Looks like Ms. Theron is going to play the role of Aeon. It's kinda cool to see this old anime series get a rebirth, hope they get it right for the big screen.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/hitlist/7-22-05

Looks like Ms. Theron is going to play the role of Aeon. It's kinda cool to see this old anime series get a rebirth, hope they get it right for the big screen.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/hitlist/7-22-05


I've never seen the series but since Charlize is in this big screen version, I'll definitely check out the movie.

Somehow I doubt they will make the movie with no dialogue like the animated version. That would be awfully ballsy if they did.

Sadly the film is only very loosely based on the animated shorts or the later "series" and the part that's most different is Aeon herself. The new character acts differently, her outfit is 100% different, the hair is "wrong" and I dunno, this really just doesn't excite me at all as someone who really enjoyed everything that was unique and cool about the animation.

I don't get why this has to happen, I guess because retreading and ruining previous content is all studios seem to want to do right now.

*sigh*

i posted this site sometime a few months ago......

but no one cared :rolleyes:

AEONFLUX THE MOVIE (http://www.aeonflux.com/)

cool CGI trailer and all.....

i posted this site sometime a few months ago......

but no one cared :rolleyes:

AEONFLUX THE MOVIE (http://www.aeonflux.com/)

cool CGI trailer and all.....

Not true...I care

That sucks, they should do it right if they decide to do it at all. I think she would do the job, she is hot enough...just needs to dye the hair.

Why is everyone complaining about the hair? If you go to the actual website as posted above, she clearly has black hair :confused:

Did MTV only show Aeon Flux in the late 80's?

Did MTV only show Aeon Flux in the late 80's?
They replayed it again in the 90's on MTV2. Not nearly enough though.

It was on MTV into the late 1990's broken into segments on Liquid Television. That is where I saw it.

The series was available on a DVD I bought a a few years ago. The video gamr preview on the site looks to be pretty true to the old series.

Somehow I doubt they will make the movie with no dialogue like the animated version. That would be awfully ballsy if they did.

It would be ballsy, but that was true only for the shorts. The other episodes had dialog. Whoever played Trevor Goodchild was awesome (I think it was John Lee?). And the guy who voiced Bambara was funny. You know, "My name is Bambara, and I want to be your friend." Hahah.

In any case, I only care about the live action movie because I shudder at the prospect that Aeon Flux will become some idiotic and utterly gimped version of one of my favorite anime of all time.

The full MTV series is going to be released on DVD to coincide with the movie. Peter Chung is a really interesting animator.

If you were into Aeon you should give Regin a try. It's a futuristic (S&M) take on Alexander the Great. Interesting stuff.

The cool thing about the shorts was she died every time. I don't think their going to do anything that even comes close to that in this film.

I think Ms. Theron is the wrong choice. I like her, but not in this character. I can only think that they chose her because they chose not to stick to the original environment. Too bad. This reminds me of {insert car analogy}Chrsler takes what was originally a two-door hit from the past and makes it into an ugly family sedan while claiming its a hot-rod from the past.{/insert car analogy}

The only thing in common with the original is the name. Boo! And with that note, who would you vote for playing Aeon?

The full MTV series is going to be released on DVD to coincide with the movie. Peter Chung is a really interesting animator.

If you were into Aeon you should give Regin a try. It's a futuristic (S&M) take on Alexander the Great. Interesting stuff.

No doubt. His Animatrix anime was my favorite one of all nine. It wasn't just the animation; it was the story -- shrinking AI-heads to protect humans. But his pieces always seem to have a deviation to "normal" sexuality, gotta love it.

The new AEON (http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/aeon_flux/large.html) trailer ;)

After seeing this thread, I put Aeon Flux (animated DVD) into my Netflix cue. Unfortunately, they don't have it. :mad:

Boo, they ruined the anime!

Curious, how did you add it to your cue if they didn't have it?

I assume they had it at one point, but it was "lost" by renters since it appears to be OOP. It just placed it in my SAVED que, not my rental que.

Hot chick in spandex
Cool CGI
Sci-Fi
Action
Hot chick in spandex


Yep, I'll check it out.

Trailer looks pretty cool to me. I watched the anime series a few time back when. It passed the time, but I can't say it was momentus entertainment. Don't even recall much of the theme.

I'll invest at least a rental...

