Battle Angel (1993) User Reviews

Nothing like the manga.

[johnnymacbest · 7/10 · 27 November 2008]

I gotta say this movie pales in comparison to the critically acclaimed manga series by master Yukito Kishiro. Many key plot elements are either glossed over,underdeveloped or jammed together. Makaku is sadly missing, Chiren, a character that never appeared in the manga, is basically useless, no introduction of Alita's new combat suit after her first one was destroyed by Makaku, Vector is killed in the movie whereas in the manga he lives and Shumira and Jashugan are replaced with generic characters who add nothing significant to the story whatsoever. Alita sounds too young for a female cyborg and the ending is very underwhelming and unsatisfying.

There are some good merits in BA. The animation is amazingly fast and smooth, the colors are beautifully dark and crisp, and the music is hauntingly bleak and foreboding but the movie takes far too many liberties with the source material to be anything as remarkable as what came before.

Good story, that gets disjointed, mostly because of its short running time.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 7/10 · 12 December 2007]

You can really tell by watching this film that the source material it is based on is really excellent. The story is a fine and compelling one, that is filled with fantasy elements and is set in a sort of future post-apocalyptic world. Because of this fact, I'm also positive of it that the James Cameron version of this movie called "Battle Angel" is going to be absolutely great.

This animated movie version is also a good one but unfortunately also heavily flawed.

The biggest problem with the movie is that it's very short, with as a result things get rushed. Also every sequence feels incredibly short. Every time you think you're going to get to see a big long fight sequence, it's already over again. It also makes the storytelling disjointed at times. Villains are keep getting introduced throughout the movie, until you finally start to loose interested at who is actually supposed to be the biggest and main villain of the movie. Some characters really made a redundant impression and they did not got the treatment they obviously deserved. The movie is also over before you know it, with a sort of an incomplete ending that will also give you an unsatisfied feeling.

The storytelling and build-up really isn't the greatest within this movie, although that isn't anything too uncommon for a Japanese anime, it still is a bit worse than acceptable in this case. The movie really gave me the feeling it had so much more potential, if it only had a better budget and production time span. It now unfortunately never reaches the level of true excellence and certainly is not among the top Japanse anime's.

Nevertheless the movie has plenty of qualities that make this a watchable one. The story is one of them, even though it's potential isn't fully used. The imaginary futuristic world and concepts within this movie are just so fine. It also has a fine love-story, that however also gets very rushed in the movie. The short action within the movie was also fine, which was mainly thanks to those awesome looking cyborgs with each their own special fighting powers and weapons. The movie is also filled with plenty of gore.

It's a certainly good watchable movie but still I would wait for the James Cameron movie version if I were you.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Entertaining but rushed

[cherold · 7/10 · 23 July 2019]

After watching the terrific movie Alita: Battle Angel, which I felt fell apart towards the end, I decided to watch this to see if the story was the same. It is, and it's also an hour long which means it runs through that story like lightning. There's very little in the way of character development; just lots of plot.

Turns out it's a pretty similar story, and from what I've read the anime and the movie are both fairly true to the original manga but make some changes. Unlike the movie, the anime holds together because it doesn't start throwing in a bunch of stuff that seems crammed in. But it also lacks emotional punch because you're not given a chance to really get to know the characters.

It's not as good as the live-action movie, but it is entertaining enough.

How cute can you get??

[rainman-33 · 2 December 2003]

Any serious anime fan will have a special place in his heart for Gally. She is *the* textbook example of the innocent anime girl. Where this work shines is in Gally's character development through her experiences where she discovers a personality of her own after being reanimated. Her gradual acquisition of her defensive affection with the Doctor and her innocent but deep attachment with Yugo are impressive. No fan of good film acting can criticize this "cartoon" as inferior to live action.

All this applies to the Japanese version with subtitles. The English dubbing is awful.

Visually amazing, but way to rushed.

[undeaddt · 7/10 · 6 March 2019]

The way this anime looks makes you feel like you want to go back to the 80's again and live in that anime era were everything was hand drawn. It is utterly amazing. BUT, this anime is way to short and insanely rushed. I have not read the manga, but I watched the movie that allegedly follows the manga pretty well and RUSHED is everything I have to say. That 2 minute ending is miserable and it is an ending that Alita does not deserve, at least not in my eyes, knowing how beautiful of a concept for reworking the whole story actually the manga is...7/10 just because of the hand drawn animation, nothing more.

androids, romance, sci-fi, what more do you need?

[skuggyngel · 9/10 · 22 January 2007]

just as a movie, the android Gally is put together by technical and live parts that together work as an emotional unit. In this future the borders between machine and man is wiped out and cybernetic parts are as respected as biological. A future like this might not be impossible with the growing tolerance of body enhancements such as plastic surgery and piercing.

