| "SAMUEL L JACKSON IS AFRO SAMURAI!" |
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Afro Samurai
DVD/APPROX. 125 MINS/2007/USA MA15+
DVD/APPROX. 125 MINS/2007/USA MA15+
9
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The first thing that one must do when attempting to watch Afro Samurai is to remove whatever impressions the name might instil. Sure you can not
be blamed for thinking this is going to be some disco/anime lovechild spawned from the likes of Tekken’s Tiger, and John Travolta with a little bit of
‘Ninja Gaidens’ Hayabusa thrown in. Especially when you realise that Samuel L. Jackson is attached to the project as the voice of both ‘Afro’ and
‘Ninja Ninja’ (Afro’s ‘sidekick’ throughout the movie and source of comic relief). Just as books can not be judged by their cover, one can’t judge
movies on name alone either . . . Well for the most part anyways. And don’t forget to thank Madman Entertainment for supplying this nice piece of
work to the Region 4 area.
Ok, now that we have that out of the way, we can get on to the finer details. ‘Afro’ the title character is a man searching for justice. Both
figuratively and literally. He seeks justice for the murder of his Father, and the murderer also happens to be named Justice. Another plot also exists
through this five part adventure. The legendary headbands. It is said that there exists two headbands, the number one headband, which grants a
level of respect and fear equivalent to godhood, and is unchallengeable to anyone except he who wears the number two headband. Unfortunately
for whoever wears the number two headband, anyone has the right to challenge him for it, then in turn (if successful) the number one.
When Justice murdered Afro’s father, he gained the number one headband off him, and left the number two with a young Afro. From there we
come to the present and begin our adventure with our hero. Not all is revealed to us as his story goes forward, and we are occasionally treated to
flashbacks to fill in the gaps. Although they aren’t as tiresome and annoying as most flashbacks are.
The series is filled with many would be adversaries for our kick ass hero (Afro falls into the category of ‘almost undefeatable badass’), most fall
short within seconds, and throughout we are treated to various fights, both short and sweet, and long and dramatic. The enemies he faces seem
to be of a varied and highly unlikely type usually found in anime, but if you want a close comparison try ‘Ninja Scroll’ or ‘Vampire hunter D’. We
even get a cyborg double of Afro, and a dude who wears a stuffed teddy bear head, named Kuma.
Now usually such an array of unlikely characters can make a movie seem a bit too fantastical, not so much in the abilities of the characters but
rather the way they are made to look. Thankfully due to some laid back character design each character is still quite distinct, but still afforded a
look of believability that cements them within the world in such a way that they do not appear out of place. Even Afro, who does sport an afro
seems natural, his afro not being the typical, round microphone look alike, but rather a messy scraggly hair do which, although some characters
believe it to be ridiculous, suits him remarkably well.
The sound and sound affects in Afro Samurai are well used, well timed, well placed, yadda yadda, both the sound and vocals of this piece are
remarkable (although a certain female part could have used a bit more ‘acting’ in her voice acting). The soundtrack itself, sometimes feels out of
place within an anime piece, but it appears to be something that would only irk people who have grown accustomed to certain musical nuances in
the animated genre, and even if it does bother you, most of the time the movie drags you along so well you really don’t notice the soundtrack. The
voice work is superb, and Ron Perlman (Hellboy, 5ive Girls) truly shines as Justice.
The only real challenge with watching this movie, is that it is not highly original, but for the sake of how entertaining it is, I think most people would
be fine with letting it off the hook in that arena. Also a ‘twist’ at the end, could have been used a bit better and more meaningfully than it was.
Although the movie is actually five episodes which combined are of movie length, and there are only five episodes in the series entirety, hence why
you will hear some people refer to this production as a movie (at least when all five episodes are available to watch. Oh, and FYI, if rumours are
true, each episode cost $1million).
Lastly we have the special features, you know, the features that are special. There is nothing out of the ordinary about them, consisting of
Interviews, character profiles, and commentary. RZA’s music production tour (Wu Tang Clan, the ones responsible for the musical score), a voice
talent special titled ‘In the booth’, which has a bit more meaning in this piece as the five episodes are only recorded in English as far as I know (but
please correct me if I am wrong), and thus the English voice actors are giving a more first hand, and enlightening view on the material instead of
dialogue that was translated then localised before English recording. Often a good movie, or series is hindered when transferred to DVD, leaving
much to be desired in the packaging, and this small collection of features, and episodes makes for a remarkable addition to anyone’s collection,
just be sure to bring along your thirst for blood, boobs and violence.