Well seeing the trailer give me some hope. With a good cast, and a new director (only previous was D.E.B.S.--a teen spy satire) so hopefully some of Peter Chung's work comes through. But, Aeon Flux was the name of the show, only later did it become the name of the character. Certainly the wild-looking Frances Fisher as Aeon's superior is intriguing. And, I do like the hair since Aeon's 'doo would have had to be CGI itself.

And, I do like the hair since Aeon's 'doo would have had to be CGI itself.

Nah, you can get hair to do that in real life. It's called AquaNet hairspray.

Actually, several women have done that hairdo at various comic fan conventions.

Hot chick in spandex
Cool CGI
Sci-Fi
Action
Hot chick in spandex
Yep, I'll check it out.
The only problem with this approach is that you could tag any title and idea with the same thing and draw the same results.

The trailer looks pretty good. I remember watching the anime shorts years ago and loved Aeon Flux. Hopefully they turned the series into a decent action film.

The trailer looks good. Of course, I said the same about Elektra :(

Thanks for the info! I cant wait!

The only problem with this approach is that you could tag any title and idea with the same thing and draw the same results.
I don't see a problem with it.

mjolson - you hit the nail on the head.

Elektra.

:eek:

I REALLLLLLLLY hope they don't screw this up. I have been a fan of Aeon Flux since I saw it on Liquid Television. Charlize is a great choice, assuming they don't ruin the character. I just wish it was rated R so we wouldn't get a watered down version of what it should be.

Well, while the movie seems to be a treat for the eyes (I watched the trailer last night), I still cannot see CT as Aeon. She just doesn't seem tough enough. So, who would make a good alternative to CT in the main role?

I am willing to take a risk with this one... it looks like it will have a lot of the stylization pulled from the series.

Remember, the draw about the series was that it was obtuse and only shown in little clips. Your mind would fill in many of the blanks until the next time you saw an episode. Even though I loved the clips, I remember sitting through a marathon where everthing was stringed together in the right order... it was not as fun... almost like having a meal of only chocolate.

Yes, the style is probably there, but this is like sending in a teddy bear instead of a grizzly bear. I just cannot see CT in this role. Maybe its me, and I like CT (pref nude, of course).

Well, while the movie seems to be a treat for the eyes (I watched the trailer last night), I still cannot see CT as Aeon. She just doesn't seem tough enough. So, who would make a good alternative to CT in the main role?


Marcia Cross

http://us.ent4.yimg.com/entertainment.yahoo.com/images/ent/ap/20050819/cadm118_crash_premiere.sff.jpg

Well, while the movie seems to be a treat for the eyes (I watched the trailer last night), I still cannot see CT as Aeon. She just doesn't seem tough enough. So, who would make a good alternative to CT in the main role?

So, she wasn't convincing as a lesbian serial killer in "Monster"? This certainly could have been cool with say Ms. Jolie, or maybe Alexa Davalos (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm1111968/) (Gwen Raiden from Angel), but, even Madonna lobbied for the part. So it could have been worse. Though with this and later in the month Serenity I'm looking forward to the "battle of the ballerinas" since both Summer, and Charlize were ballerinas and that certainly factors into their action scenes.
Now the fact that it's PG-13 does take away from some of the buzz (Peter Chung said in an interview that he would have had her naked if he could have gotten away with it). But, hopefully the complicated relationship between Aeon and Trevor is still in the mix, and the strange cast of other characters is there--I see that Scafandra with her 'new transplants' is there so there is hope, and the director (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0476201/), see "Girlfight", is conversant in strong female characters (wonder what Michelle Rodriguez would have been like?).

PG-13? Jeez, there goes the kindercare neihborhood. Thanks for letting me know. Now I can say on any free-rentals I would have used.

Resurrecting the old thread. Aeon Flux opens tomorrow with no critical screenings, always a bad sign. Ebert and Roeper will be giving it their "Wagging Finger of Shame" for not having any preview screenings. And the buzz around the net just isn't good. It's not "Catwoman" bad, but bad nonetheless.

I hope it's not so bad, but if it is, it's such a waste of talent, money, and good source material.

http://www.fromthebalcony.com/reviews/2005/05_aeonflux.htm

Ouch...

What do you expect! Hollywood producers never Ever get it right.

They dont care about the project at all. Its a moneymaking vehicle, and it shows.

What do you expect! Hollywood producers never Ever get it right.

They dont care about the project at all. Its a moneymaking vehicle, and it shows.

