Ranked #240

Interstella5555 - The 5tory of The 5ecret 5tar 5ystem

Story:
The story is a fairly normal thing. Several musicians get kidnapped and brain washed by an evil doer.
The most interesting thing about this story is the fact that said musicians are aliens.
Which makes things very interesting.
The story moves along quickly but doesn't skim things either.
And if you like AMVs you'll find this to be very much the best one you'll ever see as things make sense!
An 8 on story from me.

Art:
While the movie aired in 2003, the art looks very much like something from the late 80s.
That is not to say it isn't well animated. It's very smooth, but looks like cleaned up 80s arty work. I think it fits with the mood quite well.
A 9 on art from me.

Sound/Music;
Something I did not know before I first watched 5555 was that there is NO TALKING! That's right. No voice actors, monologues, or trash talking contests.
The entire story is told with the music!(Very cleverly mixed with the visuals)
As the story is told entirely with sound, the score is incredible!
It ranks in the top 15 of all soundtracks I've heard.
(Which is very impressive considering I've listened carefully to over 200 OSTs)
A generous 10 from me on music! ^__^

Character(s):
If the movie has a single weakness, it's the characters.
Since there is no talking, there is very little character development.
And much is left up to the audience to imagine.
Some might like this, others might find this very dissatisfying.
All we have to go on with the characters is their looks and the actions that we witness, and while this gets quite a lot across, it still leaves large holes in what the characters are actually like. Their personalities and thoughts are left up to us.
And while this doesn't REALLY affect the movie, since it's a feast of the eyes and ears, not of the mind, it could be considered a minus overall.
A 6 on characters from me.

Enjoyment:
I enjoyed the movie hugely! I loved it from the first time I watched it, and have watched it several times since. Each time loving it more.
But just because I liked it, doesn't mean everyone will.
I showed it to more people then my self.
And they were not all impressed.
I would have to say that...you need to be a certain type of person to fully understand and appreciate this type or film.
I would suggest that if you want to watch this that you enjoy music much more then the average person, have a liking for music videos, as this might be considered a long AMV.
And have a mind which embraces the weird or unusual.
And enjoy techno! ^^
A 10 fom me on enjoyment!

Overall:
The way this movie handles story is something very interesting to look at. As their is no talking, their is no 'story telling' as such.
Everything is told through the music and visuals.
It is a feast for art lovers and dreamers!
It challenges you to think and imagine while taking you on a wonderful trip through the strange, dream like world that is created when music and animation are joined in such a unique and breath taking way!
I highly recommend this for anyone likes to imagine and dream to the hypnotic beat and notes of music. ^^ read more

Unlike most anime, there is no dialogue in this movie. The story is told by Daft Punk's album Discovery. I thought the film was great and had an awesome plot (though I think if there had been speaking parts it would've been AMAZING!!!) Having been a big fan of the parisian robot duo I had much respect for the work and tried to correlate the songs to the story. I think that if you have previous experience with their work, the movie is a slightly more enjoyable (well, more easy to understand if you're familiar with their odd film style), but the love between Stella and Shep is enough to whet the average otaku's appetite! (Call me a daftopihle...but,) I highly recommend this film! If it turns out not to be your bag of chips then at least you can say you listened to some of the group's best hits! read more

"Fear will always make you blind But the answer is in clear view It's amazing what you'll find face to face"

Story

Interstella starts off at an intergalactic party where an intergalactic band are playing soon the party is abrubtly interrupted and the band members get kidnapped, from there on the story progrreses kinda slowly its not really the story that shines out in this anime (Its not bad though) its just not as good as other stories directed or made by Leiji Matsumoto but since the movie is one big Music Video its more than understandable, actually they pulled it off quite well with what they had to offer.

Art

The art is incredible...after "One More Time" and it keeps getting better the character designs will deja-vu you of Matsumoto´s other works, also the backgrounds and scenery are simply beautiful almost every detail was carefully done for your viewing pleasure.

Sound

Well the movie has no dialogue and little to none sound effects...So? Its Daft Punk youll hear classics like "One More Time" "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" or others like "Face To Face" "High Life" basically its the best factor this movie has to offer the whole Discover album animated...however if you dont like Daft Punk...dont watch this movie what would be the point.

Character

The character designs are simple but it gets the job more than done even with no dialogue the characters flesh out and develop as the movie progresses which is really nice.

Enjoyment

In short Interstella will appeal to certain crowds those who like Daft Punk those who like similar stuff, those who like the classic look, or simply for kicks, its a pretty nice anime so give it a shot this coming from someone who hates Toei Animation I can say this is the only decent thing they have ever done.

