Captain Herlock

I came into this blind -having never watched the original series or even read a synopsis.

The premise (of being relegated to living on dying planets) is quite good even though it is illogical given the super advanced science and technology on display.

The movie has really good visuals and passable OSTs; normally that would usually make for a good watch but the monumentally stupid plot and incredibly awful, trope riddled characters ruined any chance of enjoyment for me.

I won't say to skip it but if you are going to watch it -have low expectations for everything but the CGI to mitigate disappointment.

I'm lucky enough to have seen this in the theater last night, so I thought I'd add my thoughts after seeing it!

I've been looking forward to Captain Harlock being released because the animation looked amazing. I have to say, it did not disappoint. I was blown away by the CGI! It was beautiful. I can't even imagine how much time they spent on this, but I hope it's done well in theaters here. Major props to the animations team.

I've never seen the original series and went into the film knowing next to nothing about the plot. I think the story was a bit lacking and ... perhaps a bit preditable (as were many of the characters). BUT I still really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it. If for no other reason, see it for the animation!

Captain Harlock

Going into this film, I had no prior knowledge of the source material or previous adaptations of Captain Harlock. Though reading the synopsis and watching some of its trailers, I could see a lot of time and money went into its production. And it didn't disappoint in that regard. It looked fucking amazing!

Characters and Plot development. (6). I must say the biggest gripe I had with this movie was the fact that most of the MCs (Yama and Ezra especially) aren't really likable nor have audience investment to their agendas. They sort of just "fill" their roles rather than own their on-screen moments, its ... a bit like they were given identities but never explored nor captured the emotion and character of their identity. It was left up to the likes of Captain Harlock and first mate Yattaran to deliver the solid performances and flesh out their identity. The plot and ethos was very interesting and at times inspiring but I felt as though the pace was rather slow in conveying the story which left much of the movie underwhelming at times until something happened. Although to contrast this slow pace, when the action kicked in (whilst looking fucking amazing! - yes i said it before) it certainly lifted emotion and developed a very enjoyable atmosphere to watch, Just needed a better balance in pace and character interactions to give an invested attachment to the plot and story unfolding.

Art, Sound and Action. (9.5) Wow, awesome, amazing, beautiful or holy smokes batman! The production level in detail of the animation is incredible and really makes this feature an eyegasmic joy. The action and art seamlessly work together. Sound is the only small adjustment that could have made this section better (to be perfect) and that is the suspense. There were plenty of decent themes portrayed but again the contrast between the highs and lows didn't really connect well together. Still its only a small botch on an otherwise awesome production.

One small side topic I'd like to point out and this isn't really a spoiler but more of a "window shattering moment" but it seemed to me a lot of the time that the animation of mouth movement during speech was out of sync. It's kinda of annoying when you pick it up and they give you plenty of opportunities to notice this flaw. A slight distraction to consider, it doesn't hurt the movie but just annoys the shit out of me. (Not sure if you, the reader, will have the same reaction - to each their own i suppose) It's noticeable in both the dub and sub, btw both are great so you're not missing out by watching the dub.

This film is blockbuster entertainment for its production value alone. Beautiful action scenes and character designs for the making of an epic tale. Sadly, the characters and plot can't compete with it. I had a lot of eyegasms during this movie and their are plenty of memorable moments to enjoy. I just wish it fleshed out the characters a bit more (especially Ezra and Yama) and pushed the plot a little quicker so we could admire more of its beauty!

Captain Harlock is one of the most endearing figures in all of anime. Since the original Space Pirate Captain Harlock series premiered in 1979, the character has been in numerous spin-offs and re-iterations throughout the proceeding decades; each in a different continuity with the only commonality being a few key characters and the space-opera setting (sans Gun Frontier, which is a western). The latest reimagining is 2013 CGI animated action spectacle directed by Shinji Aramaki of Appleseed fame. It's a grand-scale sweeping space epic with big themes and bravado to match, attached to a somewhat convoluted sci-fi plot. In other words, it is a movie ... that is faithful to the spirit of the original, and a worthy addition to the franchise.