You're right. They never EVER get it right. They totally botched LOTR. It was all about the profit. How could they screw it up like that! ;)

</sarcasm>

http://www.fromthebalcony.com/reviews/2005/05_aeonflux.htm

While I have a strong feeling this movie will be horrible, based primarily on the fact that they didn't do much pre-release screening, I think the review in the link above is horrible. He spends the vast majority of the time talking about how unbelievabe the backstory is:

"Aeon Flux is based upon the anime series of the same name that aired a decade ago on MTV. The show is unseen by me and probably most of the world, and it will stay that way. The story is a howler, but it seems like only the audience is in on the joke."

Those that have seen the anime know the story, and are more than willing to suspend disbelief. The anime series was fun and compelling, even if the story was far from realistic. But this review doesn't give us much to go on as far as the actual movie goes. The reviewer can't get past the fact that he didn't like the premise.

I'm not saying he isn't right about the movie...he may be. But you'd never know it from his review.

While I have a strong feeling this movie will be horrible, based primarily on the fact that they didn't do much pre-release screening, I think the review in the link above is horrible. He spends the vast majority of the time talking about how unbelievabe the backstory is:

"Aeon Flux is based upon the anime series of the same name that aired a decade ago on MTV. The show is unseen by me and probably most of the world, and it will stay that way. The story is a howler, but it seems like only the audience is in on the joke."

Those that have seen the anime know the story, and are more than willing to suspend disbelief. The anime series was fun and compelling, even if the story was far from realistic. But this review doesn't give us much to go on as far as the actual movie goes. The reviewer can't get past the fact that he didn't like the premise.

I'm not saying he isn't right about the movie...he may be. But you'd never know it from his review.

I'm surprised he was even able to review it at all. Aeon Flux wasn't screened for reviews. One of the local reviewers here on Dallas totally dismissed the entire movie saying that 100% of the time that a film isn't allowed to be pre-screened for reviewers, that the film is no good (Gary Cogill is his name). Of course, he also kept calling the film A-on Flux, instead of E-on Flux. I guess he never watched Liquid Television. :D

She looks hot in the trailers!

Yeah, officially they didn't let ANY reviewers see the film until fri dec 2 (probly in case it got traszhed by the media), dunno what date the review above is from.

It's ironic that 15-20 years after good female-lead films like Terminator and Alien, Hollywood is stuck in tight-leather-action-hero-chick mode.

Not that there's anything wrong with that... :) But I'd take Into the Blue w/Jessica Alba in a bikini over Flux, Catwoman & Electra combined.

Sean

I remember seeing the animated version of this on MTV many many years ago, sad to think they have made a PG-13 movie and from what i was reading Charlize who is now a big Oscar winning star didnt wanna wear too revealing an outfit ( in the animated version the outfits much skimpier as i recall ) i'm sick of watered down PG-13 movies, from horror to action its all PG-13 i yearn for the late eighties and early nineties ( less CGI too ) am i wrong to detest the rise of the PG-13 movie and the demise of more R rated entertainment ?

Any one who didn't see a flusher coming?

E

You're right. They never EVER get it right. They totally botched LOTR. It was all about the profit. How could they screw it up like that! ;)

</sarcasm>
They do occaisionallyget it right. They allowed jackson to put the project first, the name and opening wknd second

but for every lotr, theres 4-5 bad ones, FF,Catwoman, electra, aeon, ........

need i even mention the endless steam of bad nonblockbuster types, like best friend or dude wheres my car???

I'm surprised he was even able to review it at all. Aeon Flux wasn't screened for reviews. One of the local reviewers here on Dallas totally dismissed the entire movie saying that 100% of the time that a film isn't allowed to be pre-screened for reviewers, that the film is no good (Gary Cogill is his name). Of course, he also kept calling the film A-on Flux, instead of E-on Flux. I guess he never watched Liquid Television. :D


Of course the percentage is actually 99% as the studios did screw up once...

Tombstone was not previewed for critics!

And the buzz around the net just isn't good. It's not "Catwoman" bad, but bad nonetheless.


It is much worse than Catwoman.

They have virtually no character development just go straight to endless, mindless violence. They never give you a reason to care about any of these characters.


Duane

Obviously knowing nothing about the animated series, my 11-year old somehow thinks AF is dumb, so we passed on it. I'll just rent it later.

Aeon Flux was number two at the Box Office this past weekend at 12 million. What's really sad (not to knock Aeon), is that that's a better opening weekend than Serenity.

