Tweekums Set fifty years after a devastating war which saw the Eastern Federation defeat Europa civilisation is still in ruins. Rebels are still fighting and the world is heavily polluted. Dr Azuma announces that he has found a way to regenerate any human organ using 'neo-cells'. While his research goes ahead his son is killed fighting in the army. Something goes wrong when lightning strikes the laboratory; it creates entire people; so called Neo-Sapiens. Those who escape kidnap Dr Azuma's wife and flee to the mountains. Meanwhile Dr Azuma uses his research to bring his son Tetsuya back to life. He is no longer an ordinary person though; he now has superhuman strength. It isn't long before the Neo Sapiens have built a robot army and are trying to wipe out humanity and Tetsuya is leading the fight to stop them.It must be said that this film looks great; it has a CGI-steampunk aesthetic and frequently looks like a pop video might be like if it had been directed by Fritz Lang. Unfortunately it is also a bit of a mess plot wise; at time it felt as if the makers thought up something that would look great without necessarily being able to explain why it was happening. The basic story is solid but the way it was told frequently left me a little confused about what was going on. I can't say how it compares to the original anime as I've not seen it; only 'Casshern Sins' that was made after this and is quite different. I'd recommend this to fans of the genre but wouldn't call it a must see.These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

chun li CasshernI got the impression there was a budget, a budget not nearly big enough realize the vision. There's scenes where the epic backdrop is obviously a painting. Blade Runner this isn't. The sooner you get over this, the better. The theme is a type of futuristic medieval, if that makes sense? Swords and robots. chunky metal, ships that look too heavy to fly, Killlzone type Nazi guards. 2D special FX that make the picture look flat, almost like a live-action cartoon taking place on a theater stage. The character with white hair got me thinking about Devil May Cry. All in all, as interesting as it was, I didn't connect with the story much. Every time the subtitles mentioned Neoroids, I thought Hemorrhoids.65/100

AThames This movie has gotten mixed reviews from critics and has received a mediocre score on various movie rating sites. But because of the very high praise a lot of people has given it, I decided to watch it. The movie is based on the anime that goes by the same name.The movie immediately lets you know that it is very melodramatic, in terms of soundtrack, acting and plot. Some movies are able to pull this off, some aren't. In the beginning I thought that it would be able to pull it off because I was very intrigued by the cinematography and the sets (reminds you a bit of 300 combined with Sin City - aka. A lot of green screen.But then, as I was sitting there and getting my expectations up, it suddenly became a low budget movie with over the top action and comically bad CGI ala 'Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus'. This is not to mention the soundtrack that suddenly became as original as an AMV on Youtube. For some reason, that I can't comprehend, I keep reading "The best part about Casshern is the action", I would say the exact opposite. The plot also became VERY far fetched which I can't explain in detail without spoiling but i will say this; Next time you find yourself on a mountain, look for an abandoned robot making castle in the middle of nowhere, this will greatly improve your chances at world domination. After the plot takes off the CGI unfortunately becomes worse and at some points very annoying (some weird fetish with making blurred lighting effects around every character). It suddenly became one of those movies that tried to bite off more than it could chew. To pull off what this movie tries to do, they would need a Hollywood blockbuster budget, not $6 mil. Those $6 mil. would have been enough to create a good movie, but they went way over board with this.The key message in the movie is that "war sucks, hatred breeds hatred etc.", which is a perfectly fine message, but they really made it way too clichéed. They even show flashbacks of real war footage during the ending scene of the movie. All in all, I liked some parts of the cinematography, I liked some of the sets, the pictures were good, acting was good, good casting. But the movie tried to bite off more than it could chew, it was all over the place in terms of what it wanted to be, and it simply wasn't a complete piece of cinema.

MartinHafer Although "Casshern" is a sci-fi movie, it's based on an anime from the 1970s and plays much more like a live action anime than a sci-fi story. The graphics are VERY splashy and look like a Japanese graphic novel come to life. In this sense, I can really respect the film though I didn't enjoy it in the least--and I normally love sci-fi.This story is set in a dystopic future. The world has been at war for 50 years and the planet has been destroyed. Dr. Azuma, who is from the losing side, has been given funds by his new masters to try to create a new form of cell life that can replace diseased and mutated organs and renew life. But, something goes wrong and a race of twisted genetic freaks result and they are intent on wiping out humans and dominating the world. Can Cassern, an odd reincarnated hero, save humanity? To say the story is confusing is an understatement. I think if you have read the original anime, it won't be confusing and might even be a wonderful film. But, for me, it was a loud mess of a film that I just didn't enjoy.