This is an anime movie that succeed to deliver so much more emotion and vitality than many many live-action movies. The upcoming live action movie's actors will never succeed to reflect emotions as the animated eyes of these anime-characters.

For me, this is in first hand a love story, one of the most touching i've seen. The fact that Gally is a robot and might not know how to love is never put up. No, the plot is more sophisticated than "is an android capable of loving?". Gunnm is about social classes, chasing dreams and most of all finding a place for those refusing to be apart of the world of violence they are thrown in to.

I love this movie, I absolutely do, maybe my opinion is colored by me being very sensitive to the "robot/man - man/robot" theme, i often dream about androids wanting to be human ore humans finding out they are human, and what more suitable theme for a movie than androids to raise questions about humanity and sympathy?

At first the whole thing with Gally being built as a "warrior" machine fails to impress me, I know It's a vital part of the plot but the fighting parts... It's just taking pleasure in super-violence, the monsters are really but-ugly. But then I figured the violence-theme is really just contributing to the sense of this grim fictional-world and the contrast to this which is the love story of the film. The two sides of Gallys persona is highly contributing to the complexity of the whole movie. Though i still consider it to be some unnecessary amount of "gore".

Make sure to see this before the Cameron live-action in 2009!

Good movie, not as good as the source manga though.

[chromeballz · 6/10 · 24 April 2005]

The movie is based on a manga by Yukito Kishiro, which is generally seen as one of the better manga's out there.

For the unknowing: A manga is essentially a comic, japan-style. Most of the drawing is in black and white, quite in contrast to the western style comics. The drawing style however is a lot more realistic, save for the faces, than western comics. The faces are caricatures of how they would really look, but, this makes that feelings are conveyed a lot better than any western comic ever can. As it is stated in a Gunnm (or Battle Angel Alita outside of Japan) review, you can see in an instant how Alita is feeling, and the same goes for a lot of other characters.

Here comes the difference between a manga and an anime: Manga is Japanese style comic, Anime is Japanese style animation (mind you, NOT cartoon!). The difference is often forgotten, but should be pointed out.

Anyway, back to the anime: Gunnm is a 60 minute adaptation of the first 2 graphic novels of the comic. The movie is roughly divided in half, although the story flows through entirely. I can say beforehand: the movie is a very WEAK adaptation of the books. Nothing more, nothing less. It has been westernized too much. The character Chiren doesn't even appear in the books, and the big guy Alita defeats twice has an entirely different role (and not for the better).

The movie has been westernized to much in the sense that is has been simplified. Add a character tehre, make it quasi a double love story, add some fights and you're done. The entire path of discovery of Alita is left out (her fighting style, the Panzer Kunst, is essential to what thrives her to live on and discover where she's from, but the concept is entirely left out of the movie).

On itself, you can call the movie okay, but when you've read the books, it simply doesn't reach the level of the latter.

All in all, the animation is good, even very good. In terms of visual quality it ranks up right next to Ghost in the Shell in my books, while not being as realistic and dark, the fluent movement is very good while still remaining in the spirit of anime (watch the documentary on the Animatrix DVD to know what i mean with that).

The English voices are very much out of place, they are way too excited for the situations they're in, as if they were doing voices for any pokemon movie. That's what really brings down the movie, please try and watch it in Japanese with English subtitles if possible. English just doesn't cut it, but that goes for virtually every anime every dubbed in English.

To sum it up: This movie is a good 1 hour watch, and some may even want to watch it more. However, there's a lot of things that bring the movie down, especially when you;ve read the manga first.

If you watched this movie, buy the manga (starting with the first one of course, there are 14 translated graphic novels as of today) and read it, you'll be hooked. If you do it the other way around you'll only be disappointed.

Why oh why must it be so short!

[JeffyP · 9/10 · 21 December 2000]

This was simply an amazing piece of artwork. This movie had the potential to be right up there next to Akira and Ghost in the Shell. Unfortunately there's just way too much left out, leaving you with a feeling that you've been conned out of a great movie. Gally (the main chick / hero) is the most beautiful anime babe out there. Overall, it's a movie an anime fan will like, but will long for more.... Find the comic books for more.

The Problems of Watching Magna-Based Anime

[DonaldDooD · 6/10 · 13 September 2014]

Battle Angel should be great. Its got a fascinating, dark world, fine animation, brutal action scenes, even good characters. Yeah, its exploitative in its violence, but compared to other OVAs, its freaking Shakespeare.

But this isn't a stand-alone product. Its based on a manga with 9 volumes. We only get a peak of the first two, in only two episodes. So much is brought to the table...and is left to collect dust. At least in the world of animation. I just hate that mentality. "Like what you see? Better buy the comics..."

