DVD
REVIEW:
DEATH NOTE RE-LIGHT #1:
VISIONS OF A GOD
06/21/09
SYNOPSIS: "See
through the eyes of a shinigami…
Light and L have battled to the bitter end over the Death
Note—but what does the story look like from Ryuk’s point of
view?
When rogue shinigami Ryuk deliberately drops his Death Note
in the human world out of boredom, he has no idea how far
the human who picks it up will take his newfound power. With
the Death Note in hand, brilliant high school student Light
Yagami vows to rid the world of evil, and when criminals
begin dropping dead one by one, genius detective L steps in
to track down the elusive killer known as Kira. An epic
battle of wits pitting one brilliant mind against another
unfolds—with the very future of humanity at stake! Ryuk’s
not bored anymore…
Go back to where it all began and watch the epic battle from
a new perspective—through the eyes of the one who started it
all! "
REVIEW: Based on the
popular manga series created by Tsugumi Ohba, Death note: R
Visions of a God is the recapitulation of one of my favorite
series. I had to say that as a fan of the series I had mixed
feelings about this one. Having read the manga, watched the
complete anime series, and the three live actions filmed I
was expecting for Visions of a God to be something
completely different. I read it in the case and I got
excited as I was looking at it, a new version from Riuk’s
perspective it sounds fun, however it turns out that story
wise, Riuk’s perspective has little to none difference from
the actual story but the first and last 5 minutes of the
movie plus some scenes here and there. Nonetheless, as a fan
of the series I think is a good DVD to watch just to relive
one of the greatest stories I ever seen in TV.
Re-light: Vision of the Good is basically a summary of the
first half of the series into a two hour and ten minutes DVD
movie, which has the most important scenes of the series, it
tells the epic battle of intellects between the world’s
greatest detective: L, and the world’s most fearful killer: Kira. As I re-watched the story I could not help to get suck
into it again like the first time. The animation was great,
it seems that it was enhanced to make the experience better,
also the dialogue was somehow improved in some scenes, the
voice acting seems to be the same, and what it is its
biggest disappointment is also its greatest virtue for a
re-released there was not a major change done to the story,
no loops, new main characters or any major change to the
mythology was made. This is what makes this DVD great, it
manages to show me the story that would have take me almost
a day in only two hours without loosing any major detail.
While watching this version you will experiencing the same
emotions as in the TV series, you will feel the same
suspense, the same tension, and of course you will find
yourself rooting for both sides at some point, and taking
sides at the end.
Out of all the detective manga and anime in general I have
seen, I considered this series to be one of thee smartest of
all. Its characters are appealing, it has all kind of twists
and turns, it includes fantasy, its action is not based on a
repetitive fist fight with just over exaggerated
destruction, instead is a smart and creative plot with the
right amount of action for its resolution, and even it has a
drop of humor, and drama. I have been a fan of the series
for a long time, I have read the manga, love the TV series,
enjoy the two life actions movies, and even like the spin
off they did on L with the third movie, all of them seem to
be faithful to each other and adds something to the series,
however in that aspect this DVD fails, it does not adds
nothing to it, zero, nada, not even the ending would save
it, fans might get little out of this one. For that reason,
my recommendations are for new fans to either read the manga
first (108 issues) and then watched this movie, watched the
first 25 episodes or all of them for that matter, and then
after a month or two watched this one to relived the story,
or watched the movie and then continue the story (episodes
26-37) it will not be disappointing. For fans whom do not
have the whole collections this is a good space saver, but
if you already have the series in DVD unless you want to
watch an excellent summary (25 episodes worth in 2 hours) I
would not recommend this DVD since you would not find any
surprises or nothing new and might be disappointed in some
omissions. Disclaimer: I will give the movie a high score
because it was a well edited summary, it was fun to relive
the story, and because I am a fan, however as innovation,
improvement or enhancement of the story this DVD is a
failure, it is just an attempt to keep squeezing some money
out of the franchise a little more.
VIDEO:
Widescreen Version 16x9
AUDIO:
English Japanese
stereo
English Subtitles
SPECIAL FEATURES:
In this department the video
also lacks content, as many anime it only has a short making
of with interviews of the director, and voice
actors(Japanese cast and crew), the promo and the preview
form the other Death note movies.
Deathnote Re Writing:
with the Japanese cast and Crew: basically it is the
regular making of, the producer, director and crew gives
their opinion on the new take to the story (11:09)
Original Japanese
Promos: the original ads played in Japan (3:40)
Trailers
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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| BONUS
FEATURES |
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Review
By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
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