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EmSeeSquared
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Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie (2004)
For Yu-Gi-Oh! fans only, NOT movie-buffs
I'm sick and tired of people bashing this film for what it is: a 90-minute commercial for cards. Yes, i admit, that's what it is. That's NO reason for it to be severely bashed. After all, Transformer the movie was a 90-minute commercial for new Transformers characters to buy, but lots of Transofrmer and anime geeks like myself like to think of it as one of the greatest animated films ever made. The same holds true for the case of Yu-Gi-Oh! the movie. Of course Transformers admittance didn't come with free goods. Like the Pokemon movies and Digimon the movie, admittance to Yu-Gi-Oh! the movie earns you one of four exclusive cards based on the movie: Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, Sorceror of Dark Magic, Pyramid of Light, and Watapon (a card which shouldn't even have been issued, as it's so unbelievably pathetic). For those of you who can't get enough of movie-related cards, card shops are currently selling Exclusive packs containing the same 8 movie-related cards, including the 2 sphinx creatures at the end of the film Sphinx Teleia (who at one point makes a sudden scary face that actually made me jump from my seat!) and Andro Sphinx, as well as their combined form Theinen the Great Sphinx.
The story for Yu-Gi-Oh!, for those that don't know, is as follows: Thousands of years ago, Eygptian pharaohs waged battles by using powerful monsters. But then a powerful pharaoh, Yami, locked away the power of the monsters within 8 Millennium Items: The Millennium Puzzle, the Millennium Eye, the Millennium Ring, the Millennium Scale, the Millennium Key, the Millennium Necklace, the Millennium Rod, and, introduced in this film, the Pyramid of Life, which is a sort of anti-version of the Millennium Puzzle.
Anyway, in the not-too-distant past, a man named Maximillion Pegasus uncovered the legend of the monsters, and decided to adapt them into what is now a MASSIVELY popular trading card game called Duel Monsters, making Pegasus unbelievably rich. Unlike in real life, Duel Monsters in the show can be played with holographic technology to make the game more realistic through use of dueling stations, designed by Pegasus, or Duel Disk (now a marketable toy in real life,very popular among fans), designed by rival game maker Seto Kaiba, of KaibaCorp., who inherited his company at a young age when his adoptive father apparently committed suicide.
Anyway, Duel Monsters is very very VERY popular. Enter Yugi Muto, our young hero desperately in need of a growth spurt and a hair stylist. Yugi's main passion is games. Any kind of games. You name it, he loves it. Board games, puzzles, RPGs, the works. His current favorite game is, of course, Duel Monsters. And he's VERY good, too. This is most likely because his grandfather Solomon runs a game shop, so Yugi can get like as many card packs as he wants. Anyway, Solomon used to be an acheologist, and he gave Yugi something that was unearthed in an expediditon: the Millennium Puzzle. It is said that whoever can solve and complete the Puzzle will be granted a wish. Yugi's wish is to make friends, as he's kinda unpopular and his only firned is a VERY pretty girl named Tea Gardner, who's been his friend since childhood (after completing the puzzle, Yugi earns a VERY strong friendship in school bullies Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor). Well, many of you may be skeptical as to how nobody could solve a stupid puzzle in thousands of years. Well just keep in mind that the Millennium Items are VERY magical, and Yugi is, like, a gaming GENIUS. So when he finally completes the puzzle, he pretty much gets his wish. His new mega-best friend is now tough-guy Joey Wheeler. But Yugi gained sumthing more: the spirit of the pharaoh Yami, who resides within the puzzle.
The beginning of the series was quite different from how we know it today. Instead of being solely revolving on the cards, it was instead based upon creator Kazuki Takahashi's moral of friendship through a game. Whenever innocents were threatened, Yami would possess Yugi ("Yami Yugi") and would play a "Shadow Game" with the evildoer to punish them, which sometimes ended with gruesome results (Yami Yugi once ended up BURNING a guy to death!). It wasn't until Kazuki Takahashi wrote a story about a card game that fans really responded and the series started to revolve around it.
