Mini Movie Reviews

I liked this DVD. The Skuld Detective episode was particularly funny, but after watching the "Oh My Goddess!" OAVs, it seemed funky to me from then on. If you're looking for a deep story and plot; don't bother even reading on, but if you like occassional laugh and is a fan of Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld, then why are you still reading this!?

I really enjoyed the adventures of Mini-goddess. It is so funny to see how the characters have changed.

The adventures of Mini Goddess has got to be the cutest piece of anime out. Basically, the episodes are approx. 5 minutes each allowing our cute little Goddesses to go on all kinds of adventures. The Urd files is the 3rd DVD in the series and contains episodes 25-36. A Better description of this wonderful anime show would probably be it's like the Muppet Babies only 1000 times better. So do yourself a favor and purchase all three, currently available, DVD's of this fantastically cute Anime series. You won't regret it:) You can also be like me and pace back & forth, while waiting patiently for the release of The Adventures of Mini Goddess-The Skuld Files:)

The adventures of Mini Goddess has got to be the cutest piece of anime out. Basically, the episodes are approx. 5 minutes each allowing our cute little Goddesses to go on all kinds of adventures. The Belldandy files is the 2nd DVD in the series and contains episodes 13-24. A Better description of this wonderful anime show would probably be it's like the Muppet Babies only 1000 times better. So do yourself a favor and purchase all three, currently available, DVD's of this fantastically cute Anime series. You won't regret it:) You can also be like me and pace back & forth, while waiting patiently for the release of The Adventures of Mini Goddess-The Skuld Files:)

I enjoyed the first mini-goddess dvd, but thought that it was more tuned to kids with its educational messages in certain episodes. The second dvd is tons better than the first in terms of laughter! I was rolling after many of the episodes. I paticularly enjoyed when Urd gets married to the rat Gan-Chan and when the air conditioner breaks and causes a huge blizzaed that the crew has to travel through. If you enjoyed the first dvd or the anime show, then you simply owe it to yourself to check this one out. It is much better in my opinion!

An absolute laugh - a must for any who have seen and enjoyed the Oh / Ah My Goddess universe. Very funny, a real mood lifter.

And in many small doses - so it's easy to pick just how much you want to be inspired.

its kinda cute with the chibi versions of Belldandy,Urd,and Skuld... this series is real good for those who seen Oh! My Goddess

this review is in regards to the collector's edition of the 2 disc set which includes a repaint of the ever popular ninja commando; snake eyes. JOE TRIVIA: the first VHS miniseries was released with the series 83 duke action figure inside.

this mini series brings back cool memeories when certain syndicated american cartoons were cool. before the anime explosion of course.

now on to my favorite and not-so-favorite parts of the disc set...
the enclosed booklet pertaining to gijoe's history was very informative dispite a mistakes. I.E. Mego was not responsible for the six million dollar action figure, it was hasbro's once rival and parent company; KENNER who manufactured not only the six million dollar man toyline but star wars as well.

the interviews were ok, i loved ron friedman's perspective (or retrospective) regarding the series he helped define. on the other hand, i didn't care much more for marv wolfman's interview..too many "er's and ah's" and LASERS IN THE NIGHT was one of the worst epidsodes of the 1985-1986 series.

one thing i would have loved to have seen was the animated comic book commercials not only were they cool, but most were better executed than the regualer gijoe epidsodes. please rhino, put those awesome 20 spots in the next 2 disc installment plus add commentary from ron friedman, he had plenty to say unlike wolfman. props to the late archie goodwin of marvel comics who created the concept of joe's arch nemises COBRA.

I love the opening sequences of all the joe series. I.E. zartan has one of the joes running until recondo jumps outta knowhere and kicks zartan where the logo/title appears. how cool was that?

When the original G.I. Joe miniseries were (finally) released on DVD in their original, uncut form in February, the Joe-watching public was promised a follow-up release with special features. That set (which you see now) has turned out to be well worth the wait.

