RHW5000 Reviews

Oh My Goddess! (1993–1994)

Near Perfect

[21 November 1999]

I am a hard core fan and connoisseur of animation. I've been this way all of my life as far back as I can remember. Groomed on Walt Disney, after seeing their 1974 animated version of ROBIN HOOD, I thought there no equal. Who could match the depth of this cartoon? After seeing Disney's PINOCCHIO, I completely surrendered to Disney and declared them the best ever. Warner Brothers, though, hilarious cartoon shorts served as a good change of pace from Disney's more conservative style, and Hanna-Barbera fascinated me with the likes of Scooby, Yogi, and Huckleberry Hound. Those cartoons I felt were the extent of animation. It could not get any better, more inventive, more well-produced than that. When I first saw Don Bluth's SECRET OF NIMH, I felt I had finally met the last worthy adversary to compete with my love for Disney, Warners, and HB...in 1997, I found out I had a whole lot to learn about animation. Even in the wake of the revival of animation in the mid ninties (Simpsons, Captain Planet, Rugrats, Doug, etc.) to late ninties (Cow and Chicken, South Park, etc.), the most original cartoons were not made in the United States. I found out in 1997 that they were made in Japan, and this is the series that convinced me of that fact. Aa! Megamisama(or Ah! My Goddess! or Oh! My Goddess!)is the best animated story I have seen in this decade. Never have I seen a story so fluid, and so effortlessly told. Unlike Disney, you cannot see any formula.

It is an original self-standing adventure that will draw you into a world that United States cartoon watchers are not familiar with seeing in a cartoon. Belldandy, Keichi, and the other characters electrify the screen with personality. These characters do not live as the cliched images we are so use to seeing in the USA. They are introduced and rounded out as new animated personas undigested by American pop culture--they show off their sexual urges for starters; when was the last time you saw that on an American cartoon? As for the story, I will only tell you this: its a story of a how a goddess forever changes the life of a lonely down on his luck college student after he calls to order take-out. Please check this one out. You will not regret it. :)

Time Bandits (1981)

Great FUN!

[9/10 · 21 November 1999]

From the makers of Monty Python comes this frolic. A gang of dwarfs working for God swipe his map and use it to hop-scotch through time or riches. One day they find themselves in the closet of a boy named Kevin, and seeing nothing better to do, he joins their group. What follows is a weird and funny adventure that ends on a rather peculiar note. Please don't miss this one...and don't miss the cute end title song by George Harrison.

El Hazard: The Magnificent World (1995–1996)

Brilliant!

[9/10 · 15 November 1999]

They don't make cartoons like this in the United States, one filled with the kind of creativity that this one holds. This 2 and one half hour plus adventure will change the way you view the animated film.

Romance? Its got plenty. Comedy? Mr. Fujisawa will keep your sides splitting. Action? The visuals are nothing short of kinetic. All of these wondeful elements are mixed together in a captivating story of unselfishness and sacrifice. Brilliant!

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995–1996)

The Animated Answer to Star Wars

[15 November 1999]

This sci-fi import from Japan sizzles with excitement as the small boy is called upon by his estranged father to save the world. It goes beyond that simplistic thesis, however. Later this movie dives head long into a spiritual joy way that feels way to deep and well thoughtout for a cartoon.

Here we are though, the cartoon answer to Star Wars...might be better.

Fushigi Yûgi - The Mysterious Play (1995–2002)

Revolutionary Cartoon Series

[15 November 1999]

If this masterpiece of a cartoon series ever makes its way unscathed into American TVs, it will forever transform the image of the cartoon.

As the Japanese continue to prove time and again: cartoons are NOT for children. They are for adults.

Fushigi Yuugi is an ultra epic(33 30 minute episodes) of an earth girl and her quest to save a mysterious world. In the process she learns how shallow her earth life was and how unaware she was of who she truely is.

The many characters in this story, jump off the screen with such depth that you will shake your head at how such a thing is possible with pencil lines. Special mention needs to go to Tamahome and Nuriko who are more three-dimensional than anything Disney has yet to create in its animated classics. Please don't miss this set.

Lisa (1990)

It Grows On You

[8/10 · 19 September 1999]

I remember when I first saw this film in 1992. I thought the story unfolded in a weird way, and I felt that the candlelight killer took too long to kill his victims; however, this movie contains a number of choice little parts. I especially liked the phone conversations that Stacy Keanan had with the killer. They sounded fun. The ending sparkled. I liked the way that Lisa and her mom kicked the bad guy's boonkey. Please check this film out. It's fun and different.

