Avalon Reviews

I was skeptical when this was recommended by an acquaintance with very eclectic tastes but it was good advice.

It is well crafted and draws the viewer into several assumptive positions (if you're that kind of person) which are kindly refuted as it begins to deploy its real payload. The washed-out first part seems to hint at the emptiness and purposelessness of the initial narrative yet alludes to a richer and more valuable further realm in the way we see our lives at certain times.

My take is that it is about nobility, of spirit, of action and of choice. Our immersion into reality is a choice; we can change it and view things through any shaped lens, or no lens at all. There seems to be no love in the film yet it is hinted at by the loyalty and forgiveness of Ash for a 'crime' she did not commit but remained silent about.

The ending was a very well balanced denoument for the story. Really worth seeing and highly recommended.

Kinda of strange. I like the music. Follow the trail taken by a warrior woman fighting her way through alternate cyber realities. Is it a game, or is it reality?

Basically, it is one of those unknown / underrated jewel but I think it is actually a great movie. Honestly, I have no idea how or why I ended up watching this flick. I mean, I did see it in the theater but I wonder what made me decide to watch this flick. Anyway, I thought it was really impressive, the visuals were amazing and the story was completely spellbinding. It was the first live-action feature directed by Mamoru Oshii, a guy mostly known for making mangas such as 'Ghost in the shell'. I did like 'Ghost in the shell' but I thought it was rather frustrating since it featured a plot almost impossible to follow and I enjoyed his live-action effort ten times more. I guess it could also be compared to 'The Matrix' in the way that it deals with another reality but this flick is actually much more ambitious and simply much better in my opinion. Even though I thought that the whole thing was really bleak but it was completely fascinating at the same time and I just loved it. To conclude, even if it is a really obscure movie, I thought it was really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I was quite surprised by this film. I was wary to begin with as it was directed by the same guy who did Ghost In The Shell, which I didn't like (mainly because it was manga) and seeing as this was his first 'live action' film I was a bit suspicious as to whether it would amount to much. Plus add in the story line which didn't help but I thought I'd watch it just to see.

Well I have to say, I was impressed. A bit confused as to why it was in Polish but impressed none the less. Given the concept it could have gone quite wrong but it turned out really well, the acting wasn't too bad and I loved how it gave me the impression of the past and then future, separately and together.
I'm seriously contemplating adding this to my DVD collection.