Customer Reviews

Pokemon 4Ever [VHS]

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Far from liking this movie, I've seen it three times, which I think makes it obvious that no, I didn't like it, I LOVED IT! The animation is wonderful, just as good, if not better than the 3rd installment, The Spell of the Unown. There are new characters, new Pokemon and new twists and turns. You even learn a little bit about Professor Samuel Oak! The only let down to the movie is the immense use of computer animation, maybe even too much of it and it's not blended with the animation as well as it could have been, but's that's perfectly easy to ignore when you look at the movie in it's entirety. The animation, like I said, was wonderful. All the original characters return, Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu who are joined by a little boy named Sam. Team Rocket returns though we meet a new member whose downright evil compared to the last bad guys we've been introduced to in the past films and TV series, he's even worse than Mewtwo was in the 1st movie. So if you liked movies 1-3 along with Mewtwo Returns you'll rave about this one! Take note that the mini movie isn't played in theaters, it's only on the DVD, but it's pretty cute all the same and VERY funny. So there you have it, one of the best Pokemon creations yet, and with a 5th and even 6th movie on the way, who knows what could happen!

After a short, limited release in theaters last year, Pokemon 4Ever is finally coming to video courtesy of Miramax. And while it's not the vast improvement to the previous Warner Bros DVD releases we were hoping for, it is still a decent offering.
The story, basically, is that Ash and company come across a boy named Sam and a Celebi, who have traveled 40 years from the past. But before Celebi can bring Sam back to his own time, it is captured by the Iron Mask Marauder, who captures Celebi using a Dark Ball, and transforms it into a destructive monster. While the Marauder and Celebi destroy the forest, Ash and Sam must try and save Celebi. There are some surprisingly emotional scenes in the movie, especially towards the end as we find out the fate of Celebi and Sam's relationship with Ash.
The DVD offers trailers for this movie and the Japanese trailer for the fifth movie, as well as previews for other Miramax titles. Fans will be pleased to know that the Pikachu short has been restored for the DVD, and as usually, it's pretty funny and features plenty of cute Pokemon. It also a multi-angle animation progression feature, but the footage shown is very brief; each of the four segments clock in at barely under a few seconds, if that. One major complaint about this DVD is that despite the fact that this is the fourth Pokemon feature, it is still only presented on DVD in FULLSCREEN. There are many instances in the movie where a character is speaking, but you can't see him or her, since they are cropped off the screen. I'd hoped this unfortunate tradition was left behind with Warner Bros, but the curse follows the series to Miramax. Listen up, Miramax, we don't mind the black bars on the screen, we really don't. This problem is even worse when compared with the Warner releases, because the picture seems to be zoomed in a bit more and after repeated viewings, you actually begin to notice that the screen is constantly wobbling. A very poor transfer.
Another complaint, though not as major, is the commentary featuring the producers and the cast. While it's fun to finally hear what the actors really sound like, they don't really react to anything on-screen; it's more like a Q&A session. While it does answer some interesting questions, it would have been better off to leave it as a separate feature and keep a regular commentary with just the producers. The commentary track also only runs under an hour, so it cuts off with about 20 minutes of the movie left to go. Hopefully they won't do this with movie 5, since the commentaries are my favorites part of the Pokemon movies.
Otherwise, it's a solid film, and fans will be pleased that the movie sticks very close to the original Japanese script. It won't convert any Pokemon haters, but then again, nothing probably would.
Just please, Miramax, when you release movie 5 on DVD, please do so in widescreen.

I have already seen this movie twice at the theaters. I was amazed on how well the movie was made. Lets face it, usually after an original movie comes out, everything after it usually isnt all that great. Pokemon is definitly the exeption. The story line of coming 40years into the future (into ashes time) with a time traveling pokemon was difinitly different, but thats what makes it so good. At least everything is an original with
pokemon. well it starts out in past with a young boy named sammy who ends up helping celebi get away from a pokemon hunter. well when sammy was running to get celebi as far away as he could, celebi used the last of his energy to time travel to ashes time. without getting to detailed, ash & friends come in contact with sammy & build a strong friendship, at the same time of restoring celebi's strengh, but then someone even worse than a pokemon hunter comes into play. he is the new member of team rocket. he catches celebi in a "dark ball" which turns pokemon evil. Now it is upto ash,sammy,suicune,& friends to help celebi & save the forrest, but can they do it... for the dramatic,heart stopping, yet inspirational ending, you need to go see it for yourself. I dont want to ruin it for you as it makes the movie worth seeing over & over again.

I saw the trailer of this movie and read the story...I think that this movie is great.Its about a pokemon called celebi who can travel in time.It all starts when a rare pokemon hunter tries to capture celebi a boy tried to save him but celebi time travelled in time and took the boy with him.Celebi time travelled into the future and thats where the boy and celebi met ash,pikachu,brock and misty.They took celebi to the pokemon center and nurse whoever(not nurse joy)said that he has no power left.When they got out(without celebi)they found another hunter.He said give me the pokemon with you boy.When celebi heard them having a fight he went out and started helping them.But the hunter had a ball called a dark ball.When you capture a pokemon with the ball it turns them evil.He caught celebi with ball and celebi turned evil.They battled celebi but they couldnt win.Thats when suicune apeared and he helped them.

The next Pokemon movie stars two new Pokemon, Suicine and Celebi. A boy, 40 years earlier, saves Celebi and they both go to the present, where they meet Ash Ketchum and company. Meanwhile, a evil guy plans to turn Celebi to the dark side with the 'Dark Ball', a machine that turns good Pokemon to bad! Will Ash and his new friend Sammy save the forest, and Celebi?!

