Many of you are surely used to the futuristic Anime that comprise the genre's seemingly endless supply of movies. Steamboy takes a drastically different approach, putting Ray, the teenage hero into a dangerous 19th century Britain where the power of steam is being taken to new heights. Old in setting, but no less epic in content, cult-classic Akira creator and director Katsuhiro Otomo molds an intense and grossly engaging story about power and greed that should be seen by all Anime fans.
Ray Steam is the youngest in a line of genius engineers who are capable of creating powerful technology at a time when technology was in its infancy. The story revolves around the accomplishments and aims of Ray's Grandfather and the conflict between Ray's father. Standing in the middle is the epic Steam Tower, the embodyment of Ray's father and grandfather's work and their conflict of interest. Ray is stuck in the middle as both generations duke it out in a battle of willpower, technology and ambition.
The animation in Steamboy is beautifully done with vivid period visuals, fluid gears and steam. Audio is equally as rich with orchestrated music and well done vocals. Incredibly, you not only have the choice of switching subtitles (English, French, Portugese, Spanish), but you can also listen to the Japanese voiced version, or the English, which features British voice-actors and French is included as well. Our only complaint with the audio is that at times the sound is unbalanced when switching from scene to scene. You'll find yourself increasing the volume to hear what's being said in a quiet scene and then find yourself turning the volume down frantically when action picks up in the next scene. This is obviously due to the lack of quality in the PSP's speakers, but we experienced this with other outboard audio gear as well.
Steamboy is a great story and beautifully done, you wouldn't expect any less from the director of Akira. Chances are you've already seen this, but if you haven't, you're missing out, and the UMD version is a great way to see it.
Well said! And I totally agree with gi0rgi0. I generally just deal with subtitles on animes, since usually the American vocie overs SUCK! This movie did a great job. I will never cease to be confused as to why almost all popular anime directors feel the need to add in an unbearably annoying character ("ms. scarlet" to all their movies! I have seen this in SO many good animes, and it just ruins the feeling and mood of the movie. Oh well, still worth a watch!
Sort of reminds me of "the difference engine" by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson. It's dull compaired to normal Gibson writing, but it's a decent read. Similar concept except the book takes place in the US. Same concept. Steam, Pully Systems, and Punch Cards are used to create technology compairable to what we have today.
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to all their movies! I have seen this in SO many good animes, and it just ruins the feeling and mood of the movie. Oh well, still worth a watch!