Afro Samurai (Director's Cut) DVD is presented in region 4 format only, and was donated by our sponsor Madman Entertainment.
be blamed for thinking this is going to be some disco/anime lovechild spawned from the likes of Tekken’s Tiger, and John Travolta with a little bit of
‘Ninja Gaidens’ Hayabusa thrown in. Especially when you realise that Samuel L. Jackson is attached to the project as the voice of both ‘Afro’ and
‘Ninja Ninja’ (Afro’s ‘sidekick’ throughout the movie and source of comic relief). Just as books can not be judged by their cover, one can’t judge
movies on name alone either . . . Well for the most part anyways. And don’t forget to thank Madman Entertainment for supplying this nice piece of
work to the Region 4 area.
Ok, now that we have that out of the way, we can get on to the finer details. ‘Afro’ the title character is a man searching for justice. Both
figuratively and literally. He seeks justice for the murder of his Father, and the murderer also happens to be named Justice. Another plot also exists
through this five part adventure. The legendary headbands. It is said that there exists two headbands, the number one headband, which grants a
level of respect and fear equivalent to godhood, and is unchallengeable to anyone except he who wears the number two headband. Unfortunately
for whoever wears the number two headband, anyone has the right to challenge him for it, then in turn (if successful) the number one.
When Justice murdered Afro’s father, he gained the number one headband off him, and left the number two with a young Afro. From there we
come to the present and begin our adventure with our hero. Not all is revealed to us as his story goes forward, and we are occasionally treated to
flashbacks to fill in the gaps. Although they aren’t as tiresome and annoying as most flashbacks are.
The series is filled with many would be adversaries for our kick ass hero (Afro falls into the category of ‘almost undefeatable badass’), most fall
short within seconds, and throughout we are treated to various fights, both short and sweet, and long and dramatic. The enemies he faces seem
to be of a varied and highly unlikely type usually found in anime, but if you want a close comparison try ‘Ninja Scroll’ or ‘Vampire hunter D’. We
even get a cyborg double of Afro, and a dude who wears a stuffed teddy bear head, named Kuma.
Now usually such an array of unlikely characters can make a movie seem a bit too fantastical, not so much in the abilities of the characters but
rather the way they are made to look. Thankfully due to some laid back character design each character is still quite distinct, but still afforded a
look of believability that cements them within the world in such a way that they do not appear out of place. Even Afro, who does sport an afro
seems natural, his afro not being the typical, round microphone look alike, but rather a messy scraggly hair do which, although some characters
believe it to be ridiculous, suits him remarkably well.
The sound and sound affects in Afro Samurai are well used, well timed, well placed, yadda yadda, both the sound and vocals of this piece are
remarkable (although a certain female part could have used a bit more ‘acting’ in her voice acting). The soundtrack itself, sometimes feels out of
place within an anime piece, but it appears to be something that would only irk people who have grown accustomed to certain musical nuances in
the animated genre, and even if it does bother you, most of the time the movie drags you along so well you really don’t notice the soundtrack. The
voice work is superb, and Ron Perlman (Hellboy, 5ive Girls) truly shines as Justice.
The only real challenge with watching this movie, is that it is not highly original, but for the sake of how entertaining it is, I think most people would
be fine with letting it off the hook in that arena. Also a ‘twist’ at the end, could have been used a bit better and more meaningfully than it was.
Although the movie is actually five episodes which combined are of movie length, and there are only five episodes in the series entirety, hence why
you will hear some people refer to this production as a movie (at least when all five episodes are available to watch. Oh, and FYI, if rumours are
true, each episode cost $1million).
Lastly we have the special features, you know, the features that are special. There is nothing out of the ordinary about them, consisting of
Interviews, character profiles, and commentary. RZA’s music production tour (Wu Tang Clan, the ones responsible for the musical score), a voice
talent special titled ‘In the booth’, which has a bit more meaning in this piece as the five episodes are only recorded in English as far as I know (but
please correct me if I am wrong), and thus the English voice actors are giving a more first hand, and enlightening view on the material instead of
dialogue that was translated then localised before English recording. Often a good movie, or series is hindered when transferred to DVD, leaving
much to be desired in the packaging, and this small collection of features, and episodes makes for a remarkable addition to anyone’s collection,
just be sure to bring along your thirst for blood, boobs and violence.
Afro Samurai (Director's Cut) DVD is presented in region 4 format only, and was donated by our sponsor Madman Entertainment.
| BUY DVD @ MADMAN.COM.AU |
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