Firstly, the packaging is more deluxe than the earlier release, and includes a booklet with a layman's history or G.I. Joe in general. Additionally, there's a Snake Eyes figure-a repaint of the original (more or less), with Timber (again, sort of, as it's not the original Timber mold from the '80s), which mimics the midnight blue color scheme from the MASS Device miniseries. The only drawback is that the packaging hypes Snake Eyes as "one of the premier characters" released in connection with the 1983 A Real American Hero miniseries-something that is far truer about Duke, who spent 1983 as the line's primary mail-in exclusive before being released in stores and was the star of the MASS Device episodes.

Second, of course, are the episodes themselves, which are the A Real American Hero and Revenge of Cobra miniseries, completely restored and remastered (and excellently so, at that). If you purchased the previous release, you know what you're getting here.

The last part of this set are interviews with writers Marv Wolfman and Ron Friedman. Wolfman's interview certainly informative, emphasizing the freedom he had while working for Sunbow (and equally emphasizing that character development is why Joe succeeded, in addition to that creative freedom), and how the toy companies might benefit from allowing that freedom to return in their cartoons. He also admits freely to liking Quick Kick (whose development he was most responsible for) and Cobra Commander, which is no surprise given how much fun he had with them in "Lasers in the Night" (an episode Wolfman is understandably proud of). The rest of Wolfman's interview discusses his politics and the politics that allowed for the '80s success of G.I. Joe, with a few jabs at the lesser cartoons of the '70s for good measure. Friedman's interview is, simply put, a trip. His comments are often funny (like the example slamming Kevin Costner's Robin Hood movie as a violation of the spirit of a popular franchise), and certainly worth viewing. He does seem to take a bit more credit for creating the series than some would like (including taking a direct jab at the old filecards), but he does illustrate the key points in how he wrote the initial miniseries very well, and in very entertaining fashion. This interview alone is probably reason enough to buy the set if you purchased the version without special features. All in all, another excellent job by Rhino.

I bought this on a whim, having seen the OAV version of OMG recently and wondering what this was.

And the editorial review is correct. This series is funny, but a bit shallow and lacks the depth of the OAV series. Despite the premise, miniaturized goddesses toying with a morose rat, only a few episodes a genuinely funny.

Most seem to teether between satirizing/ridiculing genres of both movies/books and only succeed partially in doing that.

The funniest ones I found was the 2-part episode about the 'Godzilla'-rat, which (with the longer running time) succeeds
in making fun of the whole 'monster' rampage thing.

I would suggest renting this, before you buy it.

The adventures of Mini Goddess has got to be the cutest piece of anime out. Basically, the episodes are approx. 5 minutes each allowing our cute little Goddesses to go on all kinds of adventures. The Gan-Chan files is the 1st DVD in the series and contains episodes 1-12. A Better description of this wonderful anime show would probably be it's like the Muppet Babies only 1000 times better. So do yourself a favor and purchase all three, currently available, DVD's of this fantastically cute Anime series. You won't regret it:) You can also be like me and pace back & forth, while waiting patiently for the release of The Adventures of Mini Goddess-The Skuld Files:)

This DVD will not break in any new social thoughts or change how you think about the world. Rather, it will just simply make you laugh. As previously noted, the characters from the Oh My Goddess! anime series return in a mini form to have short adventures. Most are very humorous and off the wall. The dvd contains 12 of them so you are sure to find one you like. I highly recommend that anyone who is looking for light-hearted fun check this one out!

The Mini-Specials are, sadly, the least enjoyable part of the You're Under Arrest franchise. While they are not bad, they suffer from a lack of creative energy and from their structure: these are truly "mini" episodes, lasting only a few minutes. Briefly, You're Under Arrest focuses on two unorthodox female police officers in Tokyo, with a large and likeable cast of weirdos (police and civilian alike) around them. If you haven't already gotten into the show, you don't want to start here--these mini-specials would be even less enjoyable not knowing who the characters are.