Anyway, onto our movie. Apparently when Yugi first solved the Millennium Puzzle, he apparently awakened the Pyramid of Life, and its bearer Anubis, the jackal-headed Egyptian god of death. The events take place shortly after Yugi has won Seto Kaiba's Battle City tournament (the main storyline of the 2nd and 3rd season of the series on Kids' WB). Yugi now possesses the 3 God cards, which are supposed to be THE most powerful cards in all of Duel Masters. As such, the public sees poor Yugi as the greatest Duelist of all time, and he's constantly being hounded like he's one of the Beatles by eager Duelists anxious to challenge him for his God cards. But no one wants to beat him more than Seto Kaiba himself. Kaiba, desperate for a way to defeat the God cards, Kaiba turns to Duel Monster creator Maximillion Pegasus, the 1st season's main antagonist. Pegasus confirms that he does indeed have a card that can beat the God cards, but he won't simply GIVE it to Kaiba. You know what THAT means! "IT'S TIME TO D-D-D-D-DUEL!" Considering how Pegasus was virtually impossible to defeat in the first season, Kaiba beats him with considerable ease in this film. Afterwards, Kaiba goes through Pegasus' stock and finds, much to Pegasus' surprise, not one but TWO cards that can defeat Yugi.
Meanwhile, after fleeing a flock of eager duelists, Yugi, Tea, and Solomon find themselves at an Egyptian exhibit at the museum, where they take a look at the sarcophigus of Anubis and the Pyramid of Light. After the body and the item mysteriously disappears, Kaiba challenges Yugi to a duel that ultimately lasts the rest of the film. It's a traditional intense Yu-Gi-Oh! duel as Yami Yugi and Kaiba both put up a pretty good fight. But when Kaiba plays his newly acquired cards Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon and Pyramid of Light (*insert sting music here*), things start to go downhill. With Pyramid of Light on the field, we begin to realize Kaiba is being manipulated by the spirit of Anubis, and while Yami continues to duel in Yugi's body, the spirits of Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea become trapped in the Millennium Puzzle, where they get into many hilarious antics in fending off an army of mummies. Eventually the game finds a way out of the puzzle, Kaiba resists Anubis' influences, and Anubis takes form to finish the duel. It gets pretty dark and intense for the remainder of the duel, but it doesn't last long, as the writers and animators are short on time. In the end, Yami Yugi beats and destroys Anubis, Kaiba is still a jerk, no moral is really learned, and everyone lives happily ever after.
Not the best film in the world. Not the WORST, either. I believe Plan 9 from Outer Space currently holds that record. But it was never really intended to be a groundbreaking film either. In Japan, animation is, like, THE highest media, more popular than live-action. As a results, full-length films based on series are churned our like butter (in Japane, there were 13 Dragonball Z films released theatrically, while they're only released on video here). I'm sure 4kids Entertainment was given a choice as to whether they should release this as a theatrical, a direct-to-video, or maybe even a Saturday morning special. They obviously chose for a theatrical release, in order to rake in cash from loyal enthusiasts, which i'm sure they are. but they're NOT aiming at EVERYONE, so please, people, stop treating it like they are.
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie (2004)
For Yu-Gi-Oh! fans only, NOT movie-buffs
I'm sick and tired of people bashing this film for what it is: a 90-minute commercial for cards. Yes, i admit, that's what it is. That's NO reason for it to be severely bashed. After all, Transformer the movie was a 90-minute commercial for new Transformers characters to buy, but lots of Transofrmer and anime geeks like myself like to think of it as one of the greatest animated films ever made. The same holds true for the case of Yu-Gi-Oh! the movie. Of course Transformers admittance didn't come with free goods. Like the Pokemon movies and Digimon the movie, admittance to Yu-Gi-Oh! the movie earns you one of four exclusive cards based on the movie: Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, Sorceror of Dark Magic, Pyramid of Light, and Watapon (a card which shouldn't even have been issued, as it's so unbelievably pathetic). For those of you who can't get enough of movie-related cards, card shops are currently selling Exclusive packs containing the same 8 movie-related cards, including the 2 sphinx creatures at the end of the film Sphinx Teleia (who at one point makes a sudden scary face that actually made me jump from my seat!) and Andro Sphinx, as well as their combined form Theinen the Great Sphinx.
