes of films like Star Wars, it's old hat or so jumbled that it makes no sense. But that's not what "Casshern" is about. From the outset, the viewer must understand - and I suspect that Japanese viewers understand it from the very first scene - that there are no good guys in this movie: none at all. None of the plot details, stunningly recreated in CGI, signals any victory: "Casshern" is an imagined *documentary* of the collapse of the world, the corrupt and chaotic death of all ideals in mud, filth, criminal stupidity, greed, and war. The body parts, including a vat filled with eyeballs being stirred by an old woman, have been removed from corpses killed by the Army to feed the need for rejuvenated soldiers. The son himself is one such killer, and his rebirth as Casshern signals not the birth of a hero, but the immortal and karmic continuation of his own inescapable crimes. The Neoroids' escape signals not their rebirth in purity, but revenge and hatred, and they become killers as evil as the humans who killed them in the first place and who now hunt them.
So beware of this film: it is not a geek-out festival of disconnected but spectacular CGI images, but instead is a deeply layered morality play about evil and the inescapable retaliation that evil generates. It is very Japanese indeed, and anyone expecting "Star Wars," with its black-and-white morality of Good Guys versus the Evil Empire, will be bewildered and upset. "Casshern" is hard to forget, especially the ending. Just don't think that it's mindless entertainment or eye candy. It isn't. Highly recommended.
The long story that builds from these complex and contradictory motivations leads through disasters and destruction involving all Asia and Europe. Historical depth is developed in prolonged steampunk images and anachronisms (Imperial Army officers use samurai swords; aircraft are sculpted to carry the Leader's face on the forward fuselage; robots make war against dirty and tired foot soldiers). Dr. Azuma is culturing human body parts - legs, arms - in old fashioned vats, but by an unexplained error, these body pieces come together and coalesce into a new, synthetic species, the Neoroids, who escape amidst carnage and machine gun fire. Dr. Azuma's son is killed at the front and returned for a hero's burial, but Dr. Azuma brings him to the rejuvenation vat and the son is reborn as Casshern, the potentially immortal savior of the world.
I mention these details because they are so misleading. For Americans familiar with the tropes of films like Star Wars, it's old hat or so jumbled that it makes no sense. But that's not what "Casshern" is about. From the outset, the viewer must understand - and I suspect that Japanese viewers understand it from the very first scene - that there are no good guys in this movie: none at all. None of the plot details, stunningly recreated in CGI, signals any victory: "Casshern" is an imagined *documentary* of the collapse of the world, the corrupt and chaotic death of all ideals in mud, filth, criminal stupidity, greed, and war. The body parts, including a vat filled with eyeballs being stirred by an old woman, have been removed from corpses killed by the Army to feed the need for rejuvenated soldiers. The son himself is one such killer, and his rebirth as Casshern signals not the birth of a hero, but the immortal and karmic continuation of his own inescapable crimes. The Neoroids' escape signals not their rebirth in purity, but revenge and hatred, and they become killers as evil as the humans who killed them in the first place and who now hunt them.
So beware of this film: it is not a geek-out festival of disconnected but spectacular CGI images, but instead is a deeply layered morality play about evil and the inescapable retaliation that evil generates. It is very Japanese indeed, and anyone expecting "Star Wars," with its black-and-white morality of Good Guys versus the Evil Empire, will be bewildered and upset. "Casshern" is hard to forget, especially the ending. Just don't think that it's mindless entertainment or eye candy. It isn't. Highly recommended.
20 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By D. Rodgers
Format:DVD
Amazon is incorrect in the listing of the runtime - this is the 125 minute version (117 minute in the UK). This has not been edited by the studio (like Zu Warriors/Legend of Zu etc). This is the official Director's Cut of the movie (if you look closely at the box art you will see the banner at the top also informs you of this)- it just so happens that the Director's Cut is a lot shorter than the released theatrical version - a Director's Cut does not mean a longer cut! I like the unedited version although it does have a tendancy to ramble a bit...so I would be interested in seeing this version.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Could have been way better!
Casshern!!!!! Man...Movie could have been Way better! The action was alright, wish there was more. The acting was great, just a horrible story line. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Robert D.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Personal Favorite
I watched it with some (4 or 5) of my friends. Only one of them got as into as I did, but I tell you what. I enjoy this movie so much. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Michael Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
amaze balls!!!!
Omg I love it!!!! But if ur not really into the whole comic book slash live anime action thing.ehhh maybe this isn't for you . Read more
Published 4 months ago by Darling
1.0 out of 5 stars
Eh...
It's boring and preachy. There is one great action scene, but the (very) few others are so poorly cut it is difficult to tell what is even going on. Read more
Published 4 months ago by VoxLegio
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very Different, Not What I Expected.
After 50 years, the war between The Eastern Federation and Europa has ended. Now the people of Zone 7 have risen up against The Eastern Federation. Read more
Published 4 months ago by KevinB
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cool
This is a stunning visual live action version of the anime. This movoe is beautiful to look at and the story is good too..
Published 5 months ago by Dark Wolf
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!
Seen it once a while back. Just as good as I remember and my friends loved it too. Copy came in perfect condition.
Published 5 months ago by Tino
1.0 out of 5 stars
ALERT! THIS DVD IS A RE-CUT ABOMINATION!
I want to start my product review by making it very clear that Casshern, the 2004 live action Japanese film is one of my favorite films. It's absolutely brilliant. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Horus
5.0 out of 5 stars
great anime basem movie
this movie has great visuals, great actors, and a terrific story. it's more of an action romance than a action film.. which is great! Read more
Published 10 months ago by kizen-kun
2.0 out of 5 stars
Terrible Adaptation
In my experience, most bad movies at least have the common decency of letting you know that it's bad from the get-go. Read more
Published 15 months ago by B. Snyder
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