For those who do know You're Under Arrest, the problems are simple. First, much of YUA's charm comes from the interaction between the characters. That's severely hampered by the brevity of these mini-specials--the characters don't have much time to do anything other than charge through the miniscule plot that covers the few minutes allotted. Second, the episodes don't have much life to them. The fanservice and perverted elements are made much stronger here versus the show--there are multiple underwear thieves, peeping tom cameramen, and flashers on this one disc. There just isn't much else here, and because it's so single-mindedly fanservice oriented, it just lacks the charm of the TV episodes.

In sum, then, if you're a completist and have the rest of YUA, you might want to get this, particularly if you liked the more limited fanservice elements of the TV episodes. If you haven't checked out YUA, you should, but not via these mini-specials. Look at the TV series (or the original comic).

"You're Under Arrest" is the famous anime series centering on two female traffic cops in Bokuto Station, Tokyo. The heroines, tomboy Natsumi and mechanical wiz Miyuki, constantly find themselves trying to solve bizarre crimes at the same time laying the smackdown on woman-loving perverts all across the city. Here are the main points of the story.

Cast

Natsumi- tomboy policewoman, has no respect for any man except for the Chief. Any man who crosses her will feel her superhuman wrath and Amazonian strength.

Miyuki- not just the tech whiz, but a bit on the cowardly side. She's much gentler than Natsumi and has a liking to Nakajima. The most likable character in the series.

Yoriko- a bespectacled girl with thousands of ideas, give or take a few good ones....

Aoi- I'm not into this character at all. She is supposed to be a he, but the most unfunniest thing about her is that we get little proof, at least in the DVD, that she's a he. Terrible character.

Chief- the authority lead. He often questions Natsumi and Miyuki's unorthodox tactics, with hilarious results.

Nakajima- also known as Kenny, he's the mild-mannered traffic officer who feels easily intimidated around the girls, but they all love him.

The episodes can be a mixed bag. They all have some hilarious jokes and play on the sexist theme very nicely, but one must endure through stiffly done animation (somebody say Pokemon?) and the time length for each episode (only 7.5 minutes). There's also the sad lack of a Japanese language track without subtitles, though the dubbed version isn't that bad at all. Still, this is 150 minutes worth of 20 episodes, so you get alot out of the characters, most of whom are great to watch. Voice acting helps solidly too, making Natsumi and Miyuki tough or sweet when the situation calls for it.

Highlight episodes include.....

-The whole police station losing their wallets, leading to a Rashomon-like whodunit.

-Natsumi and Miyuki trying to increase the popularity of the unpopular station cafeteria

-Natsumi and Miyuki getting involved with a suicidal man

-Natsumi and Miyuki chasing a Porcsche driver with a tricked out Mazda (Now that's too fast, too furious!)

-Natsumi and Miyuki using Nakajima to catch a peeping tom in a fitness building

-Natsumi and Miyuki vs. high-tech underwear thieves

-A robber who steals Miyuki's purse, and pays for it in ways you can't imagine!

Despite little extras, this DVD is great to watch and the quality is crystal. You'll want to get arrested by these officers anyday!

If you aren't familiar with the series first, be aware this movie pretty much assumes you already have an emotional investment in the characters and have achieved comfort in the entire somewhat silly idea of tokyo's elite protection forces being an all-girls song and dance troupe.

I AM a fan of the series, yet this movie left me entirely flat. It just isn't very good. Add to this the fact that large portions of the anime are computer animated... Now, I'm a computer animator by profession, and it is well done animation, but I feel that the 3d/CG approach clashes with the fluid grace of cel animation. Certainly the fight scenes were more stiff and less emotional as 3d animation. The sad truth is, it's cheaper to use 3d, but all the toon-shaders in the world don't take away the warmth and expressiveness of hand-drawn anime.