This is the first time I've had to drive a long distance just to go see a Pokemon movie(because of the fact that it's a limited release), and let me say that it was worth it.
I was expecting Miramax Films to ruin the dub of the 4th Pokemon film, but my expectations weren't true.

They cut out the mini-movie, "Pikachu's Hide and Seek", but Miramax probably thought it was childish. It's no problem; they most likely will release it as an extra feature on the DVD.
Anyway, the main film is called "Celebi: Voice of the Forest".
It's about a young boy named Sam(Yukinari in the original) who wanders off into a forest and encounters an injured Celebi. Apparantly Celebi is the Voice of the Forest and can travel back and forth through time. Soon after being attacked by a Pokemon hunter, Celebi ventures 40 years into the future to save itself-taking Sam with it. Soon, Ash and co. get into a huge situation involving Sam, Celebi, Team Rocket, Suicune, and a mean-spirited member of Team Rocket who's known as "The Iron-Masked Marauder".

Anyways, Miramax left the original, orchestrated music intact. Luckily they didn't replace it with any cheesy-sounding MIDI music like Warner Bros. did with the previous Pokemon films.
Also, the translation is almost a direct translation this time, like with the 3rd film. Heck, Miramax added in NEW scenes for the american release! In short, I enjoyed this film moreso than the previous Poke-movies. There was lots of action(it was a bit more violent than the other movies), and some emotional scenes as well(I almost cried when Celebi d... wait, thats a spoiler).
It was suprising that they weren't scared to put in the words "die" or "dying" in the movie, either(I honestly thought it should've been rated PG)
But anyways, you should see this movie; Poke-fan or not. It may just change your perceptions if you think Pokemon is a "kiddy" anime.

This movie was great. If you like Pokemon, you will love this movie. If you don't, you probaley should not see it. I personally thought this was an awesome movie. I think they should have promoted it more. I never saw a single commercial for it. That is probaley why I was the only person in the theater. It was awesome. The grahics were really cool and the story was also really good. If you want to see a really good Pokemon movie. This is the movie for you.

this movie is great.it blows the other 3 movies away. the animation it the greatest of the 4 movie as of yet. i can't wait for this one to come to america on Oct. 11th 2002.

This is a great movie full of adventure and excitement. Pokemon 4 ever takes place during the period of the time when Ash is in the Juto League. In pokemon forever ash must protect the beautiful pokemon celbi from the evil Iron Masked Marador of team rocket.

In this movie you get to she something you never got to she before Professor Oak as a little boy. If you are 7 or older than this movie is fine for you. If you are under 7 this movie may be to intense and violent for you to handle.

My favorite part in this movie is when Celebi makes the twig monsters and start destroying the forrest. Attribute to toho who created Godzilla. If you enjoy this you the other pokemon movies. I also recomend Digmon the Movie.

This movie also features a short chute little min movie called Pikchu's Pekaboo which should be fine for kids age 7 an up.

(This is a review of the DVD edition of Pokémon 4Ever. It contains no spoilers other than those that could be found on the back of the DVD cover.)

Pokémon 4Ever is a great and fun film of the quality we've come to expect from not only pokémon films, but anime in general. If you are a pokémon fan of any age, this is a must own film.

Graphics (5/5):
Overall, the graphics are of the same high quality we can expect of any Pokémon episode, or movie. They even do a mild increase of the graphics quality of the standard pokémon, by giving it a mild 3D feel in certain areas.

Music (4/5):
While the movie does not hold the awe inspiring music that the previous two held, the music is flawless, and does not detract from the movie in any way. While it could have been better, it is fine as it is.

Story (5/5):
The movie's story holds together well. A boy named Sammy protects Celebi, the legendary pokémon, from a pokémon hunter. Celebi, to protect them from this threat, travels forward in time, to the time of our heroes Ash, Pikachu, and the rest. Together, they must protect Celebi, and the rest of the forest, from their new threat--a hunter more powerful than the one left behind!

The story is mildly simplistic, but as it is a children's story foremost, it cannot be faulted for that. All plot threads that are started are finished by the end of the movie, and you get a full sense of fulfillment. They did extraordinary in this area.

Fun (5/5):
The story is not only fun for children, but for more mature pokémon fans. There are several fun references for pokémon fans to catch, and they did an excellent job of making you feel for the characters--there are several truly touching moments, regardless of your age.

Special Features (3/5):
The disk holds an audio commentary, animation walkthrough, trivia game, trailers for this movie, a sneak peek at the next, and DVD-Rom features (Trading Card Game, Desktop items, and 'Hidden Content' at Pokemon.com.)

The audio commentary is unarguably the best feature of the special features. Sadly, they didn't go the full way. While most movies with audio commentaries go till the end, this one goes about 40-50 minutes, before falling off completetly to the normal movie audio. With a little work, they could have made the audio commentary longer, and given it a more satisfying feeling.

The animation progression, trailers, and trivia game are nothing to be too excited about. While the trivia game is fun, it loses its novelty after about 2 goes-through it.

The sneak peek at the next movie, almost should have been excluded. It was in Japanese, and no work to translate it was given. It overall gave a mild feel of the graphics, but gave no idea whatsoever of what the next movie will be about.

The DVD-ROM feature of the trading card game was unimpressive at best. It gives a feel of what it is about, but the game boy game can give a much better feel. The 'hidden content' is through their website, and links to it were able to be found on the internet from about the moment the DVD was unloosed on the public.

Overall (4.75/5):
The movie is a fine addition to the list of pokémon movies. It will not win over any new fans to the series, but will only strengthen the love of any old ones. I strongly suggest it as a buy to any pokémon fan, and at least a rent to any anime fan.