It is getting trashed big-time at RottenTomatoes.com

Aeon Flux was number two at the Box Office this past weekend at 12 million. What's really sad (not to knock Aeon), is that that's a better opening weekend than Serenity.

Keep in mind, this movie cost 115 mil to produce, if they only got 12 for opening Wknd, theyre gonna get killed. They will probably recover the majority of production costs, but when you add promotion and distribution...AF is gonna lose money bigtime!

Ok, the movie stunk...whatever.

Did anyone get the DVD yet of the series? I picked it up yesterday after searching for about a week.

Beautiful white cover, three cardboard gatefold style cases for each disc. Insert from the director that talks about the minor changes and such.

Skipped the awesome pilot and watched the first two episodes immediately. Excellent stuff. Can't wait to watch the next few epsiodes.

I got the DVD set for Xmas, and LOVED it, because I have been a HUGE AF fan ever since the shows originally aired in the mid 90's.

I was very excited about the movie coming out, and was very disappointed when something came up and I was unable to see it at the theater. Sounds like I didn't miss anything, unfortunately.

I haven't heard a single good thing about the movie from anyone. At best, it is ho-hum. From what I have seen and heard, they turned AF into a futuristic female James Bond. What a waste. What Aeon Flux was really about is modern mythology - thus the title - about the evolution and rearrangement of gender and societal roles. I mean, traditionally, it was always the males who produced mountains of corpses - know what I mean? The cartoon AF always did this in a way that was far reaching and truth telling. Trevor Goodchild was also very important to the mythos in articulating why males weren't completely obsoleted despite Aeon. IMO, hollywood totally blew a grand opportunity to make a movie that really said something about humanity and it's future - ah well.

And as far as Charlize Theron - forget it. The problem with her was obvious from the get-go. She just is not mature enough. Aeon Flux was and should have been an archtypal WOMAN, mature and capable, but with the addition of the male (not butch) attitude. CT to me looked just like any other sassy sci-fi teen heroin. She was completely miscast.

If only they had kept to Peter Chung's original vision. It is unfortunate that the movie making process so often takes the making of the film completely out of the hands of the person who really understands what it is about. Chalk up another creative casualty to Hollywood.

And as far as Charlize Theron - forget it. The problem with her was obvious from the get-go. She just is not mature enough. Aeon Flux was and should have been an archtypal WOMAN, mature and capable, but with the addition of the male (not butch) attitude. CT to me looked just like any other sassy sci-fi teen heroin. She was completely miscast.

If only they had kept to Peter Chung's original vision. It is unfortunate that the movie making process so often takes the making of the film completely out of the hands of the person who really understands what it is about. Chalk up another creative casualty to Hollywood.

Hmm, I always thought of Charlize as being a little too old for the role, since in the Herodontus File comic that was released it had her as in her mid-twenties. But, I though her history as a ballerina was at least on good fit, and the change in hair style seemed a bit more practical. But, it seems that unlike the original shorts, they were forced into a more linear timeline. As one reviewer noted the original shorts never quite made sense and that was what was so cool about them, everything including the plot/storyline were de-constructed. (What most disappointed me was Charlize's insistence on wearing more clothes, after hearing from Pete himself that he would have had her naked if he could have gotten away with it--him tweaking social morrays, but, I guess he only got to show the violence.)

I haven't seen either the show or the movie, but I thought I'd look around amazon for their thoughts on the show which seems to be strongly recommended by Kiauma (above).

from amazon.com
Aeon Flux - The Complete Animated Collection (1995)
Plot Synopsis: Aeon Flux is a mysterious and amoral secret agent from the country of Monica. Her motives or background are left unexplained, as are those of her her antagonist/love, Trevor Goodchild. On her missions, she deals swift, bloody "justice" to all that oppose her. The second season episodes of this series were unique in that Aeon died at the end of every single episode.
Her extensive list of skills includes assassination, seduction, domination, and modeling. She is a leather-clad mercenary and a deadly double agent, known for her erratic behavior patterns and ability to dispatch villains with a kick of her shapely leg. She's Aeon Flux, the dazzling dominatrix from the popular animated series on MTV, a colorful hybrid of Japanese animation and Heavy Metal graphics. This digital video disc combines several complete episodes with selected shorts as they originally appeared on the popular music video channel. Aeon Flux is teasing treat for libidinous teens and grownup guys with teenage tastes.
Ah, the weirdness found in snips and snaps from the old "MTV Liquid Television" days..."Aeon Flux" was easily the most inspired efforts from those brilliantly twisted pseudo-underground types back in the day...and thanks to Peter Chung's latter day successes with the "Matriculated" episode from "The Animatrix" and the "Reign: The Conqueror" series, maybe those who weren't on board during the era when grunge was king will give these earlier made-for-basic-cable exercises in sex (such as it was) and violence (as it always is) another look.
...it's got the elements of every decent adult-oriented anime I've ever seen...scantily-clad women, gratuitous violence, and a detached sense of things which seemingly happen for no clearly defined reason ... the artwork does look a bit dated and possibly could have used better production values...but keep in mind that this was never supposed to be more than a warm-up act for "120 Minutes" on Sunday nights.

