An interesting ambiguous story which is smart and subtle enough for you to still be thinking about at the end and might want to watch a second time - though, it is not tautly enough paced for that, instead it has pauses for you to think things through twice as you go along. If you are used to watching Japanese drama you will realize this is actually a compromise, somewhat faster than usual. Probably that is because the actors are Polish, and so the director just could not get them to work at the glacial emotion-nuanced Japanese pace. Net result, just relax, use the time to think things over, and most western viewers can get into it.
Some folks complain about the repetition in places. I don't want to spoil the story, but they've failed to understand something important. Think about what is repeated, and what is not. Oshii's normal genre is detective mysteries and you should not be surprised that he uses every aspect of the film to supply cues and clues.
And no it is neither the stupendous eye candy of Matrix nor, thankfully, the grandiose and stupid premise and dialogue of the Matrix. They are both stories about metareality but Avalon is more of a puzzle, less of a "blockbuster". The special effects are on a modest budget, competent and quite adequate to carry the story. Other than the interest in metarealities, there are no similarities.
The actors do a fine job. Only Ash has much script to work with, the other characters are pretty much ciphers.
The DVD is anamorphic, of good quality - especially when you reach the S-A scenes you can see the pictures are wonderful. So, don't adjust your set earlier on, the picture qualities you see are quite deliberate and part of the story. The dialog in Polish is clearly somewhat different from the English subtitles but the fragments I could understand matched up in essence, so it all works ok. The music track is rather muted. Some folks rave about the music but it is kept distant, unreachable - I suppose that is deliberate too.
There are two extras. A moderately interesting and mercifully brief description of the special effects techniques. And an almost disturbing interview with Oshii who seems not to be in the same reality as us - or at least me - already. The translation is loosely synched with his rambling japanese but the meaning is correctly carried over.
Some folks complain about the repetition in places. I don't want to spoil the story, but they've failed to understand something important. Think about what is repeated, and what is not. Oshii's normal genre is detective mysteries and you should not be surprised that he uses every aspect of the film to supply cues and clues.
And no it is neither the stupendous eye candy of Matrix nor, thankfully, the grandiose and stupid premise and dialogue of the Matrix. They are both stories about metareality but Avalon is more of a puzzle, less of a "blockbuster". The special effects are on a modest budget, competent and quite adequate to carry the story. Other than the interest in metarealities, there are no similarities.
The actors do a fine job. Only Ash has much script to work with, the other characters are pretty much ciphers.
The DVD is anamorphic, of good quality - especially when you reach the S-A scenes you can see the pictures are wonderful. So, don't adjust your set earlier on, the picture qualities you see are quite deliberate and part of the story. The dialog in Polish is clearly somewhat different from the English subtitles but the fragments I could understand matched up in essence, so it all works ok. The music track is rather muted. Some folks rave about the music but it is kept distant, unreachable - I suppose that is deliberate too.
There are two extras. A moderately interesting and mercifully brief description of the special effects techniques. And an almost disturbing interview with Oshii who seems not to be in the same reality as us - or at least me - already. The translation is loosely synched with his rambling japanese but the meaning is correctly carried over.