Escaflowne (2000)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

Kazuki Akane
Yoshiyuki Takei (co-director)

Writers:

Ryota Yamaguchi (script) and
Kazuki Sekine (writer)

Release Date:

24 June 2000 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Animation | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

One Will Wake It. One Will Destroy It.

Plot:

A grim retelling of the television series "The Vision of Escaflowne".

Plot Keywords:

Tragic Hero | Tragic Villain | Violence | Unrequited Love | Good Versus Evil

Cast

Maaya Sakamoto	...	Hitomi Kanzaki
Tomokazu Seki	...	Van
Jôji Nakata	...	Folken
Mayumi Iizuka	...	Yukari / Sora
Minami Takayama	...	Dilandau
Kôji Tsujitani	...	Jajuka
Shinichirô Miki	...	Allen
Ikue Ootani	...	Merle
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Trevor Devall	...	Shesta (voice: English version)
Brian Dobson	...	Nukushi (voice: English version)
Michael Dobson	...	Dryden (voice: English version)
Paul Dobson	...	Folken (voice: English version)
Brian Drummond	...	Allen (voice: English version)
Andrew Francis	...	Dilandau (voice: English version)
Nobuyuki Hiyama	...	Oruto
Willow Johnson	...	Yukari (voice: English version)
Yoshiko Kamei	...	Van
Terry Klassen	...	Mole Man (voice: English version)
Hisako Kyôda	...	Old woman (as Naoko Kyoda)
Jocelyne Loewen	...	Merle (voice: English version)
Scott McNeil	...	Jajuka (voice: English version)
Kirby Morrow	...	Van (voice: English version)
Richard Newman	...	Black Dragon Clan Captain, Adon Chief, Pyle, Van's Father (voice: English version)
Ward Perry	...	Gaddes (voice: English version)
Kelly Sheridan	...	Hitomi (voice: English version)
Venus Terzo	...	Millerna (voice: English version)
Kappei Yamaguchi	...	Shesta
Sylvia Zaradic	...	Sora (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

Escaflowne the Movie: A Girl in Gaea (Japan) (working title)
Escaflowne: The Movie (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for strong animated violence.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Canada:14A | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Germany:16 | Australia:M

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

The movie was a darker, action-packed, very abbreviated version of the series, and a great many changes were made from the original.

Quotes:

Dilandau: I too have wings, Lord Van!

Movie Connections:

Remake of "Tenkû no Esukafurône" (1996)

Not a good retelling

First, let me state my prejudice: I think the series is the greatest animated series of all time and its universe is one of the great fantasy creations of the twentieth century. What the artists here do with it is spectacular, and one scene in the movie--the resurrection of Escaflowne and the battle of the guymalefs--captures the magic of the series. Otherwise, it is all flash and noise and action. And blood. And loud, not very good music. The story is stiffly told, and is stripped down so far that most of it makes little sense except by reference to the series. The characters are lost, half of them are extraneous, only the maniacal Dilandau comes across--he is done much as in the series--and even here the explanation for him is missing. It looks as if the producers were trying to turn this into another _Akira_, but they chose the wrong property. In short: not enough girl, not enough Gaea, not enough.