Does it work as a stand alone? Kind of! o3o' There is a theme of desperation, the misery of living in this junkyard world. For the brief time you spend, the events are well-paced, and you get a great sense of the culture and technology of this world. The dialog could use some work, though, and the English dub ain't that great.

Its an alright sit. I wish it had a few more episodes...but then again, I don't particularly like Volumes 3 and 4. :V

Wow, a romantic story about a cyborg and life in the scrap yard.

[Yau · 10/10 · 1 October 1998]

Cyborgs, super powered villains, crime lords and romance!!! Everything a person wants in a good movie. Gunnm tells the story about a female cyborg, Alita, living in the scrap yard, where its citizens suffer and work hard to survive and to provide for their masters living in the prestigious city in the sky. Alita falls in love with the young boy Yugo, and is forced to make a crucial decision between the boy she loves and the her job as a HUNTER WARRIOR.

Very enjoyable...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 19 June 2023]

I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 1993 Anime mini-series "Gunnm" (aka "Battle Angel") again here in 2023, and since I really enjoyed it on VHS tape back in my youth, of course there was no doubt about me sitting down to watch "Gunnm" digitally this time around.

The storyline in "Gunnm" is pretty straight forward, but even with just two episodes, the writers did manage to put together something unique, enjoyable and timeless. "Gunnm" is an Anime that you can watch again and again, which is a testimony to the writing skills of the writers.

And not only was the storyline good, but the art and animation in "Gunnm" is good, and very much still holds up today, 30 years down the line.

If you enjoy Anime, and get a chance to watch, then you most certainly should do so. It is without a doubt a timeless classic.

The only downside there is to "Gunnm", is that the mini-series only had two episodes, and thus felt a little bit rushed. I think there was much more to delve into here, if the writers had opted for more episodes.

My rating of "Gunnm" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

A real treat for any Anime' Fan.

[Ralik · 9/10 · 18 September 1998]

This feature deals with the possibility of full cybernetic replacement of the frail human body and the effects this may have on society and the individual. What kind of value would be placed on human life? What capabilities do you build into a machine body? Can a human brain thus sustained, have a soul? There is plenty of action and even a love interest. It's an anime' classic that should be required viewing for any anime' fan. And a great starter for anyone wishing to try anime'. Be advised, though an animated feature, "Gunnm" is graphicly violent. It is NOT a cartoon. No cute bunnys. "Gunnm" (Battle Angel) is an incredibly well animated adaptation of a popular Manga (Japanese Comic Book Style). The only drawback is that their is only one and apparently no plans to continue the work in Anime'. The Manga however... continues.

Gunnm,Alita Battle Angel or just Battle Angel ? You decide

[phanthinga · 6/10 · 16 January 2018]

From the get-go I'm already know there's no way a 2 episode OVA anime can do justice for the series which is considered a classic of the sci-fi manga genre but the amount of potential though out the OVA still make me mad because how much awesome it can be if the studio take it seriously.The anime not a complete failure in any mean cause the animation is good and the world set up is damn near perfect so I hope in the future Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron will bring me a Alita Battle Angel live action movie true to its name.

Lost potential

[f_alcon · 3/10 · 12 September 2004]

The price of a dream - and some dreams can be "too" expensive.

Only having viewed the English-translated version, it is perhaps the reason for a low rating from this viewer.

It made the overall film poorer than the story material hinted at...

...and other comments seem to suggest the subtitled version would be better.

But some plot elements remained unexplained, leaving an unfinished feel.

It also leaves the thought "is there a series to follow?".

A pity there was no more (at this stage at least, anyway).

Better than the cover

[Direct · 20 February 2001]

This is the one that taught me not to judge an anime by its cover. I expected an hour of mindless violence along with a weak story line. Instead, I found myself in a very deep and well developed world for the short time spent in it. It was all story, and an incredibly imaginative place perfect for the story.

It was definately too short. It could have had a great and long lasting series life if they had chosen one. But it was none the less, an enjoying ride, and not a moment of wasted time.

Pretty great.

[invisibleunicornninja · 7/10 · 15 January 2019]

Overall, I would recommend watching this. The animation is pretty great and the story, though kind of rushed, it very interesting. The cyberpunk aesthetic is pulled off well, and I love the overall feel of the world.

Unfortunately, the version of this I found was the English dub. It was so unbelievably bad that it almost ruins the movie. I hope that I eventually find the original dub.

Excellent, but short

[Spidey-18 · 10/10 · 1 October 1999]

I've seen this anime and I must admit I was surprised at the quality. Few other films come close to it's level. The only drawback is the fact that it just seems to drop the end, as if there was a series that was never made. A wonderful film about machines trying blend into a society, even a society as desolate as theirs, are cast out because they are different. The main point of the anime was the main character finding out who she is and what she is. And the road to the top is not always an easy or safe path. THis is a must see for anyone who likes anime. Not only is the story good, it has phenominal artwork.

