Escaflowne: The Movie (2000)

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

Directors:

Kazuki Akane, Yoshiyuki Takei (co-director)

Writers:

Ryôta Yamaguchi (script), Kazuki Sekine

Stars:

Shin'ichirô Miki, Jôji Nakata, Maaya Sakamoto

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maaya Sakamoto	...	Hitomi Kanzaki (voice)
Tomokazu Seki	...	Van Fanel (voice)
Jôji Nakata	...	Folken Fanel (voice)
Mayumi Izuka	...	Yukari / Sora (voice) (as Mayumi Iizuka)
Minami Takayama	...	Dilandau Albatou (voice)
Kôji Tsujitani	...	Jajuka (voice)
Shin'ichirô Miki	...	Allen Schezar (voice)
Ikue Ôtani	...	Merle (voice)
Nobuyuki Hiyama	...	Oruto (voice)
Hisako Kyôda	...	Old Woman (voice) (as Naoko Kyoda)
Kappei Yamaguchi	...	Shesta (voice)
Caitlin Glass	...	Hitomi Kanzaki (FUNimation dub) (voice)
Aaron Dismuke	...	Van Fanel (FUNimation dub) (voice)
Vic Mignogna	...	Dune / Folken Fanel (FUNimation dub) (voice)
Jad Saxton	...	Yukari Uchida (FUNimation dub) (voice)

Storyline

High school student Hitomi Kanzaki, depressed and despondent, wishes to disappear from her world. Her wishes are heard in the alternate world of Gaea where a battle for absolute control is raging! Magically, Hitomi is suddenly transported to this other world and is bestowed with the power to decide its ultimate fate!

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Plot Keywords:

multiple english dubs | one word title | teenage girl | good versus evil | tragic villain | 

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Taglines:

A place you've never seen. A story you'll never forget.

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Genres:

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

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for strong animated violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Website

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

24 June 2000 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Escaflowne: The Movie

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,692, 27 January 2002

Gross USA:

$94,060

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$94,060

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, Bones, Sunrise

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Quotes

Dilandau: Whoops! I hit the wrong target!

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Connections

Featured in AMV Hell 3: The Motion Picture (2005)

User Reviews

Only fun for those who have seen the series, if then

First of all, I watched this movie once before I even saw any of the series, so I was fairly confused--especially by the amount of characters who appear for a few minutes and then disappear. I knew it was supposed to be a retelling and not a summary of the series, but even on that level, I didn't really "get" Hitomi's reason for caring so much for Van all of a sudden, why that blonde captain (Allen, as I learned later) was even there, or what the hell Dune (or Folken, take your pick) was all about. The confrontation with Dune was so incredibly anti-climactic that I almost hoped for that old horror cliche of the villain coming back to life a few times to up his kill stats. No such luck, though.

Having just gone through a marathon session with the series (all twenty-six episodes in two days), I decided to watch the movie again this morning. Well, I had fun identifying all the characters from the series, who were all--down to the cat girls--developed into realistic characters throughout the television series, and it was kind of interesting to compare Hitomi's character (in the movie, she's totally depressed but realized the pain she was causing others; in the series, she was lively, but in being so, she missed the signs that she was hurting people). However, the story (which recasts Hitomi as a "Winged Goddess" figure instead of a girl with skills at fortune telling, and Van into an uncontrollably violent person, but sweet and gentle when he's not killing people) isn't all that interesting (and seems to have been more influenced by the Evangelion series and movies than by Escaflowne), and 96 minutes is far too short a time to tell what should have been a sweeping epic. Instead, despite the claims that it is a retelling, it ends up feeling even more like a truncation of the series.

That said, I thought the animation was good (in an anime genre sort of way--I wouldn't expect a lot of other people to care too much for it, the way that even anime haters tend to like Studio Ghibli films), and the design for Hitomi, though not as kawaii as the series, really did fit with the darker tone of the movie.

6/10