MovieChat Forums > Kôkaku kidôtai (1996) Discussion > anyone else think it's just kind of OK?

anyone else think it's just kind of OK?

posted 7 years ago by [deleted]
4 replies | jump to latest

I mean, the visuals in it are certainly gorgeous and the plot is reasonably engaging. But I just didn't find myself connecting much to the characters. They all seemed so dull and drab to me with none of them ever displaying any sort of warmth or humor. Perhaps it was the intention of the director to go for that sorta tone, but I don't think it would have hurt to have a joke or two. And the themes of what it means to be human and the existence of a soul just don't feel all that new or inspired. It's been done a million times in the past with the works of Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, and films like Blade Runner, Robocop, and Terminator. And this film didn't have much to say that differentiated itself from those other works, either. I will say that the film is atmospheric, but even that goes a bit overboard at times as it seems to rely a little too much on long, lingering shots of cities just for the sake of appearing arty. It's not a bad film by any means, I just think it's OK.

Anyone else agree?

[–] crc32 (2584) 7 years ago

I agree the characters seem pretty lonely and isolated and lack warmth. Heck none of them really feel all that altruistic. All the characters seemed pretty jaded by the times and circumstances of the environment they live in. This story did feel disturbing with its questioning of the existance of the human soul its leaning towards materialism but I didn't find that it barrowed that from robocop blade runner etc. Not sure how this connects to terminator either other then there is an AI on the loose.

The long lingering shots I'm sure is a throw back to blade runner.

I thought the movie was great just on the depth of the world it existed in if not for the narritive. I found the details of the world the story existed in maby a little more entertaining then the story itself.

This is the first time I had seen a simulated reality that was indistinguishable from the actual reality the character was going through, I always figured if we were in a simulated reality that we'd be able to tell that something wasn't right, but this film goes beyond the intermediate senses and shows us our memories are to be held suspect as well. I can't imagine living in a world where you can't even trust that your own memories were not modified by hackers. (Ghost hacking). Even more disturbing is when it was declared that victims usually don't recover their old memories.

[–] Bennie (2) 7 years ago

[deleted]

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

yep. I'm rewatching it. Was never a huge anime fan anyway, but the plot is interesting enough. I suspect in 1995 the crazy tech concepts were enough to engage and scare people enough to not fret the actual story and delivery.

It's a great placeholder for its time in tech, animation, anime, and films.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I find I REALLY LIKE the newer live version much better, and am amazed they pulled it off including so much of the original as they did. Even though things are shuffled a bit.