Overal

When I saw the video for "One More Time" I was like that kicks @ss nearly
7 years later I find out it was a movie I had incredibly high standards and they werent all met but Interstella delivers the Music Video format quite nicely give it a try once its not perfect but it certainly can be called a masterpiece in its respective genre. read more

Interstella5555 is the collaboration work of a band with an anime legend: It all begins in the 90s, when music videos were original (no offense to the current works); Daft Punk, a techno group, made a music video for their song "One More Time," the video animation was done by an anime artist known as Leiji Matsumoto. The video featured a band of four extraterrestrial characters, looking human with blue skin. The video had them playing the song as the whole alien world was dancing to their beautiful music. While this is going on, some mysterious villain shows up and spies on them, soon after sending soldiers to the planet. The video continued when the song "Aerodynamic" had a music video featuring the same animation, showing the band being kidnapped. Then another came with "Digital Love," and finally the series of music videos ended with "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger." Notably, all these videos used songs from the bands second album, and in the order they were listed on the album so far. In 2003(I think), there was a full movie made for the videos, using the first four in the beginning of it. This movie was basically like one huge music video, using the entire album. It was known as "Interstella5555: The 5tory of The 5ecret 5tar 5ystem." Now, onto the review!

STORY
The story is about a villain who kidnaps an alien band and makes them look human, using them for profit as he puts mind control over them. The story takes a twist as their fellow alien allie comes to release their minds from this villains control, so they can escape... A very original concept, one I'm sure not many people would think of doing. That just makes it worth seeing.

ART
The style of the anime legend Leiji Matsumoto is one that will always be timeless; It has the look of an old anime, as if the movie came straight from the 80s. Such a feel to it will please all nostalgic anime and cartoon fans.

SOUND
Rather than voices - since the movie has none - this will be about the music. All of it is from Daft Punk's album "Discovery," with songs like "Something About Us," "Face To Face," and "One More Time." All of these, like the movie itself, have a retro sound to them and will please many techno fans, as well as those who just want to hear something different.

CHARACTER
Even when there's no spoken word, these characters say a lot by their expressions and actions. There are those you love for their heroic choices, and those you love to hate for what they do to one another. Such a quality comes straight from the genius of a true story-teller.

ENJOYMENT
Whenever I see this movie, I feel like I've been taken right into the 80s. It's such a wonderful film, I never tire of seeing it... I'm very nostalgic when I watch it. I love it.

OVERALL
Though I love the movie, one thing saddens me; Rarely anyone knows of it. I've rarely heard anyone speak of it like I do, nor do I see any fanart most of the time. It's a shame this movie is so underrated, because it has true potential to be a #1 anime film. read more

Although it lacks story and character depth, Daft Punk's Interstella 5555 is a visual and techno thrill ride that shouldn't be missed.

The Good:
Daft Punk's music and the animation work hand in hand. Creative approach with the music narration.

The Bad:
No sound effects or voice overs. Lack of story and character development puts a heavy reliance on the animation and the viewer.

Story: 7/10

With a story that has no voice overs my main issue is that plot development lacks. The story is heavily reliant on the viewer and what they see and take away from the story. Normally things are explained and the plot gets deeper but with no voice over, this doesn't exist. Its up to the animation to provide the plot and thats why it lacks depth.

Art: 8/10

The art in this movie was pretty well done. The animation reminded of Knights of the Zodiac (Saint Seiya) because they look similar. I have all good things to say about the animation and have no complaints with the look. Some scenes really shine thanks to the techno scenery. The only thing i will say is that the movie is heavily reliant on the animation, but overall it does a great job stepping up to the plate.

Sound: 9/10

The whole movie is narrated by the music of Daft Punk's "Discovery" album and what a great choice. Every song fits the mood, setting and what's going on in the animation perfectly. Whether it be upbeat for action scenes or mellower songs for the mellower moments, it all just feels right.

Although the music is creative way to narrate the movie, there is barely any sound effects or voice over. There is the rare occasion that there is but its just used to on the rare occasion. Even though the music narration does a good job and makes up for the lack of sound effects and voice over, it would have been nice to have a little more feedback to capture you into the moment.

Character: 7/10

The same as the story, the character development lacked and its up to the animation and what we see to provide us with some characterization. The animation does a fairly good job but to be real, we don't learn much about our protagonists or anyone. For example, we don't really learn their names. Names are mentioned but we're not sure if it is their given names or real. Its things like this that makes our characters lack depth.

Enjoyment: 9/10

I have to give this movie two thumbs up. I love the music of Daft Punk (who make a cameo appearance in the movie) and it makes me want to go buy "Discovery". Ive never watched a music narrated anime movie before but it was worth the watch. I also like the animation a lot too. I'm not one for watching things over but in this case, I'll make an exception.

Overall

Overall I give this movie a solid 8.0/10 thanks to the movie making the experience a visual pleasure and a techno thrill ride. To those who are a fan of Daft Punk's work, you'll appreciate this movie. If your not a fan of Daft Punk, I still recommend it because of its quality. read more

Interstella is not your average anime movie. The main reason for this, its really a long music video with a storyline.

Thats not to say the storyline is bad, or it lacks developed characters, it actually has them. Maybe not the greatest story ever told, and without dialog its hard to have the characters develop too much, the the movie manages.