The story for Yu-Gi-Oh!, for those that don't know, is as follows: Thousands of years ago, Eygptian pharaohs waged battles by using powerful monsters. But then a powerful pharaoh, Yami, locked away the power of the monsters within 8 Millennium Items: The Millennium Puzzle, the Millennium Eye, the Millennium Ring, the Millennium Scale, the Millennium Key, the Millennium Necklace, the Millennium Rod, and, introduced in this film, the Pyramid of Life, which is a sort of anti-version of the Millennium Puzzle.
Anyway, in the not-too-distant past, a man named Maximillion Pegasus uncovered the legend of the monsters, and decided to adapt them into what is now a MASSIVELY popular trading card game called Duel Monsters, making Pegasus unbelievably rich. Unlike in real life, Duel Monsters in the show can be played with holographic technology to make the game more realistic through use of dueling stations, designed by Pegasus, or Duel Disk (now a marketable toy in real life,very popular among fans), designed by rival game maker Seto Kaiba, of KaibaCorp., who inherited his company at a young age when his adoptive father apparently committed suicide.
Anyway, Duel Monsters is very very VERY popular. Enter Yugi Muto, our young hero desperately in need of a growth spurt and a hair stylist. Yugi's main passion is games. Any kind of games. You name it, he loves it. Board games, puzzles, RPGs, the works. His current favorite game is, of course, Duel Monsters. And he's VERY good, too. This is most likely because his grandfather Solomon runs a game shop, so Yugi can get like as many card packs as he wants. Anyway, Solomon used to be an acheologist, and he gave Yugi something that was unearthed in an expediditon: the Millennium Puzzle. It is said that whoever can solve and complete the Puzzle will be granted a wish. Yugi's wish is to make friends, as he's kinda unpopular and his only firned is a VERY pretty girl named Tea Gardner, who's been his friend since childhood (after completing the puzzle, Yugi earns a VERY strong friendship in school bullies Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor). Well, many of you may be skeptical as to how nobody could solve a stupid puzzle in thousands of years. Well just keep in mind that the Millennium Items are VERY magical, and Yugi is, like, a gaming GENIUS. So when he finally completes the puzzle, he pretty much gets his wish. His new mega-best friend is now tough-guy Joey Wheeler. But Yugi gained sumthing more: the spirit of the pharaoh Yami, who resides within the puzzle.
The beginning of the series was quite different from how we know it today. Instead of being solely revolving on the cards, it was instead based upon creator Kazuki Takahashi's moral of friendship through a game. Whenever innocents were threatened, Yami would possess Yugi ("Yami Yugi") and would play a "Shadow Game" with the evildoer to punish them, which sometimes ended with gruesome results (Yami Yugi once ended up BURNING a guy to death!). It wasn't until Kazuki Takahashi wrote a story about a card game that fans really responded and the series started to revolve around it.
Anyway, onto our movie. Apparently when Yugi first solved the Millennium Puzzle, he apparently awakened the Pyramid of Life, and its bearer Anubis, the jackal-headed Egyptian god of death. The events take place shortly after Yugi has won Seto Kaiba's Battle City tournament (the main storyline of the 2nd and 3rd season of the series on Kids' WB). Yugi now possesses the 3 God cards, which are supposed to be THE most powerful cards in all of Duel Masters. As such, the public sees poor Yugi as the greatest Duelist of all time, and he's constantly being hounded like he's one of the Beatles by eager Duelists anxious to challenge him for his God cards. But no one wants to beat him more than Seto Kaiba himself. Kaiba, desperate for a way to defeat the God cards, Kaiba turns to Duel Monster creator Maximillion Pegasus, the 1st season's main antagonist. Pegasus confirms that he does indeed have a card that can beat the God cards, but he won't simply GIVE it to Kaiba. You know what THAT means! "IT'S TIME TO D-D-D-D-DUEL!" Considering how Pegasus was virtually impossible to defeat in the first season, Kaiba beats him with considerable ease in this film. Afterwards, Kaiba goes through Pegasus' stock and finds, much to Pegasus' surprise, not one but TWO cards that can defeat Yugi.