Following in the traditions of its predecessors, this movie has its own variation of the setting and characters. It is set in a future in which mankind abandoned Earth because it could no longer sustain the population, only to return to it after finding no refuge in space, and engaging in an internal power struggle for control of their home planet called the Home Coming War. After the war, the authoritarian Gaia Sanction is formed and declares Earth sacred ground, forbidden to humanity. The only resistance towards this is the seemingly ageless space pirate Captain Harlock, who rebels against the Gaia Sanction for the next hundred years before the main story begins. This is all explained in a long montage before the title credits, which gives us an idea of how grandiose this movie intends to be, for better or worse. It also sets up Harlock to be an almost mythical figure, which works two-fold: giving the title character significant presence, and reminding us (the viewer) of the franchise's legacy.

The story itself mainly follows Yama, a Gaia Sanction soldier who infiltrates the ranks of Halock's crew (and designated audience surrogate), as he tries to bring Harlock's defiant actions to an end. Well, at least that is what he tries to do at first. The movie goes from one big set-piece to the next, with stretches of explanation and plot development in-between. Flashbacks are used to disclose Yama's backstory, Harlock's past, and the world changing events of the Home Coming War which are not shown in the opening montage. To be honest, the storytelling here is kind of clunky; it is paced in such a way that sometimes the movie feels like it is just pushing its way to the next action blowout. That said, it never really becomes boring or tedious, as big twists and revelations are aplenty, and the action set-pieces payoff in a big way.

The plot itself is backed by themes born from modern ecological anxieties, a fact which the movie makes very apparent. Mankind's abandonment of Earth is a blatantly obvious address to modern issues concerning overpopulation. The movie's fixation on the survival of a flower illustrates both the endurance and fragility of nature. Another theme is mankind's tendency to destroy the things it values through anger or envy. This can be seen in the only vaguely explored love-triangle between Yama, his brother Erza, and the girl for which they both have feelings; needless to say it takes a tragic turn. The theme can also be seen in Harlocks's past and the shocking truth behind the end of the Home Coming War. The endurance of hope and freedom in the face of such dispiriting factors has always been at the core of the franchise, and that is as true for this movie as it is for any other iteration; though Harlock's role as the personification of such hope and freedom is slightly subverted by the movie's big twist.

The direction concerning the movie's aesthetics is simply phenomenal. Shinji Aramaki made his name on his CGI work in Appleseed, and continues to display exceptional CGI artwork and rendering in this movie. Leiji Matsumoto's characters transition extraordinarily well to 3-D animation, and are very faithful as far as Captain Harlock and pirate girl Kei Yuki are concerned. Some liberties are taken: Harlock's alien advisor/drinking-buddy Miime looks more humanoid than her original counterpart, and Harlock's first mate Yattaran is almost completely different from his original appearance (and personality). Yama looks suspiciously similar to the original series' audience surrogate, Tadashi Daiba, too. Harlock's iconic pirate spaceship, the Arcadia, looks absolutely intimidating with its GGI make-over. The action sequences are a marvel to behold. The large-scale space battles and showboating melee fights are gorgeously well animated and, more importantly, exciting. Aramaki handles the action with gusto; letting them brim with a frenetic energy which fully engages the audience, while also juggling the multiple battles flawlessly. If nothing else, this movie is a testament to Aramaki's talent as a top-notch action director.

Unfortunately, his talents don't carry over into the movie's action-less dramatic scenes. Aramaki might direct a mean battle sequence, but his handling of drama leaves a lot to be desired. Many of the flashbacks and revelations come off as rather dry. They are visually stimulating, certainly, but are also emotionally distant. The scenes simply don't communicate the characters' emotions to the audience, or at least not as strongly as they should. You watch the scene unfold, but you don't feel the emotions that the characters are experiencing. Not helping matters is the fact that most of these characters are underwritten; plot and theme has always taken precedence over character depth in this franchise. The one exception being Captain Harlock himself, who is fascinating in his ideology (and always has been), and has an aura of myth and mystery surrounding him. While his backstory here removes some of the mystery, he is no less mythical from it. What this all means is that the movie's drama works on a thematic level, but far less so on an emotional level.