Hmm, I always thought of Charlize as being a little too old for the role, since in the Herodontus File comic that was released it had her as in her mid-twenties. But, I though her history as a ballerina was at least on good fit, and the change in hair style seemed a bit more practical. But, it seems that unlike the original shorts, they were forced into a more linear timeline. As one reviewer noted the original shorts never quite made sense and that was what was so cool about them, everything including the plot/storyline were de-constructed. (What most disappointed me was Charlize's insistence on wearing more clothes, after hearing from Pete himself that he would have had her naked if he could have gotten away with it--him tweaking social morrays, but, I guess he only got to show the violence.)

Ah! The Herodotus file I have not seen yet, though I will get it soon. Ah well, perhaps it is less age than maturity - there is just something... I don't know... too cute and teddy bearish about Cherize. While "mid twenties" may be a wonderful age for a girl, I simply do not get the feeling Aeon is that young from watching the shows.

Aeon, to me, is a mythical character. Mythically, women go through three stages in life; Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Clearly, she is not a crone, nor does she suffer the physical or emotional immaturity of the maiden. Clearly, it is the mother stage of life she is in, indeed in the series episode Chronophasia she squarely illustrates that fact. In fact, it is from that episode that I take my notion of her age, from the age of her 'son' in the episode.

Being a mythical character, she is archtypal, at her physical and sexual peak. It is well known that males peak around 18 years of age, and then it is all downhill from there. Woman, OTOH, peak much later, up through their 30's.

As to the original shorts not making sense, I agree they don't make any sense linearly, but again if you look at it mythically it all then makes perfect sense. In the original shorts (and some of the series episodes) she died in every one. How sensical is that in any linear sense? Looking at what it 'says' about the character, I see that what Peter Chung was doing was exploring and at the same time establishing what Aeon was about. What he was saying was that Aeon was capable yet fallible, deadly yet mortal, humorous but also dead serious. She played hard, and she played for keeps. What he was establishing was that she was the edge, as later vocalized in the show opening.

Also, I am afraid I must agree with Cherize on the clothes issue. Though my archtypal vision of Aeon has not changed, if Cherize must play her, it is probably best that she covered up her insufficiencies to the character.

CT was not the problem with this movie. The problem was the plot and dialogue. Boy, i went in expecting to enjoy this so much, what a disappointment.

Without too many spoilers, could you elaborate on what you didn't like about it?

Just in general, i thought the plot was weak as hell, it was kinda chopped up and not smooth, to be honest i dont even remember too many details about the movie as it didnt hold my interest so i guess i didnt pay enough attention to remember specifics about it. Therefore, no spoilers needed, i dont remember them! I just know i walked out very un-satisfied. Hey, we cant all like everything, usually i love movies like this. Maybe it wasnt totally believable for me also, and i love sci-fi and can really get into far out stuff, but this one just didnt do it for me personally. Wish i could give you more details, i would have to see it again to do that, want to buy me a ticket??

I haven't heard a single good thing about the movie from anyone. At best, it is ho-hum. From what I have seen and heard, they turned AF into a futuristic female James Bond. What a waste. What Aeon Flux was really about is modern mythology - thus the title - about the evolution and rearrangement of gender and societal roles. I mean, traditionally, it was always the males who produced mountains of corpses - know what I mean? The cartoon AF always did this in a way that was far reaching and truth telling. Trevor Goodchild was also very important to the mythos in articulating why males weren't completely obsoleted despite Aeon. IMO, hollywood totally blew a grand opportunity to make a movie that really said something about humanity and it's future - ah well.

But if they had made it a postmodern transhuman pansexual neognostic surrealist epic, do you think it would've attracted more or less average American viewers than it did? :D

And as far as Charlize Theron - forget it. The problem with her was obvious from the get-go. She just is not mature enough. Aeon Flux was and should have been an archtypal WOMAN, mature and capable, but with the addition of the male (not butch) attitude. CT to me looked just like any other sassy sci-fi teen heroin. She was completely miscast.