If you came from the Cameron version, this isn't worth it

[a_sad_cow · 7/10 · 7 December 2020]

Don't get me wrong, this was brilliant in its time, and can be respected as an anime artifact, but if you're coming from the Cameron version, you won't get anything from watching this. Just go watch Alita and cheer for a sequel.

The world is compelling, and obviously the Cameron version wouldn't exist without this, but there's plenty of plot holes that Cameron tried to cover, but still left lagging even in his version.

MASTERPIECE

[ReplicaSoldier813 · 10/10 · 24 April 2020]

Rating: Gunnm (1993).

• Video Version (8/10).

• @GioAtero's Alita: Battle Angel - Gunnm (10/10).

Download at YouTube: GioAtero, Community.

Good Story

[keithomusic · 4/10 · 25 April 2019]

This animation has a good story, and if not for that it would get one star. The story does keep your interest, but the movie is more like a bunch of episodes hobbled together. The japanese voice acting is fine, I didn't watch the english version. The worst part of this is the animation, actually the lack thereof, this movie id from 1993, you would think that they could do better than the 'Clutch Cargo' style of animation. It's pretty much comic book panels with some movement added. Also the art style is from the 60s as well. If it wasn't for the story I wouldn't have watched the entire 55 minutes. It's an okay movie. (And having seen this movie and the live action version, I can say Robert Rodriguez did a great job of adapting it.)

Beautiful

[faldo8 · 14 May 2001]

Movies like this can completely change your taste in the visual arts. While superficially the plot and characters may seem familiar and overdone, there a parts of this anime that definitely shine.

The scene where Yugo realises his dream, with that music in the background, is pretty amazing, and when Ido and Alita send his arm to Zarem in the baloon also sends a tingle up the spine. While I would love to see a continuation of this series, it seems almost fitting that it should end the way it did, leaving the life of Alita to your imagination.

useless

[FeastMode · 1/10 · 31 December 2020]

I tried to think of one redeeming quality to give it a 2/10, couldn't think of one. shouldn't have finished it (1 viewing, 12/30/2020)

What a story!!! [Mild Spoilers]

[MARVELMANIAC69 · 3 August 2004]

Gunnm is one of the greatest anime's I've ever seen! The story is so great, the story is about a young cyborg who is found in a scrap heap by a professor and is rebuilt. I won't say anymore as its better for the story to unfold on you.

The only one little spoiler here was the fact that Alita's size changed on times like she'd go from normal size to very small. But it doesn't bother me as the story is so great and the characters are all so brilliantly built.

I strongly advice everyone reading this review to take a friendly visit to ebay and get a copy for themselves on video (DVD of it isn't out sadly).

Adams Rating 9/10

Half a decent film, half ruined

[RogerBorg · 9 December 2000]

Can't help but think that the English title "Battle Angel Alita" is probably just a wimp out for "Lolita". Remind me, eyeballs should be *smaller* than fists, right? That said, Battle Angel is thankfully free of teeny sex, although the ubiquitous brief glimpse of nekkid adult lady is pubic hair free, which I always find quite disturbing.

The animation is fine, although the scale of characters varies wildly, with Alita shrinking to almost Tinkerbelle proportions in some shots. Also, gravity seems to have a particularly tenuous hold on our little protagonist (even for anime!) and she does spend a fair bit of time just staring wide eyed.

Voice talent in the English dub is par for the course for anime, i.e. pretty dire. Alita at least has a distinctive cutesy mock-English timbre. The baddies are all instantly identifiable by their voices, which is frankly insulting and doesn't help to convince sceptics (or me, to be honest) that anime is more than a kiddie cartoon gone rabid.

There's some attempt at characterisation among the protagonists, but a fifty something minute runtime isn't enough time to expand on one fall/redemption story, let alone three or four. In fact, the whole thing is wrapped up and ended very abruptly in the last few minutes. It feels forced and unfinished, and smacks of series pilot.

Still, it was clearly a classy bit of animation before the translators got their hands on it. As usual, I'm left with the feeling that it's an opportunity wasted, and that a subtitled version would probably be much more enjoyable - as is definitely the case with Akira.

Have you ever...?

[Kuseman · 26 November 2004]

I've seen the first part of the movie, and I have to say that the movie is totally trash, it's not just a bad film from the totally best Japan Book Series ever, it's a story without sense. I read the original book series, and I also read the second Series, Last order, and i think the movie is bad, totally senseless and bad made. The intentions from the book are not found in the movie, and, I don't know if Yukito Kishiro had designed the film, the typical style of yukito kishiro is not found in the film. Good book, bad film. Sorry. But I heard that James Cameron is planning to do a 3d movie of Battle Angel Alita, I hope it's better made than this trash.