In the end, this movie is an admirable addition to the longstanding franchise. It pays homage to the original, while updating it by applying modern priorities to old-fashioned bravado. It doesn't really improve upon what was already there, as it suffers from the exact same flaws as the original series, albeit in different ways. However, it does deliver some downright fantastic action sequences (doubtless the best the franchise has produced), and a solid story overall. It may not have transcended the original's legacy, but it carries on that legacy quite well.

Legendary anime/manga creator Leiji Matsumoto perfected dystopian before the rest of the world even knew what it was. His vast universe is rife with it, from Space Battleship Yamato‘s dying Earth to Galaxy Express 999‘s bleak future, Matsumoto does dystopian better than anyone else. No where is this more evident than in his legendary manga-cum-anime, Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

Captain Harlock made his TV debut in 1978, and he’s been back many times over the years with varying degrees of success. The latest incarnation, a big budget CGI fest, premiered in Japan last fall. It’s an origin story of sorts and stands well enough on its ... own. Those familiar with the Harlock will find much to like here. Viewers unfamiliar with Harlock stories won’t get lost here either.

The story begins with a Matsumoto staple: a town that looks more like the American west than a futuristic alien word. Inside a ubiquitous saloon, a drifter named Yama nurses a drink until a deep rumbling announce a space craft’s arrival. And not just any spaceship. This one belongs to the notorious, hundred-year-old outlaw, Captain Harlock. Yama and the bar’s other patrons seemed to anticipate the ship’s arrival, and once it lands, they head out to meet it, determined to join Harlock’s crew. But Harlock only has room for one. In a scene similar to the Joker’s ‘try-outs’ in The Dark Knight, a brutal selection process ensues. The Captain demands the would-be recruits explain why they want to join in a single word. Unacceptable answers result in immediate–and permanent–dismissal.

Fortunately for Yama, Harlock likes his answer and allows the young man to suit up. Along the way, we learn why Yama wanted to join Harlock’s crew, a reason that at times runs counter to the word he gave to Harlock.

If this sounds as if Yama’s more of a protagonist than the Captain himself, he is. Intentionally so. Harlock is a mythic figure. His stories work best when he’s mysterious–something you can’t maintain when you see things from his point-of-view. The film gets that right–at least initially. In the middle, when it tries to show Harlock’s motivations through flashback, it makes the mistake of humanizing him. The decision feels false, and it doesn’t work. Fortunately, once we get the backstory over with, Harlock goes back to being the badass we all know and love.

Visually, Space Pirate Captain Harlock is a sumptuous feast. The animation is as good as the ground-breaking Final Fantasy movies, and the character designs are gorgeous. The same can’t be said of the mechanical designs, however. The powerful forces arrayed against Harlock fly nondescript battleships that look more like boxes than spacecraft. Certainly, some of Matsumoto’s anime series had some interesting ship designs, but they were never this dull. Sadly, the Arcadia, Harlock’s iconic ship, suffers even more. It’s just plain ugly, looking more like a cross between an giant x-wing and H.R. Giger’s Alien than the beautiful ship Matsumoto envisioned. And that’s a shame, especially since the interior is fantastically realized.

Changing the Arcadia’s look isn’t exactly sacred, the film, My Youth in Arcadia, altered and improved upon the 1978 design, with glorious results. It was big and absolutely gorgeous. It was also as intimidating as hell. If not for the dark matter cloud swirling around the new Arcadia, the ship would just look…generic. If the Arcadia wasn’t as important to Harlock’s persona, it wouldn’t be a problem. But the legendary ship is as much a part of Harlock cannon as the Yamato is to that story. It doesn’t ruin the film, but it certainly reduces its impact.

