Ranked #91

Redline

Takeshi Koike's debut feature, more than five years in the making. Redline is an anime about racing, only presented like nothing we have seen before. Produced by Madhouse, with second key animation by Gainax, music from James Shimoji and a cast and crew pumped with everlasting potential, this is certainly one of - if not the - most adrenaline filled anime film to date.

If you've seen a film about racing before, then you know how the plot in such a film tends to unfold. Essentially it isn't so different in Redline, but the larger than life presentation coupled with the phenomenal experience this film brings about is second to none. The story itself is both exhilarating and incredibly well paced. The action is, as you would imagine, fast, fantastic and full of adrenaline and the drama is cheesy, but the kind of cheese that puts a smile on your face. The crazy antics in Redline make clear that it isn't to be taken too seriously and coupled with the fact that the characters and art compliment the story so much, you're able to look beyond the cliches and appreciate the film for what it really is: an exhilarating thrill-ride that doesn't set out to challenge our minds, but to simply entertain and in that respect, the story definitely delivers.

The tagline for Redline is 'WITNESS THE FUTURE OF ANIMATION' and they weren't joking. Madhouse handled the production, with second key animation primarily from Gainax. The films total development took seven years, a huge majority of that time was spent in production. The film contains over one hundred thousand hand-made drawings and the amout of detail and action on screen is so vast that you're going to want to give the film multiple viewings. Interestingly, Takeshi Koike (the man behind Trava, the World Record episode from The Animatrix and responsible for the animated segments in The Taste of Tea) not only served as the director, but also the animation director. Considering this is Koike's debut feature, it just goes to show that Madhouse had a lot of faith in the man and for good reason... he doesn't just deliver, he delivers tenfold. The animation in Redline is, quite simply, mind-blowing. The film is full of colour, detail and beauty like no other, the art style is vigorous and unique and the character designs are fresh, exuberant and interesting. This is animation at its best.

The soundtrack - mainly consisting of various electronic tracks - is sublime. It fits Redline's fast-paced visuals and cheesy drama oh so well. The sound editing is top-notch and the ending song will leave a smile on your face. The voice acting is superb, but then again that is to be expected when you get some of the best Japanese actors in the business involved. Takuya Kimura - SMAP member and leading star of Love and Honour, part of Yoji Yamada's Oscar nominated samurai trilogy - handles our main man, JP. Our leading lady is voiced by none other than Yu Aoi, an actress who has appeared in many award winning Japanese films, multiple of which were directed by national treasure Shunji Iwai and last, but certainly not least, JP's partner, Frisbee, is voiced by Tadanobu Asano, quite possibly one of the very best actors working in Japan today and to quote anime journalist Helen McCarthy - casting him was a stroke of genius.

The main characters all very much fit into simple archetypes. You have the extremely cool - but sometimes clutzy - JP, along with the sexy love interest, Sonoshee and the mysterious partner, Frisbee. Similar to the story, the characters are quite conventional. They don't do anything new, they're not hugely complex and they don't need more than a paragraph of analysis, but that is besides the point. The characters, like the story, are themselves larger than life, quite literally. JP and Sonoshee together make up about half of the human population in the entire film, everyone else belongs to their own alien race. The story and characters are very much two sides of the same coin - the characters aren't there to be complex, but to entertain us, to build the scale of the film to do their job as the archetypes we know and love. The characters give the film its flavour and they're incredibly fun and amazing to behold on screen.

Redline is a film not to be taken too seriously and anyone doing so has certainly missed the point. Needless to say, if you want a realistic racing film then you have come to the wrong place. However, if you want a fast, funny, eye-watering, explosive experience that'll pump your enjoyment scales to the max and suck you into a world that words like 'amazing' and 'vigorous' can not even begin to describe, then this is the film to do it. Redline is like one huge, epic, colourful, mind-blowing, rollercoster of a Newton's Cradle. Every element just continuously works together and bounces off each other to create one tremendous overall work that is certainly quite magical to behold. Redline is more than a film, it is an experience. read more

Ah Redline, what words can i use to describe the epic adrenaline just that is this film. To be honest words are not enough, this is one of those films that you have to see to fully comprehend its greatness. However I am going to attempt to pass on my thoughts on this film in this review of what feel is one of the best anime films I have ever seen. Period.