I'm thinking Lucy Lawless would've been a good choice.

I'm thinking Lucy Lawless would've been a good choice.

Although it would be type casting on her part, I thought Angelina Jolie would have made a great Aeon. And she wouldn't have been afraid to wear the "proper" outfits. ;)

And she would have been afraid to were the "proper" outfits. ;)

You mean she would not have been afraid to wear the proper outfits? - in which case I agree.

But if they had made it a postmodern transhuman pansexual neognostic surrealist epic, do you think it would've attracted more or less average American viewers than it did?

But I am a fan, not the producer, so I don't care to script it to make as much money as possible. I know why I like it, I believe I have similar reasons for liking it as other true Aeon Flux fans, and given the title - Aeon Flux - I feel when I go see it I should be seeing THE Aeon Flux, not some re-hollywood-formulated girl in spandex on a futuristic set doing her best female acrobatic James Bond impersonation.

Many artists and writers have lived double careers, making (insert product here, books, movies, paintings, whatever) for mass consumption that were designed to make money, which then allowed them to make the REAL art. At the time Peter Chung was inspired to invent Aeon Flux, he was working, but felt creativley repressed! The result could be described with a lot of big words, but really is for experiencing.

Perhaps some day we will find out why Aeon the movie has turned out this way, if he was hungry or just didn't understand how to manipulate Hollywood to his own creative end.

Although it would be type casting on her part, I thought Angelina Jolie would have made a great Aeon. And she wouldn't have been afraid to wear the "proper" outfits.Agreed, but I like it just the same. Finally rented Aeon Flux and it is light-years better than Catwoman although someone else said it was worse (BTW, I liked CW also). I went into this movie not wanting to like it, but was pleasantly shocked I did. What can I say? I'm a sucker for sci-fi, and this was more than sufficient....a solid popcorn-movie along the lines of I Robot.

The ending of AF was quite soft compared to the MTV series, but I still give it 3 out of 5 stars.

I went into this movie not wanting to like it, but was pleasantly shocked I did. What can I say? I'm a sucker for sci-fi, and this was more than sufficient....a solid popcorn-movie along the lines of I Robot.

Same reaction here. From what I'd read in this thread I thought I'd barely tolerate this film. But I liked most of it. A couple of TV-looking shots were my main complaint. Good cast - good story. Enjoyed it.
And I've revisited I Robot a couple of times. I probably will again. :)

Wasn't there another thread on this? Anyway, I enjoyed it. It could've been better, but any movie could. I quite enjoy Ms. Theron (Charlize be thy name), and it was a nice alternative take on what could have otherwise been a completely formulaic flick. The making of stuff is quite interesting as well, particularly seeing how many of the stunning sets were actually existing practical locations that were already there, but had never been seen in films before.

Though I really like Frances McDormand, I might have picked someone else for that role personally.

When I first picked up the box, I mistook Charlize for Framke Janssen for some reason, she really looks like her from that angle. And I think that might have been an interesting choice also. She might have made for an interesting Aeon.

I watched a few AF toons back then and enjoyed them. I also enjoyed the movie, but would have appreciated more detail, backstory and a homerun swing for the fences with hardedged, over-the-top AF concepts. Didn't happen. I think they wimped out, but I also recognize that the end product could have been far worse, if they'd swung and missed. I bought this movie recently for PQ/SQ and story. I just wish they'd added another 30-45 minutes of story to this version.

The original cut delivered from the Director is 30-45 min. longer. Hope we will get the DC soon.

I watched this last night in HDDVD. This is perhaps the best looking film based HD ever presented. I actually enjoyed the film. I saw some of the animated presentatins shortly after I graduated from ortho training, I think close to twenty years ago now. I think unless the DC has some great stuff I might think about keeping it under two hours.
The mesmerizing visuals were certainly a big aspect of the total package for me.

Art

Agreed, Art.

This was one fantastic HD-DVD presentation, the shots are top notch, this film stresses style over realism, except the futuristic technology is very well done. I see alot of nano-technology in this movie, and while the brain meetings (this isnt a huge spoiler) might not have a current technological plausibility, they arent presented as magic, which is nice.

This is a High Def "must see", and its probably not to bad up converted either. The story was FINE, nothing earth shattering, but it keeps your attention.