The Worst Film Ever

Expected more

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Rei (Anna Paquin) is a boy living in 1866 Manchester. One day, he receives a parcel from his grandfather. It's a Steamball which provide unimaginable power. Almost immediately he is confronted by two thugs from the Ohara Foundation. He has been warned by his grandfather to avoid the Foundation and find Dr Stephenson. Only he is captured by the Foundation which turn out to be working under the direction of his father.The animation looks dark and dull. There're so many shades of brown and grey. It's not the prettiest animation that I've seen, but it is very well done. I just wish that it was brighter.As for the story, I found it rather confounding. The boy is rather a stock character. Everybody else is either mean, crazy or annoying. Rei have to choose either his CRAZY grandfather or his CRAZY father. I don't see either as a good choice. Basically Dr Stephenson wants to keep the invention to power weapons for Britain, and the Foundation wants to sell the invention so that other people can power their weapons. And it doesn't make sense for the Foundation to attack the Queen. Not much of it makes sense. Maybe something got lost in translation. The last half is one action sequence after another. The context is all gone. After awhile, the action ceases to have any meaning.

Wow, just when I thought I'd seen it all. Following the success of his film "Akira", Katsuhiro Otomo brings in a spectacular film set in nineteenth century Great Britain of all places where moral philosophy and scientific progression clash over the power of industry. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Steamboy! James Ray Steam (or just Ray) is the prodigy of Europe's greatest scientific minds in all of Europe, his father Edward and grandfather Lloyd. After being gone for three years, Edawrd and Lloyd return along with some corporate officials fighting each other over the latest invention of the Steam family: the steam ball. Utilizing advanced steam-powered technology and a newly discovered source of liquid fuel, the steam ball can power the biggest and most complex of machines, potentially revolutionizing the Industrial Era. But when the machine's immense power is used to power weapons of mass destruction and many sides with differing ideals begin to bare their fangs, Ray finds himself unable to decide who is right or wrong. Will his indecision lead to the downfall of humanity? Prepare to go full steam ahead! First off, the animation is absolutely incredible. It's not hard to imagine why this film took ten years to make (yes, TEN YEARS) because everything in this world is so well detailed, from the buildings to the machines to even the characters themselves, who move quite fluidly. The story is fairly complex and the are lots of good points between the philosophies of James' father and grandfather as well as the points of view of other characters. I also like how there's no real villain other than the people who profit from weaponry. Character development is also done good as some the characters learn from the mistakes they make and generally become better, more humble people, such as the case of both Edward and the female lead Scarlett. The action scenes are pretty intense as there's something new coming in every few minutes or so and the dark moments work very well.I don't know about the Japanese dubbing, but what truly impressed me was the English voice cast. Anna Paquin shockingly does the voice of our protagonist Ray and does a surprisingly good job providing a boy-like voice for the character. Patrick Steward plays as the grandfather Lloyd and really brings out both the massive crankiness and philosophical wisdom the aging scientist provides to the story. Finally, we have Alfred Molina as Ray's father Edward and the actor nails the ambition and well-intentioned nature he has.However, there are a few nitpicks to note here. A few characters do tend to be very annoying like a few of the business men and thugs that work for the corporations. Scarlett herself starts out to be a rather spoiled and not-so-bright brat, but at least she develops into a better person. Also, there were a couple of scenes that dragged on a little, but that's a small complaint.Overall, this is one thought-provoking thrill ride you do not want to miss. I give this movie an eight for entertainment value and an extra point for all the nice little subtleties. Definitely one of the best anime I've seen and worth a watch, so check it out!

I bought this Steampunk Anime movie expecting an alternate time line story. What showed up (when I could see it after turning up the LCD TV's brightness and contrast) was a version of Jules Verne's "Captain Nemo and the Steam Tower That Refused To Die." Inventive? Yes, the world of the Steam family, menaced by different tribes of would-be venture capitalists for a steam ball was different. Family members at war with each other over SCIENCE or COMMERCE made things as murky as the elevator ride to the Steam Tower's control tower level. The action level varied from "Hold on to your hat!" to "Snooze warning: justification lectures and ethics arguments galore!" to "It's time for 'War of the Corporate Scum!" All in all, "Akira" was more coherent, but I'd like to see what Otomo is up to next. By the way, I watched the Japanese language version with English subtitles.

I'd heard good things about this film but was somewhat disappointed as soon as I put the disc in and found it didn't include the original Japanese language sound track as I prefer to watch my anime subbed rather than dubbed. When the film started I soon put that out of my mind and settled down to enjoy the story.The Steam family live up to their name by inventing a variety of steam powered devices, the most impressive of which is the steam-ball a metal ball the size of a football that can contain enough compressed steam to power huge machines for a long period of time. After an accident at a research centre in Alaska Lloyd and his son Eddie have a falling out and Lloyd sends the ball to his grandson James Ray Steam. Soon after the package arrives in Manchester members of the sinister O'Hara Foundation turn up claiming that it was meant to be sent to them so it could feature in the Great Exhibition in London. James flees on an exotic looking single wheel vehicle and is chased by thugs on a large traction engine... this exciting chase goes on for a while and includes trains and a Zeppelin. Ray is caught and taken to London along with the steam ball, he is shocked to discover that his father, who he believed was dead, is working for the O'Hara Foundation. Eddie explains how grandfather Lloyd went a bit mad and stole the ball, at this point Ray doesn't know who to believe.It turns out that the steam ball is one of three required to power a huge steam castle where the Foundation is hoping to sell their various steam powered weapons to anybody who has the money to but them. When word gets out and the authorities seek to search the castle the foundation deploys a wide range of steam powered weapons against them including steam-armour, tanks and even aircraft, finally the castle itself takes off leaving a swathe of destruction through London. Ray, his grandfather and the O'Hara's daughter Scarlett must stop them before London is destroyed.I thought the story was pretty good and the animation was pretty stunning throughout. I really liked the vast array of imaginative steam powered devices that appeared. The dub wasn't bad and I wouldn't have guessed that Ray was being voiced by a woman if I hadn't read it here first. The accents did seem to be the sort only had by the generic Northerners who feature in period dramas, I was half expecting somebody to say, "Ay oop, there's trouble up t' mill". If you insist on watching anime in Japanese get the directors cut, if it isn't essential this English version is still enjoyable.