Customer Reviews

Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased the entire series of FMA on Amazon as well as Conqueror of Shamballa on Blu-Ray. I made sure to watch the series before popping the movie in and was glad I did. I loved the movie. I'm not sure if watching the series is necessary before watching the movie, but I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if I didn't. It's a great addition to the show. The Blu-Ray quality is apparent with some gorgeous visuals. The US actor commentary, talk session, and making of in the special features are pretty good. Overall the movie was solid, same talented voice work, interesting story, and the Full Metal Alchemist vibe in all its high-definition glory. 5 Stars.

First off, if you are a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist, this is a must buy. That said...

This was a great ending to the series. Fans who watched the 51 episodes prior to this were likely a bit disappointed with the ending of the series itself. It was rather open-ended, with little in the way of actual character resolutions. The movie, however, fixes this. it's a great ride from start to finish that leaves you satisfied when the end credits start rolling. Without giving anything away, I would suggest that you have at least watched enough of FMA to know the characters, but ideal you should have watched the entire series itself before watching the movie.

As for the video/audio, the movie looks great on Blu-ray. The colors are vibrant and the audio is crisp and clear...though there is a bit of an issue with line consistency, but over all this is a HUGE improvement over the DVD.

FMA: The Movie is purely for fans. If you didn't watch the show, I would very much recomend against starting with this movie. In fact, if you haven't watched the series in awhile, I would recomend re-watching it prior to watching the movie. There are a ton of references and nuances specifically provided to satisfy the fans of the series, and will leave the unitiated scratching their head.

As to the movie, it is a really for fans who wanted more as the series ended. Some complained that there was not enough resolution at the end of the series, and it was very open ended. These people will be largely satisfied with FMA: The Movie, which acts largely as a closer to the entire series. Plots are threaded up, with some deeper meaning to the show added. The original voices are intact, and the animation is consistent. Though merely a fan service, it is a very well done fan service. I was very happy with the movie and would recomend it to any FMA fan.

If you go back and read my other reviews about FMA and the sequel series FMA:Brotherhood, I make my difference in opinion about the two series very clear. The original FMA series follows the existing manga at the time of the series broadcast leading to a story faithful to the manga storyline up to the series midpoint, then the producers ran out of material and had to create their own storyline from that point on. While it is not a bad story in it's own respect it comes across more like convoluted fan fiction than something that would have come from manga author Arakawa's mind. The ending of the series leaves many plot & character arcs unresolved and creates the interesting premise that the world of FMA and Alchemy is a parallel universe to our own reality/Earth and the Gate of Truth allows access between these two worlds. Ok, this is completely different from where the manga goes, but that's ok. It's a good and creative idea.

The FMA movie: Conqueror of Shamballa sets out to resolve this storyline ultimately now focusing on a human Alphonse on the FMA world who has taken up the mantle of his missing brother while on our Earth in 1920s era Germany, Ed continues to work and research to find a way back to his own world. Ed encounters new allies an enemies as well as getting caught up in a plot by future Nazi's who seek to use this lost art of Alchemy to force open a gateway into Ed's world and plan an invasion which Ed must stop. Can the brother's stop this evil plan and be reunited again?

The ending of this film has and will leave a lot of fans of the original series with mixed feelings and compared to the resolution of the FMA:Brotherhood story, it is absolutely weak in comparison.

Onto the disc and features itself, the animation is absolutely gorgeous, top notch and you can tell a lot of money was put into this film's production with a very nice HD transfer to bluray with crisp and clear colors and detail. Bluray extras are limited to extra commentary tracks in english and japanese as well as some trailers for the film.

The Conqueror of Shamballa was a fair effort to resolve the honestly messed up conclusion of the original TV series and even if FMA:Brotherhood didn't exist, I would say this was a decent film, but not really be compelled to rewatch it.

this is one of my favorite movies, the limited edition is the version if your gonna buy it that you want to get. its beautifully made

It was a great movie, It had some surprises in it but over all its worth buying! Wish it was a little longer and more detailed but any FMA fan will love it.

The animation in this one is really well done. The side story was interesting and the dubbing was really good. I think this was kind of a surprise delight for my daughter as I'm not sure she really got that it would be a totally different story in a totally different direction, but she watched it over and over again, so she clearly liked it. Definitly worth the money, and whoa was it ever cheaper on Amazon! We saw it on eBay first and it was half the price on Amazon.

This film takes place two years after the end of the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime series. Many of the characters from the series are seen in the film; those who have died are seen in the parallel world that Ed is now living in under different names. Ed, who has lost his ability to perform alchemy, is trying to find a way to return to his world.

When it comes to the Blu-ray release itself, the packaging is rather "bare bones." There is no actual insert with information for the film included inside; instead, there is an insert playing up other titles that FUNimation had released on Blu-ray.

As for the video quality, I have to admit that I didn't see a lot of difference when I compared it to the DVD copy of this film I had viewed previously. However, this doesn't mean that it's a bad picture quality on the Blu-ray; all it means is that I personally didn't see any significant differences.

According to the box, the main feature is 1080p High Definition 16X9, while the extras are 480i Standard Definition. For audio, the box says the main feature has Dolby TrueHD in English 5.1 and Japanese 5.1, while the extras are Dolby Digital: English 2.0. However, I do have to question the audio listing for the extras, since one of the extras on the Blu-ray is a talk session with the director and some of the Japanese voice actors, which is in Japanese.

All of the bonus features from the DVD release are included here, as well as an additional feature that was not on the DVD pressing; this means there are six special features in all. The first is the 40-minute long documentary, "The Making of Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa." The "Original Trailers" include one US trailer for the film, seven Japanese TV trailers, and the Japanese theatrical trailer; the Japanese trailers included English subtitles. "Production Art" is a slideshow that runs for one minute and fourteen seconds, and it includes character designs and backdrops. "Image Gallery" is another slideshow, which runs for one minute and thirty-five seconds and includes still frames from the film. There are also trailers for other FUNimation releases included as an extra.

The Blu-ray exclusive extra is a "talk session" with Seiji Mizushima (the director), Romi Park (the Japanese voice actress for Ed), Rie Kugimiya (the Japanese voice actress for Al), and Toru Ohkawa (the Japanese voice actor for Mustang). This feature is in Japanese with English subtitles. Over the course of 54 minutes, they talk together as a group, with the discussion being led by Romi Park. Intercut with this are talk sessions with two of the participants together. The full group discussions focus on the film itself, while the smaller group interviews focus more on the various individuals' lives and interests. Personally, I thought this was a nice little feature.

If you enjoy Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa and own a Blu-ray player, I would suggest purchasing the Blu-ray simply to have all of the bonus features that FUNimation released for the film.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of this Blu-ray that I purchased for my husband as a gift.

FMA was the first anime I ever watched and I loved every minute of it. The story is complex and emotionally engaging with lots of twists and turns that keep you watching. This movie is a great addition for those seeking answers to some of the unanswered questions in the series or if you want a little more "closure" to the story line. In my opinion the movie did a great job at both. The blu-ray quality was great and it has lots of extras! I recommend it for any FMA fan. Can't beat the price either!

As you may know, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conquerer of Shamballa exists to give the first anime adaptation of Hiromu arakawa's acclaimed manga series a proper ending. Try saying that five times fast! Anyway, it's a good movie and to me it was mostly satisfying. And yes, Hitler's in the movie. But the Nazis are not portrayed in a positive light, so it's all good.