Danger Bay (1983–1990)

Cool 1980s Family Adventure Series From the Disney Channel

[19 September 1999]

Chaos, adventure, romance, speed boats, two likeable kid characters, a nice looking female lead, and an animal doctor for the star amounts to 30-45 minutes of fun. Unfortunately, as soon as I started liking this series, it went off the air. I hope some episodes are on video one day. The theme song rocked!

It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown (1974 TV Short)

SUPERB, Charlie Brown!

[9/10 · 19 September 1999]

The story zips along almostly flawlessly, as Snoopy tries to track down Woodstock's stolen nest. Only the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Snoopy Come Home, and A Boy Named Charlie Brown come close to this gem. Please see it.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

More Realistic than 1935 Legend

[13 August 1999]

I first heard of this movie in the spring of 1996. It surprised me to learn that there was a remake to the 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty which I had recently watched for the 10th time. I hardly figured that the likes of a slurring Marlon Brando as Fletcher Christian and a cast of personally unfamiliar characters("who was Trevor Howard",I asked myself) could top the swashbuckling Clark Gable as Christian and the ripping story that the cast of the 1935 gem pulled off. How wrong I was to doubt the 1962 Mutiny on the Bounty. I loved it! I do not think that it is better than the 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty, but it stands as a different take. While the older Mutiny told a by the numbers high-seas adventure with sword fights and glitzy hollywood melodrama, the 1962 version turns out to as less of an action movie and more of a drama. It chooses to downplay the story more to better concentrate on the surprisly complex characters. How complex? Take the tormented Mr. Fryer, Captain Bligh's 3rd in command. He sees the wrongful treatment that his captain is giving the crew, but he does not want to go against the navy. On the other hand, there is McCoy, the old 30 year veteran--someone who seemly would have experienced cruelty similar to Bligh's--who mutinied along with the younger members. Then there is Brown, who ever the gentleman, tries to be loyal to Bligh,but, in the end, he must obey his gentle ways and go against the captain's harsh methods. Although Mills plays a key role in the film, his character does not hold much mystery; the captain overreacts too much, and he does not think it right. He does something about it. All of these different characters and more, play off one another beautifully. When the mutiny does happen, watching them work together(or against each other) is truly beautiful. The production values stir the soul. The gigantic bounty, the breathtaking location footage of Tahiti, the vast panaramic shots of the Atlantic Ocean, and the loud/proud moody score accented with Tahitian percussion. The dialogue is quick, clever and too the point.

All of these elements help to elevate the core story in Mutiny on the Bounty: Bligh and Christian. As Bligh, Trevor Howard changes the character immortalized by Charles Laughten in the 1935 version. Instead of inhuman, demonic tyrant, Howard portrays Bligh simply as an excruciatingly stern captain focused(a little overzealously) on doing the best job that he can. If his mean do not pursue his goals with the same fervor. He gets impatient then frustrated then angry and then violent all in quick succession. He makes for a very realistically workaholic without a life, and he wants everyone else to be a workaholic, too. I thought Clark Gable's Fletcher Christian could not be topped...until I saw Marlon Brando undergo a sheer transformation playing the role. After seeing Brando in ON THE WATERFRONT and the equally American THE GODFATHER, I could not imagine him playing 18th Century British officer...but he did. Brando perfects the haughty, posturing walk. He perfects the clipped, accented speech. He perfects the foppish, effeminate walk of a "true" English gentlemen of high-born connections. Brando does it so remarkably well that one cannot imagine such sissified character leading a mutiny against a tyrannical man like Bligh. Brando's transformation of Christian from sissy to mutiny leader baffles. Unlike Gable, he doesn't gloss over the decision to be a mutineer. Gable made it look easy and as the "right thing to do". Realistically, is it the right thing to do? To throw away your career that you worked hard for? To throw away your life? All for the sake of a feeling a moral belief? It may sound hard, but when faced with a such a delimma, it can be agonizing...which is exactly what Brando captures to a tee, right down to the last frame.

Mutiny on the Boutny 1962 truly needs to be seen. Please don't listen to critics. This movie is fantastic.