In all its incarnations, Captain Harlock has been more about big themes and flash than substantive storytelling. My Youth in Arcadia, as good as it is, nearly collapses under its own melodramatic weight. Space Pirate Captain Harlock is no different. The over arching themes are grand and ambitious, but when it comes down to telling a compelling story, Harlock falls short. In an odd way, you might call that a success, because it means this Harlock isn’t that different from other Harlock stories. It means the filmmakers faithfully brought Harlock to the big screen. Being faithful, though, just isn’t enough. This was a chance to deliver a great space saga fitting its legendary hero. Space Pirate Captain Harlock just misses.

An extravagant show-piece of 3D rendering technology that's unfortunately bogged down by a needlessly convoluted plot, filled with TV-soap drama and characters who didn't know what they were doing.

If you don't care about making head or tails of a story, and only want the first 5 minutes of space carnage in Revenge of the Sith filling an entire feature film, this is your jam - Harlock repeatedly rams a cheat-enabled auto-healing battleship head-first into swarms of pleasingly weighty metal behemoths, crunching, crushing huge complex components amidst a light show of ray weaponry triggering chain explosions. Releasing endorphins in a primal part of our brains that ... finds a pleasing satisfaction in breaking up and disintegrating objects. The film brings TWO mega space weapons to boot, which is a bit of a missed opportunity when Arcadia didn't explode them as well.

If only the film just focused on being an unapologetic orgy of explosions a la Michael Bay, instead, it succumbed to that most common of afflictions in Japanese 3D animation - melodrama. Three of four recruits were killed in the beginning, why? So Harlock can look like an angsty hard-ass. There's an entire subplot of sibling rivalry, why? Because the glasses-wearing douche needed an excuse to be all cold and aloof. Why does he hate him? Because the younger idiot randomly opened a valve that caused an explosion. Why did he open that valve? Because he was angry! WHY?!?!?!? If you want melodrama, at least establish a clear root cause! Or else you're just brooding for the sake of brooding!

And what was the point of the subplot melodrama? What did the brooding bros do except creating unnecessary conflict out of nothing and dragging countless lives with them? What was the point of making the alien the last of her race? Just to make it depressing or is her backstory integral to the central tenet of the story? In which case WHY did she become the last of her race? Either TELL us, or don't include these half-baked headless characters that don't MEAN anything!

Even the namesake of the film, Harlock himself, is apparently a complete idiot with NO idea of what he's doing! He unleashed dark matter to "protect" Earth only to ravage it, then to... "make up" for his own colossal f***-up, he decides, on behalf of 500 billion lives, to end the universe and start anew?! HE'S THE REASON IT'S SCREWED UP IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

To explain a bit of the film's background, the Harlock of the original series was an archetypical ROMANTIC hero - a lone voice of hope against alien tyranny, like a Rebel leader of the original trilogy. He was NOT a nihilistic, emo kid that succumbed to a hopelessness of HIS OWN FAULT, and decided to end everything with himself! And this selfish **** is the HERO of this film?!?!? Shouldn't he be the villain and root cause of all these problems?!?!

Leiji Matsumoto revolutionised manga into a more mature, "realist" direction, his Space Battleship Yamato is a case study of tackling suffocating nihilism right. As far as I'm concerned this film remake neither inherited the true romantic spirit of the real Harlock, nor did it successfully bring in the nihilism of Matsumoto's other works. All of the problems the characters face are of THEIR OWN MAKING - they're not heroes, they're not anti-heroes, they're just brooding teens in their puberties throwing a tantrum from breaking their own playstation. It speaks volumes when the only tolerable characters are an emotionless, backstory-less alien and a catatonic woman.

I really wish some screenwriters would mature out of their brooding bros, whether it be Cloud, Noctis, or these insufferable "hero" villains.

p.s. minus points for that one weird gratuitous zero-grav shower scene, for god's sake some Japanese animation, GROW UP!

I'll preface this by stating that I had no prior knowledge of the story or characters before I watched this film.

Now, as it's the main reason I'm choosing to write this review I'll simply say that Yama is far and away the worst written anime character I have ever had the sheer displeasure of watching to date. His motivations are meaningless at worst and wholeheartedly flawed at best. He has zero sense of self and is for the most part an empty shell that both Harlock and Ezra use as a mouthpiece. I know the review guidelines say to avoid spoilers so with out going ... into much detail, Yama switches his allegiance to either party at least a dozen times. He is so damn frustrating. If anyone reading this has watched Iron Fist, imagine Danny Rands level of taking everything at face value and times that by 10. He is infuriating and single-handedly ruins everything this movie had going for it.