Now in when it comes of the plot of Redline it is short, sweet and down to the point. So the story of the film follows our main character JP, a driver who wants to race in a tournament called Redline which is held every five years. However he fails to qualify for it and just when he believes he dream is over, by chance two people drop out of Redline which gives him a qualifying place.

It has been mentioned by critics and viewers, that Redline lacks a plot or that the story is lackluster and while I can understand that point of the argument I can also argue against it. The film has enough of a plot to work in cohesiveness with the rest of the film and while its not overly complex or thought-provoking it doesn’t have to be. I would like to think of it this way: Would your rather watch film with an overly drawn out plot and character development which could be potentially tedious and slow down the fast-paced nature of the film? Or would you want to watch a film with a condensed plot that has enough story and personality to make you care about what you are watching? Personally I prefer the latter.

When it comes to the visual presentation of Redline words really do fail me. I mean seriously, no words can truly say how beautiful this film really is. Japanese animation studio Madhouse have crafted one of the most visually stunning animated films in existence and as I said in the beginning this film has to be seen to be fully acknowledged. I feel that there are three main parts of the art direction of the film that makes the film simply incredible. Firstly there's the character design, from the human-based characters to all of the other alien races and cybernetic beings that reside within Redline's world, they all look diverse and interesting Secondly you have the vehicles which are also fabulous, coming in many different shapes and sizes, from simple to completely crazy designs, with individual quirks and weapon arsenals to be admired. And lastly there's the locations of the film that vary from the rocky crayons where races are done to spaceships floating above planets, all of which have an incredible amount of detail that draws your eyes in.

But I feel that the main feature that makes this film so great is the fluidity of the animation. The quality of the animation in this film is actually insane, with several sequences of high-octane action crafted with some beautiful choreography, nicely placed camera angles and great use of speed. Everything moves in such a smooth manner, with no moments of slowdown or inconsistencies in the animation whatsoever. The film delivers an experience like no other in the animation department and really conveys on the concept of speed, pushing you to edge of your seat and beyond.

But what is a film without a good soundtrack? Luckily Redline happens to have a soundtrack of brilliance crafted by James Shimoji, which compliments the visual side of things wonderfully. The soundtrack is mainly composed of techno-based music, but it works well with the action on-screen, it's explosive and makes your race to new levels and on a personal level I felt that the soundtrack really reminded me of the video-games: F-Zero GX and Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, both of which have great soundtracks and explosive music that sounds great on the highest volume level. I also have to note that the sound editing in this film is tackled perfectly with the visual editing too.

In terms of the enjoyment of Redline, be prepared to fall in love with this film. After watching the trailers for this film you get a rough idea as to what you will be watching, however those trailers cannot prepare you for the whole thing. As a lot of people know this genre of film has been done before, after all Redline is a film about guys, girls and cars. But what Redline as film does well is give us a familiar format to work with, but it's covered in such an innovative, stylised and charismatic fashion that you will be left in awe after you see it. Also throughout all of the chaos and mind-blowing visuals, Redline never feels like it's heading into unnatural territory, in fact a lot of aspects about Redline feel realistic and believable.

Overall Redline is an experience, that I feel everyone should enjoy. It's a like a rush of energy that's exhilarating, fast-paced and unforgettable. Takeshi Koike, Redline's director should feel very happy about the film that he has crafted and considering his previous work before coming onto this project I'm not surprised that this film turned out to be a success. And again I feel the need to mention Madhouse's insane skills as an animation studio as they have created a film full of action, charisma and style unlike any other film. There are so many individual things about the film that's weird and wonderful and completely unexpected, but overall I say watch this film and experience the joy that felt when I watched Redline! read more