Search - Galerians - Rion on DVD

Cyber Punk Classic

04/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Galerians: Rion is a CGI movie based on the first Playstation game by the same name. Set in a dystopian future, the plot revolves around a 14-year-old boy named Rion who awakens in a strange hospital and discovers he has psychic powers. Hunted by others with similar abilities he must find a girl named Lillia and unravel the mystery of what has happened to him.Although the story is derivative of many other sci-fi tales (Akira, Total Recall), it is of particular interest because of its dark, cyber-punk surroundings. This is an animated movie that would likely not be made in America. It features young people (teenagers, mostly) being experimented on and addicted to the use of drugs (the latter being necessary to enhance the psychic abilities of the characters). But the bleakness of the story strengthens the main character's search for purpose and identity. It's a search that leads towards the universal truth... are you a victim of fate?... or a participant in your own destiny? Are you what others want you to be?... or are you what you believe you can be? Questions that we all strive with every day.If you are expecting a computer animated movie on the level of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, you'll be disappointed. The company who made this obviously did not have a comparable budget. However, despite that, they have done an admirable job. The picture is sharp and vibrant, with backgrounds richly detailed. Characters, while not having the high detail of say the Spirits Within, are still distinctly rendered (one particular female quite alluringly so!). And though animation is not extravagant through many of the dialogue heavy scenes, its obvious the creators saved their best for the action sequences. The psychic battles are often quite spectacular and gut wrenching (literally... at least once!).The voice acting, at least the English cast, is adequate (I'm afraid I don't like reading subtitles... distracts me from the picture!). But, a few do rise above the rest... particularly Lia Sargent as Rita, Dave Mallow as Rainheart... and holding it all together... Dave Wittenberg as Rion (he's at his best when Rion is pushed to the edge in his psychic confrontations).The only real problem I had with Galerians: Rion was that there was just not enough of it. The story situation seems so ripe for more elaboration that I can only hope that the producers of this film can someday afford to do more... or that some bigger studio might be smart enough to snap up the film rights. Despite more money, they would be hard pressed to put in such a good effort as Director Masahiko Maesawa and Producers Enterbrain and Polygon Magic did."

Man-Machine-Menace : Welcome to humanities final stand

04/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Galerians: Rion is the movie adaption of the survival horror game Galerians which was released in 2000 by Crave Entertainment. The movie basically expands all of the CG movies which were in the game, and takes all of the parts you would play and translates them into CG. The film clocks in at a short 73 minutes, but packs a huge amount of story and depth into each and every moment. The action is intense, the music is great, (both the japanese and new english remix soundtracks have been included), and the CG while note Shrek quality is still good enough to get the job done. I highly reccomend this movie to anyone who loves science fiction, and horror."