With that being said, the animation on this film is gorgeous and the sound editing is well above average for an animated feature. Was very impressed with both.

In summation if you want to watch this movie for the animation then go ahead and do so, but if you want to watch it for story and character development, avoid it at all costs.

Warning possible Spoilers

It was kinda surprising to see that this movie was actually a remake of the original series back in the seventies, so I saw what the movie would offer and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

Story (6/10)

However just because it isn't bad, doesn't mean it has it's weak points and the story is definitely a weak point, sure it was simple as our MC Yama is a spy on Harlock's ship and tries to kill him, until he starts to realise what Harlock is doing and then a whole bunch of stuff that seemed like a ripoff of Wall-E happened, like ... the fact that after many years of suffering, the Earth is finally supporting life again just seemed way too familiar.
Although despite the story seeming familiar, it did have it's own stuff to go on, like ulterior motives, betrayal, hidden secrets and a whole religious scheme made the movie/film a little more interesting to watch, because for many years humanity has been fooled that the Earth was a safe haven, when really it wasn't and the whole government was keeping it hidden from the public.
I couldn't exactly tell whether the pacing was good or not, considering what happened in the movie/film, although I do think the ending was one big Deus Ex Machina, especially when it came to Yama's character whose look and appearance resembled Harlock quite a bit, so his outcome by the end wasn't a surprise for me.
The story wasn't bad, it just didn't have a lot of impact for me, apart from a few things that did make the movie/film stand out.

Characters (6/10)

The characters were another weaker aspect of the movie/film, because it looked like there wasn't any development for them whatsoever, well apart fro Yama and Harlock, but their the main characters so of cause there has to be some development there, but all the other characters felt like they were just along for the ride and some of them like Yuki and Miime looked like they could've been big characters, but since this is a movie/film you have to put concentration on certain character's, otherwise there'll just be too much for the viewers to handle.
It also surprises me how, apart from the bad guys and cannon fodder troops, no-one actually dies, which kinda disappointed me, but at the same time it didn't because it's setting up the TV series from the seventies.
Pretty much there wasn't much interest in the characters other than that they can kick some ass and the concentration on Yama wasn't too bad either, until it's the usual he's doing this for someone he loves that he ended up hurting, which reminds of the only surprising death in the movie/film and that was the girl Yama liked, so there was something here.

Art (8/10)

Now I haven't seen many anime's in the 3-D CGI format, but it works really well here surprisingly, the designs of the ships were very well done, especially the Arcadia, which had a menacing, but badass feel to it.
The design of the characters, weapons, armour and equipment was also top notch, although Harlock's crew's armour did look a lot like the Big Daddy suit from Bioshock, which I'll accept because it looked badass.
Even the locations looked great too, including the capital city on Mars, it looked like something out of a fantasy, but made for a sci-fi setting.

Sound (7/10)

The soundtrack was pretty good, it captured the feel of what it would be like to be a space pirate, especially during the first space battle, it captured that feeling very well, although after that I couldn't really remember much else of the soundtrack.

Extras:

The action was definitely something entertaining to watch, awesome space battles, pretty hectic gunfights with CQC elements including a fight in zero-G and there was also quite a lot of Slow-mo in some fight scenes too, it didn't spoil the moment, but added a nice extra detail to the characters movement as they started kicking ass.
Another thing is, I will watch anything in sub or dub, but I watched this in dub and thought "yeah this would be better in sub" so if you're going to watch this in dub, don't I would recommend watching it in sub, because some of the lines just didn't mix well with the lip-sync.

Enjoyment (7/10)

Overall (7/10)

Overall this was a alright space pirate adventure, kickass space battles and great looking effects, but with a meh story and characters it can be a mixed result, however if you're interested in stuff like this, then I'd consider watching this.