In fact, I believe that if this wasn't a music video it could have been much better. Much of what the characters were thinking and feeling could be assumed by the situation and music, but the characters did seem one dimensional because of this. The actual plot line seemed to have some interesting background, but this background never gets fleshed out, and it could have been with the vocalization of some thoughts.

Being a music video, there needs to be some music, and it really is quite a good soundtrack if you like Daft Punk, I had only heard a few of there more popular songs before this movie, but I enjoyed it fairly well. There were a few spots in the movie I felt that the music and the animation weren't really matched to each other very well, but those moments were few and far between so I'll let them slide.

Overall, I'd say this is a great movie if you want to combine a love for music and anime together, and probably a must watch for any anime loving Daft Punk fan. However for the rest of us, there are probably better movies to consume your time. read more

This movie really brought Daft Punk's second album to life! Before I saw this, I only liked maybe three Daft Punk songs. When I saw this movie, I fell in love with them and bought every one of their albums and now I'm their #1 fan!! If you've never heard of Daft Punk, then check out this movie!! It has a fantastic story and, of course, amazing electronic music! =)

No hay muchas palabras que sean capaces de describir un trabajo tan maravilloso. Una historia en donde unos seres espaciales se ven envueltos en toda una serie de problemas en nuestra amada tierra por culpa de la ambicion de un hombre. Personaje maravillosos, una trama muy envolvente, sonido espectacular como solo lo puede ofrecer Darf Punk y finalmente resaltar la capacidad del diujante de lograr que el espectador entienda y apropie las emociones de lospersonajes sin que ellos digan una sola palabra. Simplemente una obra de arte que vale la pena ver una y otra vez! Domo- domo

A what initially seems strange collaboration between Daft Punk and their childhood hero manga/anime artist Leiji Matsumoto. The retro sci-fi visuals of Matsumoto are actually a perfect match to the funky retro styled house music of Daft Punk. It's no suprise given the people responsible for its creation that it both looks and sounds spectacular but what is suprising is that, for what's more or less an extended music video for Daft Punk's "Discovery" album with no dialogue whatsoever, it holds up as an enjoyable feature film in its own right.

The plot, conceived by Daft Punk, concerns an alien pop band who are kidnapped and brought to Earth where they are brainwashed to become pop megastar puppets for an evil record company mogul. It's not the deepest thing you'll ever see but it's suprising how engaging it is at times!

If you're a fan of Daft Punk (which I'm not especially) or japanese animation (which I am) then you should definitely check this film out. I've definitely got more appreciation for Daft Punk's music after seeing this film than I had before but even if you have little interest in either it's still interesting, fun and funky enough to be worth checking out. You may even find you start developing a taste for anime and french house music! read more

So here we are with another anime review! This time around, it seems that I'm reviewing not so much a series, but a single one shot movie.

This movie in question is called Interstellar 5555(which I found out of luck), and I have to say that it was something very unexpected.

Story: While this movie is really a visual representation of the Daft Punk album Discovery, it actually had a pretty good story. The basis of the story involves four extraterrestrial musicians who get kidnapped from their home world and brought to Earth. They end up having to be rescued by a fan/spaceship pilot, and the rest turns out to actually be a pretty enjoyable movie. As a note, I'd like to point out that there is absolutely no dialogue in this movie, so everything is pretty much told with body langauge, facial expressions, action and of course, music.

Art: The art was simply phenomenal. Everything flowed, and the animation was crisp and smooth, especially for it's time. Character designs were awesome in my opinion, my favorite one being Octave and his radical afro. As a note, I have to say that I personally liked how the artists drew Stella, because I could tell that the way she looked was slightly different than from what I've seen of most anime females. It's little things like this that give the art a unique feel.

Sound: Of course, the sound is perfect. I had a slight interest in Daft Punk before watching this, but after watching this, my interest grew to a lot more. The music is magnificent, and every song perfectly fits with each segment of the movie, from the happy, upbeat dance parts, to the slower, sadder ones. The audio shines bright in this movie, but what else would you expect from a movie based on a music album?

Character: Unfortunately, this is where this movie lacks a bit. With no dialogue, character development is close to zero here. Now that's not saying each character was the same. There were differences based on facial expressions and such during the many scenes of the movie, of course. It's just that with no dialogue, the character's personalities are left to our imagination. It's mostly opinion whether that is a flaw or a good thing. I personally don't mind it at all.

Enjoyment: If you like music, especially techno, then this is a definite watch for you. I enjoyed it from start to finish, and although it wasn't perfect in all ways, it's unique enough to take the 5th place spot on my favorites list.

Overall: A fantastic movie overall, with awesome music, amazing art, and a pretty good story to go along with it. Besides the lack of character development, this anime movie has no other faults that I can think of. I award it a 9/10, and it's definitely a must-watch.

Now go watch it. Now! read more