Gatchaman (2013) - Tori Matsuzaka, Go Ayano, Ayame Goriki, Tatsuomi Harada

[AlbertV]

J-Pop group SMAP did a series of commercials as Gatchaman for NTT back a few years ago

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Updated anime commercial for NTT

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[Karlos]

At last!!!

First full trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVKaIFxQa98&feature=youtu.be

I think it looks great but I'm biased!!

[KUNG FU BOB]

Nice trailer! Good find K-Man. The movie looks like big fun. I'm in.

[derwood]

personally Im not up for a crappy super sentai telemovie look

They should have put some effort into this, & someone should let them know its not the early 90's anymore. Why not update it a'la Marvel or DC style?

BOTP was my reason to get home before dark as a kid, and although the cartoons havent held up with time I had hope for this movie. Should have known better considering the cg quality of Japanese films, highly disappointed

As for Berg Katse/Zoltar, it appears as though both male & female forms will be included. Thats assuming the glowing red eye guy was him & you cant deny the chick in the zany purple getup was also her

[Karlos]

After my 100th viewing of the trailer, I do think the daytime fight looks cheap BUT overall I really dug it.

I agree, Derwood - that dude must be Zoltar in male form!

I'm super stoked for this - the tiny shot of Gatchaman jumping down in a star shape together nearly made me cry!

[derwood]

they should've just finished the imagi animated film & we might have got something like the new Captain Harlock film is presenting http://youtu.be/1vdw0If6Zzg

**DAMN how do u link/embed youtube these days?!?!?!

[Karlos]

The Captain Harlock trailer is amazing - it really shows just what can be done with CGI nowadays.

[AlbertV]

Nice trailer! Good find K-Man. The movie looks like big fun. I'm in.

Makes two of us and even more excited that its Alpha Stunts' Tatsuro Koike who does the action choreography!!! Plus, I am a fan of Tori Matsuzaka after seeing him as the Red Ranger in Shinkenger...it will be interesting to see his interpretation of Ken the Eagle.

[Karlos]

Some early review are in and...oh, dear:

http://twitchfilm.com/2013/08/fantasia-2013-review-gatchaman-cant-fly-with-clipped-wings.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/gatchaman-fantasia-review-601838

http://www.soundonsight.org/fantasia-film-fest-2013-gatchaman-starts-of-great-but-ends-in-gloom/

Looks like it suffers from the same problems the live-action Space Battleship Yamato had; namely, way too much bad drama and maudlin exposition instead of straight up fun.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Yikes! I just read the review at Twitch by Justin Decloux and it's rough! Sounds like the first 15 minutes are worth seeing.

[Karlos]

Yikes! I just read the review at Twitch by Justin Decloux and it's rough! Sounds like the first 15 minutes are worth seeing.

Yup! He's taking no prisoners!

Another, slightly more positive review has popped up:

http://www.blackgate.com/2013/08/10/gatchaman/

Note the mention of a "post-credits sequence" - if there's a sequel, let's hope they learn from the mistakes they appear to have made here.

Still, expectations duly dropped, I do still really want to see this.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Still, expectations duly dropped, I do still really want to see this.

I knew that you would.

[AlbertV]

I read the review too and it made me almost shed a tear...sounds almost and I do stress almost when I cried watching DRAGONBALL: EVOLUTION.

What sucks is that I like the actor who plays Ken in the Gatchaman movie..he kicked major tail as the original Red Samurai Ranger in the SHINKENGER series that later became Power Raners Samurai. Now it makes me wish we can get a BATTLE OF THE PLANETS movie WITH 7-Zark-7 mixed in!!! Sad I said that huh?

[inframan]

"BUMP OF CHICKEN"

[AlbertV]

Okay...so I finally watched Gatchaman last night with my 7-year old daughter, as she was a fan of Battle of the Planets and I explained to her this was a live action version without the robot.

The opening action scene featuring the Gatchaman team was pretty nicely done, a mix of CGI and wire-enhanced combat thanks to Alpha Stunts' Tatsuro Koike. They did change up the original storyline quite a bit and while he was called Joe by the team members, his English introduction has the Condor as "George Asakura". Instead of seeking revenge for the deaths of his parents in the cartoons, he wants the Galactor for the death of his fiancee, Naomi. In addition, he and Ken were former friends who reunited for this latest mission, something called "Last Suicide".

Yes, Berg Katse is in the film, but takes on a more female form rather than an androgynous one as in the cartoons. One of my favorite actors, Shido Nakamura, plays a tratorious member of the Galactor who is willing to give information on Last Suicide in exchange for protection by the ISO. Goro Kishitani's look as Nambu looks similarly like his animated counterpart but take a suit that must have came from LUPIN III instead of the scientist coat.

The middle yes, it does drag despite an all too brief action scene during a party, in which we get to hear Ken speak English and disguise himself as "Tatsuo Yoshida" (a reference to the creator of the original Gatchaman series). The party scene reminded me a bit of something I would expect in a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movie.

I did enjoy the climactic fight in which the Gatchaman must take down the Galactor once and for all.

So out of my five-star rating, I'm going to give this a three out of five. While the film drags more into dramatics in the middle, the opening and climactic fights were quite enjoyable and the cast actually made the most of their roles. Kudos goes to Tori Matsuzaka, Go Ayano, Ayame Goriki (kawaii!!!), Tatsuomi Hamada, and Ryohei Suzuki as the Gatchaman team...if they end up doing a sequel, only going to ask for two things: bring Red Spectre and add more action (as long as it flows into the storyline).

As for my seven-year old daughter...she already asked if we can watch it again...she really liked it!

[Karlos]

Great review, Albert - pretty much matches my thoughts 100%!

I still dug it, but such a shame that it falls foul of what seems to be plaguing Japanese adaptations/updates of beloved anime at the moment - such as the Capt. Harlock & Battleship Yamato films - namely, too much "emo"-drama and plodding dialogue scenes.

I, too, hope for a sequel - no news as yet but fingers crossed...

(Awesome to hear your little girl loved it! It's NEVER too early to get the l'il ones into Gatchaman!)

BTW, what was up with calling Condor Joe "George"? It bugged me so much I actually broke into the disc and changed the subtitles myself!

[AlbertV]

Well, as mentioned in a post in the World Cinema forum, if you're disappointed with Gatchaman, there may be some redemption along the way as Joe and Anthony Russo are set to develop and produce a live-action adaptation of Gatchaman's original U.S. version, Battle of the Planets. They were big fans of BotP as kids and with their track record, the project could be in some good hands after all. Even if they have to add 7-Zark-7. Just hope they make the costumes more faithful this time around.

 

[wuxiaman]

I watched this shortly after the Hong Kong Blu-Ray was released, and was very disappointed. Hopefully whoever I sold it to on Mercari finds more joy out of it.