Product Details

• Actors: We Are the Strange
• Directors: M Dot Stange
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Ryko Distribution
• DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000V6LT8U
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #70,299 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The handmade quality makes We Are the Strange like no other animation you've seen. Strange's influences include Japanese Kabuki theater, Lajos Egri's book The Art of Dramatic Writing and Tecmo's early Ninja Gaiden games" --Wired Magazine

Product Description
Blue is a young girl navigating the streets of a terrifying, sinister fantasy world all alone. When she meets Emmm, a fellow lost soul, she joins him on a quest for some ice cream. Upon arriving, they realize the ice cream shop has been taken over by dark forces, and the whole city is teeming with evil. Bizarre monsters surround Blue and Emmm on all sides until Rain, a sadistic hero, arrives to rescue them and exterminate the source of the evil.

We Are the Strange is its own imaginative and immersive universe. M dot Strange spent three years painstakingly creating this film, using a range of animation techniques--traditional, stop-motion, computer, and his own unique blend of 8-bit graphics and anime, dubbed "Str8nime." The stunning visuals are complemented by a soundtrack that is both beautiful and harrowing. The end result is a freaky technocarnival ride that climaxes with a momentous battle between innocence and darkness.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Nothing Else, Buy it for the Bonus Features., February 17, 2008

By	Mister Myst (Corona, California) - See all my reviews

This is an animated feature-length movie that was almost entirely made by just a single individual: a man calling himself M dot Strange. If you ever had a dream that seemed impossible, that alone should make you want to buy this movie (or at the very least rent it).

The film itself is...interesting. Although there is a story, it is both minimal and unorthodox. In fact, this feels a lot more like walking through an art gallery than it feels like watching a movie . The shots in this movie are like said gallery's paintings. Although the narrative connecting them too each other is somewhat flimsy, each of them, just like a good painting, is visually fascinating and seems to be trying to convey or express a particular idea or feeling.

To add to the experience, M dot Strange gives us 4 different soundtracks to choose from as we're watching. This is one of the most original DVD special features I've ever heard of and really shows that a lot of the exciting potential for digital media is still largely untapped. It actually feels like this DVD came with four different movies, not just one.

Although the alternate soundtracks are the best and most unique feature, this set includes a generous amount of other goodies too.

First are a bunch of Behind-The-Scenes Videos, which tell the story about M dot Strange pursuing his dreams. Even if you aren't interested in the actual movie, you should still get the DVD for these. The very fact that this guy did something that he shouldn't have been able to do is incredibly inspiring and should help give you extra momentum as you pursue your own projects and dreams.

Second, and in a similar spirit, are a handful of M dot Strange's short films and a clip from an unreleased live-action feature. Two of the shorts are simply silly. The others are just WEIRD with a capital W.

There are also some features where our gracious host doesn't simply tell us his story; he also gives advice and demonstrates techniques that can be useful to those of us who'd like to do something similar. These are things he learned along the way that he shares to help us avoid the mistakes he made and the problems he had.

Like I said before, if you have a currently-unfulfilled dream that seems impossible, that alone should merit a click on that there "BUY" button.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oddly Brillant, May 6, 2008

By	John F. Hale III - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had first heard about this film online when I was surfing then. I began to look it up. The director M-Dot strange himself is strange but beneath his strange exterior lays cinematic...well awesomeness.

Many people put the movie down and all which everyone is entitled to their opinion but the fact that a lone man could produce this by himself is enough to get my vote.

The film follows Em, a small doll boy who is in need of Ice Cream. He meets up with an Ex stripper named Blue who was fired by the evil Him. Together they both travel throughout M-Dot's strange and bizarre world in order to find Ice Cream.

In the film we are also introduced to a multi masked character who goes by the name of Rain and his Sidekick Ori. They together take on Monsters in the Eletric City in which they inhabit.

This film reminds me of an Anime Mix of Akria and Blade Runner which should give you a hint to the bizarreness of the film.

The disc is loaded with features and besides what some reviewers might think, the disc is informative. Including a segment called M-Dot's desktop which show how he made certain scenes of the film.

M-Dot ROCKS!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally 'STRANGE', November 23, 2008

By	Todd W. Negley - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first saw this on YouTube and I thought it was really cool. I just had to buy the DVD!!!