Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth [DVD]

Some years ago the TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion took the animation market by surprise due to it's overwelming success both in Japan as in the US and Europe.In Japan the LD's, Video's and DVD's sold like hot cakes even outselling the traditional top bestsellers from Disney.Spinning off loads of merchandise and two extra movies as a result.The two films are: Death, which is part 1 and Rebirth which is part 2.At first, in Japan, they were sold seperatly but luckily for us they have now been merged into one long movie."Death" is basicly the same story as the series episodes 1 through 24, but compacted into a movie."Rebirth" can be considered a reworked edition of Tv episodes 25 and 26 but now stretched out in big-screen movie style.The Tv series started off as something older children could watch and enjoy, there's comedy, giant robots and spectacular battles.But half way the Tv series the story turns serious and ventures off into all kinds of religious, psychological and phylosofical subjects and starts asking some very existencialistic questions.The movies are even more adult orientated because it does away with all the light entertainment and goes directly into the deep and complex storyline which is simply to dificult to follow for children.Besides making the story seem even more dramatic and intens the quality of the animations and music is considerably better too.Especialy Rebirth turns out to be very artistic and abstract.Either you love it or you hate it... most people I know loved it to death!I will not give a review of the story line for two reasons, firstly because it's a very complex storyline which is hard to explain in a short review and secondly because I don't wish to give away spoilers.Besides, EVA D&R has to be experienced... you'll understand what I mean if you see it.If you are looking for a high quality anime movie then look no further... this one became an instant clasic the moment it was released.long lastng entertainment is guaranteed since you'll probably have to watch the movie several times in order to completely understand the entire plot.Sit back, relax and enjoy!

Death and Rebirth is, in my opinion, not the movie of the set of two you need to own. But you should have it anyway.The first half is mostly re-hash of the entire series, to remind people what's going on and to bring up important points.The second is the first bit of the next movie, End of Evangelion.Why should you get this? Well, I don't recall for certain because I haven't watched this movie by itself recently, but I believe some of the scenes that are clips from previous episodes in the series have somewhat alternate dialogue or added effects that are worth seeing. It also does a good job of explaining what is going to happen next and who the major players are (and why).You should have the Evangelion series. Or know someone who does. And watch it. Then you're really ready for the movies.Anyway, this is the start of the end of everything. 17 Angels have made their moves. SEELE is poised to fulfill their plan, and NERV, under Gendo Ikari, is the focal point.Eva Unit 01, lift off....

Death and Rebirth is basicly the movie version of the whole NGE series, a sort of "quick re-run" which was intended to be an easy way for the fans to get into the whole story line again. One could wonder how fans would forget about a serie with the impact of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Or one could also wonder what good a re-run would do while you can quickly see for yourself that details are of high importance in the whole experience (just check web forums, usenet groups, etc.). That is; if you want to dive into the story instead of focussing on action scenes. So chances are high that fans would easier grab the VHS or DVD's with the original serie to relive the moment than grab this DVD.In this aspect I really wouldn't recommend this DVD; the 're-run' isn't going into much details, just the most important ones are included. And the story on this DVD isn't going in a very synchronized order; you basicly start with scenes from episode 24 and end with them. Not very easy for any newcomer.However; if you are a fan of the series then its also not easy to simply ignore this DVD. Despite of the fact that in the end things are basicly a "quick and dirty re-run" it *does* give you some very nice extra's. For example some scenes which are viewed from a totally different perspective. Maybe not very special, but an interesting experience nevertheless where animation is concerned. And then there is the issue that some scenes are new when looking back at the original series. These scenes even got used in the Director Cut DVD's, so also not something which is easily discarded.Naturally there are also downsides to this DVD for fans. Because they have made a whole new movie the whole voice actor cast (I'm focussing on the English voice actors) wasn't available. So some characters have completely different voices. While they managed to keep most of them decently close to the original, some are simply awfull when compared with the original serie (for example Professor Fiyutski, the voice really doesn't match the character profile at all).So summing up I think this DVD will be best experienced by fans. Its absolutely not a substitute for the entire series and the story line is nearly impossible to follow for anyone not closely familiar with the original serie.However, even if you are a fan I'd seriously consider if you want this DVD since it mostly focusses on summarizing the serie. The End of Evangelion might be something you're really after.