Steamboy | | Cast : | Anna Paquin, Patrick Stewart, Alfred Molina | | Director : | Katsuhiro Ôtomo | | Studio : | Columbia Tristar Hom | | Format : | Animated, Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | March 18, 2005 | | DVD Released Date : | July 26, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), German (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 10, 2005 | | Summary | Brilliant animation ruined by poor narrative | Content
 | Much has been made over the fact that the director of Steamboy is the same who directed the anime classic Akira. As a fan of Akira from way back when I first saw it in '89, I was expecting first rate animation. Steamboy didn't disappoint me, at least not there.
Ray Steam is the son and grandson of two of Victorian England's greatest living scientists and inventors. One day some mysterious men from the O'Hara Corporation show up on his family's doorstep, asking for a package that has just arrived from Ray's grandfather who has been away on an expedition with his father. Ray learns just in time however that these men are evil and that he must not let them have the contents; one "steam ball", which contains within itself enormous power. Immediately the action ensues as Ray flees the Corporate men to deliver the steam ball back to his grandfather. We follow along as Ray goes on a journey to find not only the answer the mystery of the steam ball, but also the answer to the question: what is the purpose of science - power, happiness, or something else?
This is a very realistic vision of Victorian England combined with some fantastically precocious machine technology which was intended to make for a very weird cinematic experience. Too bad that this experience was thwarted time and again by a plot that was stretched too thin and dragged on too long. The pacing alternated between long, lethargic stretches of dialog and frantic action sequences featuring steamy explosions, crashes and chases. This story could have been --and should have been!-told in about 20 minutes less time. It's as if nobody was editing this.
(Director's Cut, you say? I respond: there's a reason that God gave us editors. Make better use of them!)
That it is a superb technical achievement, I can't deny. That it is one of the most elaborate animes ever made (as the dvd back cover trumpets) is without any doubt. A visual feast, gorgeous cinematography (animaphotography? Oh well...), incredible attention to details, genius of direction...yes, all of that and more. But this film should be a lesson to directors everywhere; the best visuals in any medium cannot compensate for or transform an essentially boring story.
First, choose your script well!
-Andrea, aka merribelle
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| Rating | | | Date | August 05, 2005 | | Summary | Good Movie | Content
| I really enjoyed this movie and I really can't add much that hasn't been covered in other positive reviews. I found the movie to be entertaining and technically well done. The animation and audio quality of the movie are pretty good. I thought the music score was outstanding. Perhaps more than any other animated film I have ever seen this movie feels like a live action film and not an animated film. Some may see that as a problem. I personally do not. This is the kind of movie I could show to people not familiar with anime without feeling embarassed. The movie does have its problems. The story is perhaps average and there is little character development. Don't expect this movie to be Akira II or Son of Akira. This movie is more like the Rocketeer than anything. This movie does have a message (or messages). This is a "message" movie about the nature of technology and its use (or possible misuse). Messages are subtle though. Otomo doesn't feel the need in this movie beat you over the head with his point. I personally like it that way.
I should mention that both the subtitled and english dubbed versions run the same length (126 minutes). There are no cuts to the dubbed version. That of course has been a worry to some since the theatrical dubbed version had a number of big cuts to its running time. You do not have to worry about that with the R1 DVDs. BTW, I found the dub to be pretty good. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 01, 2005 | | Summary | The Ending | Content
| Steamboy was a great movie throughout. As a anime lover, i have never seen the director's last movie Akira. But after seeing this i definatly wanted to watch Akira. The Ending was probably the best ending to a movie i have ever seen. All movies should end like Steamboy. A good memorable cool ending. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 31, 2005 | | Summary | Very good | Content
| My biggest problem with this movie is the boy, Ray, is voiced by a woman. And it sounds like he's voiced by a woman. They should have gotten a child actor to do the voice if that's what they were going for. Not a female actress.
That said, the story is great but it drags on a bit long. The animation is just beautiful and everything is top notch. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 31, 2005 | | Summary | Interesting but overlong | Content
| I will not repeat the details of the plot here. As the film starts, you're drawn into its alternate world where everything is powered by steam. The machines are fascinating!
There's no clear delineation of good and evil - apart, perhaps, from the armaments companies, who turn London into a disaster area for demo purposes. Unless, of course, you have the naive view that we'll all live in peace if people would just stop inventing and selling weapons ... which, unfortunately, might be the message some will take away from this movie, never having learned the lessons of history.
Anyway. The animation and scenery and creativity are superb. However, once the destruction starts, you lose all possibility of belief, since the scale of destruction is so vast. No arms dealers would dare put on such a show in such a location. It's supposed to show the destructive power of science in the wrong hands, but it reaches ridiculous proportions.
After about the halfway mark, you sense that it's gone on long enough, and you're just waiting for it to be over. Too many shots of steam pipes leaking and exploding, etc., too long to wrap up. If you have the patience, a lot of the imagery is awe-inspiring, though. But at the end you don't really care any more. |
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