If you are really inclined to get this, check the return policy... Personally I would suggest some of the better titles Amazon carries - look at Haibane Renmei, Neon Genesis Evangellion, Martian Sucessor Nadesico, Please Teacher, Spirited Away, Key the Metal Idol, or Lain...

Sakura Wars the Movie is one of the best Anime Movies that I ever has seen ( I hope I can see it in the German cinema once)
this film has all Action fun and beautiful pictures !!!!
No matter you are a Sakura Wars Fan or not Each Anime fan must have seen this film and the Extras on the DVD is wonderful

But there is a mistake in the Limited Edition (not on the DVD)the mistake is on the Mini-Pencil Board Set !!!
On the card over Reni is a Misspellings !! Her Name is RENI NOT LENI

You like Anime ?? Buy it !!

Actually, I liked this movie. Seemingly for once, the blockbuster movie of the summer did not end happily. I don't think I'm spoling this for anyone when I say that the main focus of the movie, the Andrea Gail and her crew, do not make it back to port safely. They didn't in real life, so why should they here?

CGI is used to good effect to produce some truly amazing ocean scenes (although you wonder how else they could have realistically reproduced a hurricane at sea safely). Clooney's acting is solid, Wahlberg shines in his role and they are both well supported by actors now plying their trade in far bigger roles (John C Reilly, William Fichtner). It's also nice to see Diane Lane poppoing up as Wahlberg's partner.

Four-and-a-half stars

I am writing this on the twelfth anniversary of the incident depicted in The Perfect Storm.

Before the movie even begins, you know it's going to be special. As the Warner Brothers logos appear in turn, we hear the slow, pensive chords of an acoustic guitar, followed by the mournful horns, and then the strings, of James Horner's score.

Starting with the first guitar chord, we are treated to a stunning, eight-minute, opening sequence. We see a ship in the harbor of Gloucester, Massachusetts; a man on the dock, spreading out a plastic container of fish; a shipbuilder at work, much like his ancestors, 350 years before; men on the dock working with netting; Gloucester City Hall, and the honor roll inside; the statue of the "Fisherman at the Wheel"; a storm over the ocean; a sleeping woman crying out from a nightmare the name of her seafaring lover; and the fishing boats' return with their catch, the next morning. A sense of foreboding pervades the proceedings.

Whereas in other towns, the honor roll would be of men lost in foreign wars, at Gloucester City Hall, it is of the over 10,000 fishermen lost at sea, from circa 1623 unto the present day.

When the sister fishing boats the Andrea Gail and Hannah Boden triumphantly enter the harbor, the mournful theme is replaced by a loud, celebratory one, with electric guitars and rapid bursts of horns. Women run to the dock, to greet their men; children speed there on bikes, to meet their fathers. It is as if the men were returning war heroes. And they are heroes, every last one of them.

Some ships' payloads burst with swordfish weighing almost 500 pounds; others' pithy catches fail to make it to 100 pounds. We hear true Massachusetts accents. Along with the fishermen greeted by their families, we see those who have no families to greet them, or whose families have deserted them, men who work so hard, and for so little, that many cannot even afford a car. Their essential, honorable work, virtually unchanged for centuries, lacks all glamor, and they live without dreams or sentimentality. And yet, they do battle with nature, and do things that few today could physically survive doing, let alone do well.

A fisherman who passed away at sea, is carried away on a stretcher. Horner has the celebratory and mournful themes play point and counterpoint to each other. Even in joy, there is sadness.

The bringing in of a catch is rough, mundane work, if you're busy at it, but a thing of wonder to behold. Director Wolfgang Peterson, cinematographer John Seale, and Horner, give the proceedings the epic treatment they deserve.

Aspiring filmmakers would do well to study those first eight minutes, to learn how to establish plot, place, and characters.

In late October, 1991, as tropical hurricane Grace came north from Bermuda, she hit a storm system off Sable Island, on the Canadian coast, and was hit by a third system coming down from Canada, which had hitched a ride on the jet stream, to form an apocalyptic "tripleheader." It was the storm of the century - "the perfect storm."