Meanwhile, after fleeing a flock of eager duelists, Yugi, Tea, and Solomon find themselves at an Egyptian exhibit at the museum, where they take a look at the sarcophigus of Anubis and the Pyramid of Light. After the body and the item mysteriously disappears, Kaiba challenges Yugi to a duel that ultimately lasts the rest of the film. It's a traditional intense Yu-Gi-Oh! duel as Yami Yugi and Kaiba both put up a pretty good fight. But when Kaiba plays his newly acquired cards Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon and Pyramid of Light (*insert sting music here*), things start to go downhill. With Pyramid of Light on the field, we begin to realize Kaiba is being manipulated by the spirit of Anubis, and while Yami continues to duel in Yugi's body, the spirits of Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea become trapped in the Millennium Puzzle, where they get into many hilarious antics in fending off an army of mummies. Eventually the game finds a way out of the puzzle, Kaiba resists Anubis' influences, and Anubis takes form to finish the duel. It gets pretty dark and intense for the remainder of the duel, but it doesn't last long, as the writers and animators are short on time. In the end, Yami Yugi beats and destroys Anubis, Kaiba is still a jerk, no moral is really learned, and everyone lives happily ever after.
Not the best film in the world. Not the WORST, either. I believe Plan 9 from Outer Space currently holds that record. But it was never really intended to be a groundbreaking film either. In Japan, animation is, like, THE highest media, more popular than live-action. As a results, full-length films based on series are churned our like butter (in Japane, there were 13 Dragonball Z films released theatrically, while they're only released on video here). I'm sure 4kids Entertainment was given a choice as to whether they should release this as a theatrical, a direct-to-video, or maybe even a Saturday morning special. They obviously chose for a theatrical release, in order to rake in cash from loyal enthusiasts, which i'm sure they are. but they're NOT aiming at EVERYONE, so please, people, stop treating it like they are.
Doragon bôru: Saikyô e no michi (1996)
Path to Power
i just got the US dub of this film, "The Path to Power", and i must say it is the best dragonball ANYTHING film i have EVER seen! they should have shown this in american theaters
SPOILERS AHEAD! unlike all the other db/z movies, which play out just like episodes of the show, this film has a VERY cinematic feel to it, due to the animation and soundtrack. the character designs are very much like in Dragonball GT, especially Goku. he looks exactly the same in this and in GT. for some reason, Bulma now has purple hair like Trunks instead of her normal blue/green hair. and Yamcha looks just AWESOME! if he had looked like this in the show, he probably would redeemed his popularity. plus, all members of the Red Ribbon Army have been redesigned for new generations
the animation is just wonderful, unlike anything in the other movies. and the soundtrack is beautiful, especially a wonderful chorus when Goku comes 99% close to becoming a Super Saiyan (which sadly he never does in this film). another great element in this scene is the swirling clouds. i can't tell if they were computer animated or real!
the script was very well thought out. unlike previous Dragon Ball movies where memorable scenes from the show were worked in JUST to have them in movies, the scenes worked into this film actually tied the story together. Goku meeting Bulma, Oolong, and Yamcha, arriving at Muscle Tower, fighting Major Metalletron (which was way too short here) and meeting Android 8 (Eighter), finding the sea turtle and meeting master Roshi, the giving the Flying Nimbus to Goku, Bulma flashing her....(ok, that doesn't tie in the story, but meeting Roshi would just b incomplete without that. lol), and finally Assistant Black killing Commander Red and fighting Goku in a giant robot (which is about 3 times as big here than in the show, and a LOT more powerful). the one plothole in the movie is where Bulma neglects to tell Goku that he'll lose his grandfather's dragon ball once the wish is made. the wish made at the end of the film is for Android 8 to come back to life, as he was destroyed while fighting Black's giant robot. the film ends abruptly the moment Goku makes his wish. we don't even see Eighter revived, or even Goku's reaction to losing his ball, or even any idea of what becomes of our heroes afterwards. this abrupt ending is my only complaint about this masterpiece of a Dragon Ball film. if you're a db/z/gt fan, go check this out!