Having watched the original series and Endless Odyssey, I wasn't sure how much I would like this movie. I still looked forward to it and finally sat down and watched it.
First the art and animation. Obviously it is a beautiful film and the action scenes are top notch. The Arcadia does it's classic ramming technique a few times which is sure to please long-time fans. The designs for the characters and settings were also amazing, so if you don't like anything else about the film you'll at least enjoy looking at it! I will say, though it's not much of a gripe, I did think ... it was a bit odd that the characters all looked like regular people instead of the usual Matsumoto style. I can understand why they made this choice, however they included Harlock's bird which took on the same stylistic appearance as the original series while everyone else did not.
The voice acting, I watched the dub and read the subtitles. I noticed in the subs the names of the characters are different which can be distracting. Overall the voice acting was good, Harlock was spot on.
As for the characters and plot, this is where the film starts to fall apart. Speaking as a fan of the series, I couldn't help but be disappointed by the lack of vital characters. There was no Daiba or his father, only a replacement for him named Yama. A few other crew members that appear in the other series were also missing but that isn't a big deal. Kei was a bit more sassy than she usually is and Harlock also ended up being more selfish with his goals which I consider uncharacteristic. Miime also did not play her harp for some reason. However, Harlock, Yattaran and Kei were good on screen and had more investment with the audience than Yama or Ezra. Even with Ezra's redemption I still did not like him as a character. I'm probably just biased because of Daiba not being in it but I also did not care much for Yama.
The plot was interesting, some parts were a bit boring but I think that's mostly on me. There was one thing that I didn't like about the plot and that was it's redundancy. I noticed similarities in the story to other movies especially a few that came to mind immediately while watching. I did enjoy the ending and look forward to possibly another installment.

I'm probably being a bit too harsh here but those are my thoughts. The movie did keep me entertained throughout, I enjoyed seeing my favorite characters again and I'm sure others will enjoy it, especially on the big screen!

This movie feels like the anime equivalent of the Final Fantasy VII remake.
While the movie looks extremely visually impressive, it's all style without substance or lack of style in this case. In every single case, without exception, I prefer stylized designs over hyperrealistic ones. Leiji Matsumoto's designs and characters have an extremely distinctive, instantly recognizable look, but they've been robbed of those stand-out qualities to just look realistic.
While I find the CGI to look impressive, the characters' movements seem really weird. They are clearly mo-capped, which isn't bad by itself, but they have this weird, flowy quality that almost makes it hard to ... watch them. The hair physics engine they use is clearly too sensitive, so even when they stand still and talk, their hair is influenced by that. It's a minor gripe but one I continually noticed throughout the movie.
I was not too fond of how the characters were treated. While I did enjoy Kei being of more use than in the original series, she is a lot harder now and not as soft, which made her really charming in the original. Outside of her and Harlock, the characters have no distinctive personalities. Miime and Yattaran are only recognizable in design and don't resemble much of their original selves outside of that. Yattaran was also a goofy character who made model ships. He meant business when it came out, but he isn't his own character here.
I also did not like Yama. He was more of the main character than Harlock and quite dull. He's at war with his brother throughout the movie, and Harlock just pitches in to help out. Yama has no real personality, and I wasn't invested in his story. I hate how the Harlock characters became so sidelined because of him; it was a major disappointment.
Lastly, the movie simply didn't have that Harlock and Matsumoto charm. While Harlock was mainly a drama-oriented series, there were lighter moments where the crew just had fun and felt like a family. That is stripped away here. While I understand that this is a movie, so that can't pad up that limited time with those moments if Yama's scenes were cut, you easily could flesh out Harlock's crew. I'm disappointed only Harlock, his bird, Kei, Yattaran, and Miime were brought back; his entire crew had a lot of charm, like the doctor, engineer, cook, and even Mayu. Tochiro is barely mentioned and serves a very small purpose.

So, it's not a good movie on its own, and it's not a good movie for Harlock fans. Do not watch. It's technically impressive, so if you want to just look at some shots and be inspired, that's about the only positives you can glean from this.