George Clooney is gripping, if flawed, as Capt. Billy Tyne, who thinks there's nothing greater on earth, than being a swordfish boat captain. But Tyne has apparently lost his touch for finding where the fish are, and might lose his "site" (boat), if he doesn't start bringing in some big loads. Fast. And so, at the end of the season, he decides to go out for one last run. But what Capt. Tyne doesn't tell anyone, especially his boat's owner, who has expressly forbidden him from doing, is that he is headed for the Flemish Cap, hundreds of miles east of his usual fishing grounds, where there's "lots of fish ... and lots of weather." What Capt. Tyne doesn't know, is that he is heading straight into hell.

Tyne practically shanghais his men into the additional trip, threatening them with losing their sites (jobs) on his boat.

At dawn, when the men assemble to leave, bidding their women farewell, they look like motley gunslingers headed to the big gunfight, evoking the scene in The Wild Bunch, when Bill Holden's "Pike Bishop" says to Ernie Borgnine's "Dutch," "Let's go."

Eventually, the men must choose whether to risk their ship and their lives for a huge catch, or return home abject failures. The decision isn't about greed, it's about honor and pride.

The supporting roles are exquisitely cast. Passionaria Diane Lane, as crewman Bobby Shatford's lover, Christina "Chris" Cotter, has the Massachusetts accent down, and is believable, if at times over the top, as a woman desperately in love, who sees a way out of a dead-end life, that she fears the sea will steal from her. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is solid as Linda Greenlaw, the successful swordfish boat captain who beckons to the hardbitten loner, Tyne, in her restrained fashion, as the partner he so desperately needs and desires, if only he has the sense to reach out to her. As Dale "Murph" Murphy, the face of John C. Reilly is a map of loss and regret. Murph's crewmate-antagonist, David "Sully" Sullivan (William Fichtener) has seemingly little to gain or lose in life. Michael "Bugsy" Moran (John Hawkes) is a man who, in spite of being consistently beaten down by life, has not lost his charm or sense of humor. As easygoing Alfred Pierre, Allen Payne makes the most of a sketchily-written role.

The special effects were so realistic, as to maintain their grip on my wife and me. Special effects that are "too good," that depict things that couldn't possibly occur in reality, leave me indifferent to whether things pan out on the screen.

While The Perfect Storm abounds in seat-of-the-pants action, it is always about the character of men in dire straits, which is why we care about them.

Finally, you might want to keep a fresh box of Kleenex handy.

Originally published in Toogood Reports, October 31, 2003.

THE PERFECT STORM is one of those unabashedly sentimental epics Hollywood has been doing for years...and this is one fine addition to that list. Director Wolfgang Petersen commandeers a wonderful cast, and the special effects are stupendous. What made this movie work so much for me wasn't the leading roles of George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg or John C. Reilly, although they were just fine. It's the people in secondary roles, particularly the women, who made such an impact on me. Diane Lane is perfect as Christina, Mark's woman who wants to start a new life with him; even if her accent isn't quite up to par, her immersion in the role is great. Rusty Schwimmer as Irene, the overweight single mother who finds herself intrigued with Bugsy (John Hawke, in an outstanding performance) doesn't have a lot of screen time, but she commands it when she does. So does Janet Wright as Mark's momma, Edith. Wright's performance was right on key in both her love for her son and the acceptance of Diane into her family. Likewise, Merle Kennedy's role as John Reilly's ex-wife requires little screen time or dialogue, but her presence is powerfully felt. William Frichtner's painful presence as Reilly's nemesis is especially powerful as he saves Reilly's life and becomes more of a friend. Christopher McDonald as the metereologist who practically explodes in excitement with the birth of the perfect storm adds a strange tint of irony and sadness. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's subtle sexuality ignites her scenes with Clooney and her eulogy is four or five hankies at least!
This is a movie movie and I enjoyed it immensely!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.