Thursday, February 28, 2008

What I Specifically Didn't Like About The X/1999 Movie
My comparison is between the movie and TV series, since the manga remains unfinished, and I didn't even get past Vol. 1 due to the shoddy translation (one of VIZ's low points, in my opinion - it really should have been better than it was).

I have done some checking on Wikipedia though, to back up my basic claim that the TV series is not only better, but more faithful to the manga than the movie in certain aspects.

STORY & CHARACTERS - MOVIE:
- Apocalyptic battle storyline and a cast of at least 14 characters condensed down to two hours. You hardly get to know anyone before they are killed off. They've been reduced to canon fodder.
STORY & CHARACTERS - TV SERIES:
- Every major character's backstory is explored, with a couple of exceptions, with most even given an entire episode of flashback to tell their tales. The series spends more time fleshing out the charatcers, revealing their varying motives and giving the audience a chance to get attached to them. It also casts them in more grays and less of a black/white-good/evil stereotype.
Several of the characters also survive in the end.

THE DUB - MOVIE:
- I'm not always critical on dubs, since I prefer them and am quite happy with the dubs I own (but then I am picky about what I buy and watch). But the dub for the movie was beyond sad. It was overrought, full of clunky dialogue, and quite a few crap vocal performances.
THE DUB - TV SERIES:
- This dub is much better. It has more well-known VAs in it who know what they're doing and do it well, and the voices fit the characters much better.

KUSANAGI SHIYU - MOVIE:
- In the film, Kusanagi is a nasty character who actively takes part in the battle and tries to kill those on the other side.
KUSANAGI SHIYU - TV SERIES:
- The series gets his character right, and true to the manga. He is a much gentler person who, although on the side that intends to destroy humanity, is compassionate and concerned about all life, and wishes the conflict could be resolved with as little bloodshed as possible.

FUMA MONOU: MOVIE
- In the film, Fuma is plain sadistic, wantonly killing anyone and everyone, even those on the side for which he is meant to be fighting (thus adding to the ludicrous body count). The moment he turns from good high school kid to evil destroyer is also not depicted clearly.
FUMA MONOU - TV SERIES:
- A more clear moment of transition from good to evil, and his motivation to perversely grant the wishes of others is much better than being just a slaughterhouse on legs.

So, there you have it. This probably won't mean too much to those who haven't seen either the X movie, TV series, or read the manga, and I could go on, but those are my major gripes.

I wonder also if SciFi will get some disgruntled correspondence from viewers, because their broadcast itself was rife with problems, mainly commercials interjecting themselves at random and chopping scenes to bits. It made watching it all the more difficult.

Oh, and now my computer is REALLY screwed up. After yet another restart tonight (I've lost count of them by now), it kept going to the text-only screen that said a hardware problem was preventing normal fuction. No matter which mode I tried to start it in - safe, normal, or any other - it just kept restarting and going back to the same screen.

Looks like I'm calling Geek Squad once I'm up in the morning. Maybe they can send someone to check it out.
_________________________________________________

Raina:
The memory-eraser, and the Noisey Cricket XD


Ichigo:
Deathblossom. Best. Attack. Ever.

Agreed

Now you. Go and take out the Kodan armada all by yourself with a lizardman for a copilot.

Which wasn't really that hard, when you think about it. One gunship and a bunch of fighters hardly constitutes an "armada". Plus Xur was a total military idiot. I honestly wonder why the Kodan made him their emperor.

Still, I cherish that movie.


Mims:
*hugs you back* Keep coming up with the fun names, please ^^


Nikorasu:
I'll try. Just take my advice and never subject yourself to the same pain.


Tsubusa:
I'd prefer to avoid blunt force trauma =P


Naideana:
You don't get SciFi? You are deprived o_O


2short:
Noein has a decent dub, they played that. I was still surprised they played Tokko when they had to edit it so heavily. I'd rather be able to watch it with all the swearing kept in than all those annoying silences inserted.

Ukitake was the captain with the long white hair. I'm not sure what else to say except look him up ^^
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